From the Sunday Note, with additional thoughts…
“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.”
John 6:57 from Sunday’s Gospel
“Why do you Catholics make such a big deal about Holy Communion, anyway?”
It is true; we do make a big deal of Holy Communion, but let’s keep things in proper order—it is not by chance that Jesus, for the most part, sets the pattern for Communion near the end of the Gospels. His followers need to commit to a relationship with him before he invites them to that Last Supper.
This same question is presented to us. Just who is Jesus? Given the evidence, would we want a relationship with him? Holy Communion is not some kind of magic pill if we don’t want the relationship.
Why would we want a relationship with Christ? Because we are human, and this human life is full of enigmas and challenges that Jesus speaks to. Where do I come from, me, my personality, so different from others, different even from those with the same human father and mother? Why do I suffer, what does it all mean? Why be alive only to see inevitable death ahead for me and everyone I love. For that matter, why do I love at all if it is all to end in darkness for every one of us?
For the most part we don’t go around shouting these questions out loud, but they percolate in the background of our minds and hearts all the time. The Gospels show us Jesus responding to these kinds of questions. He insists that life, not death, has the last word for those who trust him and follow him on the way to our Creator. He himself exemplifies and completely identifies with the kind of Creator we come from and will return to. He claims he is strong enough and loving enough to defeat any debility, sickness, torture, even death itself for those who follow him. He is a life-creator and life-sharer who offers meaning and direction to us every day. Yes, we suffer, and his sign, the crucifix, shows how much may be asked of us someday in the battle against evil and death, but in a very brief time (“three days”) the Resurrection betokens the everlasting Victory.
All this he makes clear in the Gospels many times over. In those Gospels Jesus warns everyone not to ask for a “sign” (a phenomenal public miracle) but we are encouraged to ask for help in our suffering and confusions. We can begin a relationship with him at least in that. Patiently ask and he will come. Once you have even a tiny mustard seed’s worth of faith, then come to “break the bread” with us in Communion. Commune with him. Come feed and strengthen your life with our Lord. It is an ever-growing relationship that continues right on into the everlasting life our hearts long for.
For further reflection:
Christ does not tell his disciples that if they follow him, life will be a bowl of cherries. NO human life is a bowl of cherries. Not yours or mine, nor of anyone we know or hear of, for we cannot accurately judge what anyone has to face and struggle through. Isn’t it true that the better we know someone, the clearer we perceive their struggles and sorrows? Is it better to face our most intimate struggles and sorrows with Christ or alone?