Introduction before Mass: 1
For the past three weeks we have had a few brief comments about our Eucharistic liturgy before we have begun the mass. Deacon Steve focused on our Eucharist as reconciliation. Father Paul spoke about the sacrifice of the mass. Today’s focus is on the Eucharist as a meal.
In our first Reading, from the Book of Proverbs, we will hear how Wisdom invites us to a banquet. You may recall wisdom in the Old Testament is personified as a woman. The Greek word for Wisdom is “Sophia.” Some of the early church fathers equated wisdom or Sophia with the Holy Spirit. And so, at the outset of today’s mass, we are reminded how the Holy Spirit calls us together to join in a meal of celebration.
In our second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, we are further reminded our celebration should be the result of being filled by the Lord, and not by too much wine. Since the early Eucharistic gatherings of Christians were actually part of a fellowship meal, his warnings were not taken lightly by the Ephesians.
Finally, in the gospel reading, which continues the last supper message reported by John, we hear Jesus emphasize how he, himself, is the living bread come down from heaven, and those who eat this bread will have life eternal.
I think most of us easily associate the mass with a meal. Most of us have been taught this from our early childhood. Perhaps, what we may have forgotten, however, is that there is a connection between the meals we eat in our home and the liturgy we celebrate in church. The meals we share at home can prepare us for the sharing which occurs here. At the same time, the preparation for sharing our meal at home and for sharing our Eucharistic meal here are, also, very similar. Both begin with prayer.
There is probably one prayer, in addition to the “Our Father,” which all “cradle” Catholics carry in our bloodstreams. It’s the one that goes: “Bless us 0h Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
Today we would like to help you broaden your preparation for sharing your meals and, thus, your preparation for sharing of Eucharist. As you leave the church today, each family can pick up a copy of this little book, Table Prayer Book, which has some alternatives to “Bless us 0 Lord, and these thy gifts …”
If we really believe sharing Eucharist is like sharing a meal, then it’s also appropriate for us to know the people we are about to share with. And so I invite you to introduce yourself to those sitting around you as we get ready to begin today’s liturgy.
Homily:
Before mass began, I said our focus for today would be on the Eucharist as a meal. Perhaps I should have given you a question so you could have had a head-start on today’s reflection. But I decided you could wait. Most of us already know a lot about meals and eating and about food. In some way or another, we all have an obsession about eating: either eating too much or too little. I assure you, my question is not: “How many of you are on a diet?” I’m also not going to ask: “How many of us should be on a diet?”
So, what is my question? It’s a very basic one and perhaps, in a way, it is related to dieting. The question is: “Why do we eat?” As I said, we all seem to have an interest in eating. It’s reflected by the fact there may be more homes in this country in which you can find at least one cookbook, and not find a Bible. Our interest in eating is, also, reflected in our grocery stores and supermarkets, our restaurant businesses and the fast-food places lining our highways. There is a vast complex of industries interested in that basic question: Why do we eat?
For some, the answer is simple. I eat because I’m hungry. We all recognize the basic need for nourishment. We need food for life and for growth. Some of us have a different kind of hunger. Some have a hunger for relationships. Their emptiness is loneliness. They eat in order to fill up that loneliness. Others eat in order to pass the time. Snacking is the thing to do while watching television. Some of us eat because it’s the right time of day. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, because it’s the time of day for eating breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There are, also, those who enjoy sharing a meal which they have lovingly prepared, or which has been loving prepared for them. They enjoy the pleasure of sharing the food and of sharing the conversation which goes along with it, of being part of a warm, comforting experience. Yet not all meals are signs of love and unity. For many families, coming together for a meal is the only time when everyone is in the same place at the same time. The meal becomes an occasion for family arguments and confrontations or for deadly silence.
As a result, some try to avoid such gatherings or make them as short as possible. To shorten the length of our mealtimes, some have become fast-food consumers. First, there was the New York automat. Then a McDonald’s in every town. Now each home has a microwave. Tomorrow, how many of us will be happy with a George Jetson, concentrated meal-in-a-pill? There are times, however, when George Jetson will never win out. There are times when meals become celebrations of special events. There will, I hope, always be weddings and anniversaries. Birthday parties. And of course, holidays.
