Whoever Eats this Bread Will Live Forever: Reflections on the readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Before getting into this week’s readings we must give a nod to our Blessed Mother whose Assumption we celebrated on Thursday. The readings for the mass during the day for this feast are very powerful. In the reading from Revelation the church has chosen to begin with the last verse of chapter 11 which tells us God’s temple was opened and there could be seen the Ark of the Covenant (sorry Indiana, it’s not where you were looking in Egypt). I like this because the next thing we see is our Blessed Mother, “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” She gave birth to a son who was taken up to God and his throne. Mary is the mother of our Savior, and the Ark of the New Covenant, and Queen of the Church, as depicted in the responsorial. St. Paul reminds us of Christ our King, his resurrection and the new life that awaits us all. The gospel reading relates the story of the Visitation, one of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. In it Mary recites that beautiful expression of humility and love of God, the Magnificat where we hear that “He [God] has filled the hungry with good things.” We are the hungry who hunger and thirst for the Lord in the Eucharist.

Dr. Peter Kreeft in Food for the Soul, Cycle B, tells us “Wisdom is the discernment between the true and the false, between true foods and fake foods, ...” This Sunday’s readings begin with food, a feast. Wisdom “has spread her table.” She continues, “Let whoever is simple turn in here.” Recall Jesus putting a child, a simple human, in the midst of his disciples. “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3) Simple people and children are open to learning. This is what Wisdom means when she says, “Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding." In Proverbs we read, “The arrogant delight in their arrogance, and fools hate knowledge.” (Prov. 1:23)

When we think of a feast we think of good food, skillfully prepared, tasteful, and abundant. To emphasize this we get a reprise of last week’s responsorial, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” Like Wisdom’s call to the simple, “the lowly will hear me and be glad.” Wisdom delivers us from foolishness and the Lord delivers us from our fears. St. John tells us “God is love” and follows this with “perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:16, 18)

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul also tells us not to live foolishly, understand the will of God, and be filled with the Spirit. “The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.” (CCC 1831) The gifts of the Spirit help us to stand firm, knowing the will of God, and, through fortitude, strive to carry it out in the face of adversity “because the days are evil” (Eph 5:16). And the gifts of the Spirit are closely aligned to the seven virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, patience, faith, hope, and charity (CCC 1835, 1841). Virtues are important factors in the life of the world. “Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.” (CCC 1833) (And shun evil.) Again, referring to Dr. Kreeft, “... wisdom is not even merely the knowledge of good and evil, it is living according to that knowledge.”

The climax of the readings reflects the height of tension between Jesus and the Jews when he says, “the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Like the food and wine prepared by Wisdom, now we learn of the importance and significance of the true bread come down from heaven. “Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” The Jews and even many of Jesus’s disciples were not open to such a message. They quarreled. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

As I pointed in an earlier post, the Jews had a hard time understanding the divinity of Jesus. Jesus recognizes this and says to them (verse 36), “But I told you that although you have seen [me], you do not believe.” In other words, despite the many signs and miracles which Jesus performed, and they had observed (many of them took place in Capernaum, the site of this discourse), they had no concept of his divinity. Later Jesus will tell them, “I told you* and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” (John 10:25)

Now Jesus’s speech gets really firm, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (Whenever Jesus says, “Amen, amen,” something strong and powerful is coming - listen!) It is important to note here that in the original Greek Jesus does not merely use the word for “eat” but is actually more graphic. The word he uses actually means “chew,” “chomp,” or masticate. And note well that he repeats this phrase including “feeds on me” to make sure there is no doubt as to what he means. This is not symbology, these are bold, hard, realistic words; the word symbol is not to be found in this chapter.

“Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

The Jews as well as even many Christians (some are Catholic) today do not see the Eucharistic feast to which Jesus is referring. The message of eternal life runs throughout the gospels. And Jesus did not merely tell us to hope for eternal life. Through his body and blood he has given us the means to attain it. Don’t pass up the opportunity.