August 16, 2009
Twentieth Sunday Ordinary Time
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.
Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding. Proverb 9:5-6
Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. Ephesians 5:15-17
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever. John 6:57-58
Piety
‘Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” For the second week in a row we pick up the refrain. How personal can we get with Christ? How close do we ever get to anyone? We are challenged to love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart and feelings. With all the strength of our mind and our heart, we are invited to feed on the Lord that we might grow in Christ’s life within us. Our piety flows out of our life in Christ. We are called to understand the will of the Lord for us. What it takes to live as wise people requires us to make the most of the opportunity Eucharist brings us. Wisdom has set her table for us. The seven columns of the house of Wisdom are the Sacraments. We advance in wisdom by eating at the table of the Lord. The life of Christ that lives in us comes from the Sacraments. God has put on a great feast for us and he calls us to come to the table of his Son.
Study
We learn to appreciate Eucharist by our taste for it. The different flavors of ice cream speak to our taste buds. Absence lends enchantment. The sacrifice of not eating ice cream makes me miss it. Knowing and loving the taste of it creates desire. It is an extra of eating and I can live without it. It is one of many things that make up a meal and give nourishment. It is a sweet of life that could be harmful if you took too much of it. Eucharist is the food of life. There is no substitute for it because Christ is the embodiment of the love of God. He comes down from heaven as the real manna of the Father. We could never get too much of Christ. Christ is one of us, but without sin and he gives us his meaning of life. Many things can enrich life and add joy to good living. Eucharist has counterparts in our lives in how we feed one another. We can only be Eucharist for one another by the goodness of our lives. The food we give comes from the love of our hearts or the labors of our bodies. It is not our real flesh and body. The bread and the wine that Christ offers us is his real flesh and blood. He gives us his life. We study how he comes to us by exploring the meanings of the symbols of his Gift to us of Eucharist.
Action
Eucharist becomes action in us by the way we share our lives with each other. What we do for one another becomes the truth of Christ’s love for us when we give our lives for another. Many of us need diets in our lives because we take too much of good things. Eucharist is never a subject for a diet in our lives. We can never get too much of Eucharist. It is not to be rationed because it is the food of everlasting life. It nourishes us with God’s life. It enlarges our hearts. The more we are Eucharist for one another, the more Eucharist we have to give. The only way we can hold unto God’s love is to give it away. Jesus has life because of the Father. We have and give life because of the way we become Christ to each other by the good we do. The good we do as Eucharist for one another, will never be interred with our bones. Eucharist is forever. It contains within it the promise of everlasting life because it is Christ’s life we take to ourselves by Eucharist. It is Christ giving us the forever of love. What could taste better?