Much of what I’ve been saying about eating and about meals is summed up by a movie called Avalon. It wasn’t a huge commercial success, but it’s well worth renting for home-viewing. Avalon is about an immigrant from Europe in the early 1900’s. The story is told by his grandson. The movie is really about family storytelling and about family gatherings. Each Thanksgiving, the entire clan gathers for turkey, even though none of them are very sure just why they eat turkey. But it is a major part of the celebration. Until one year, when the turkey is cut before one of the uncles arrives. Every year he is late, but they always waited for him. This year they didn’t, and when he arrives after the turkey is carved, he leaves in a huff and there is a huge rupture in the clan.
Any of us who have suffered as the result of a stupid family argument, can fully appreciate the event. The movie then goes on with some interesting scenes. The family meals no longer are the center for the clan gatherings. Now their meetings become more business-like. The dining room goes empty as people now huddle in front of the new, tiny black and white TV, eating their food, while Milton Burle, ”Uncle Miltie,” does all the talking. If you are interested in stories about families, I’d recommend seeing Avalon.
But now, what do all of these reflections about eating have to do with today’s gospel readings and about our theme of Eucharist as a meal? In order to understand what we heard in today’s gospel reading and how it relates to the Eucharist as a meal, we need to recall the question which initiated Jesus’ response we heard today.
Remember how Jesus had just multiplied the loaves and fishes and then crossed the Sea of Tiberius to get away from the crowds. But they followed him and asked him “What further signs are you going to perform for us to see?” In other words, when is the next hand-out going to be, and is it going to be even better than the last one? And what does Jesus say in response? It was something like: “You want bread which can be given as a sign to you always. But what you really need is faith without signs.”
Much of the entire Gospel of John is devoted to signs and faith. The story of the miracle, or sign, at Cana begins the writings of John. And a final story is about Thomas and our need to believe without seeing. The conclusion of John’s Gospel account has the verses: “Jesus performed many other signs as well – signs not recorded here – in the presence of his disciples. But these have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through this faith you may have life in his name.”
In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks about the major sign in his ministry. He says he, himself, is the living bread. He speaks in terms of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. These words startled and puzzled his listeners as much as they startle and puzzle us. Those who questioned him had asked for the greatest of all signs. And he answered them directly. He was the greatest of all signs. There is nothing more real than human flesh. As for blood, it was the sign of the life force, itself. The mystical reality which gives life to inanimate objects. Remove the blood and there is no life.
What Jesus was trying to tell his listeners is that he, himself, is the absolute reality. He, himself, is the life force. He, himself, must be totally accepted by them, totally taken in and consumed by them. If they did this, they would possess “eternal life.” He was saying that for them, and for us, to gain “eternal life,” we must actively participate in his life, his reality, his life force. We must be with him actively, not passively, in his flesh and in his blood.
Christ is not a Norman Rockwell painting of a Thanksgiving Dinner. We cannot eat a picture. Instead, we must get greasy fingers and have gravy on our chin. The Eucharistic sign is bread which is broken. It is the action of breaking. Of sharing. Of eating.
Eucharist is not the object of the host on the altar so much as the action of all of us coming together and partaking of the one body. We are to take and drink of the cup, not merely look at the color or smell the bouquet like a connoisseur. We are to eat and drink for the joy of being one with Christ and with each other. We eat and drink. Not for intoxication, but rather for inspiration. Not for the poison of a magic potion which says, “drink me”, but rather for the elixir of life which says, “live in me”. We eat for many reasons: but how often do we eat for eternal life?
I began by asking the basic question: “Why do you eat?” There is, of course, the parallel question: “Why do you come to the meal of the Lord?” Do you come because you are hungry? Do you come because you are lonely and need to be filled? Do you come because it is the right time for a snack, the right day of the week, or the right hour of the day for a quick energizer? Do you come seeking a shared unity?
In your search for food, do you want to go to a fancy restaurant with impeccable service where you can eat in isolation and listen to some comforting music? Do you prefer to go to a fast-food service station where you can be fed quickly and relatively cheaply, where the menu is always the same and you don’t need to make choices or be challenged? Perhaps, in your search for nourishment, you would like to go to a local, small-town diner where talk from table to table is as important as the food you order, a place where communication is high but on-going commitments are few. Then again, one can also return home, and share a meal with close family and friends in a place where one shares a life as well as a meal.
So why do you come to Eucharist? Is this community of Christ the Good Shepherd to be a fine restaurant? A fast-food dispenser? A local diner? Or a home? And the meal you eat – does it offer you life eternal?
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time; August 18, 1991
Prv 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20; Jn 6:51-58
- Today’s liturgy, part of a series on John’s “Bread of Life” gospels, included an introduction before the Mass begins, as well as the homily following the usual readings.