20th Sunday of the Year, B – August 18, 2024.
Readings: Proverbs 9:1-6; Ps 34:1-2.9-10.11-12.13-14 (R.8a); Ephesians 5:15:20; Gospel – John 6:51-58.
Sunday Synopsis
In the first reading, wisdom is personified as a Lady who built a house prepared an irresistible meal, and invited all to partake. The second reading recounts how St. Paul encourages us to redeem the wicked world we live in by the power of wisdom and the Holy Spirit while singing psalms and hymns of thanksgiving to the Father through Christ. The gospel presents us with an expose of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Communicants are charged to assess the quality of their lives based on the Liturgy for Life. Let us seek wisdom, act intelligibly, and not behave like the senseless people who turned up for the wedding feast without the garments of righteousness and integrity.
Introduction
Beloved in Christ, today, we continue our reflection on the Holy Eucharist from the Johannine text. You will discover that for 5 Sundays, the Church has asked that we pay attention to the theology of the Holy Eucharist. This is because Sacrosanctum Concilium, Number 10 states that the Eucharistic liturgy “is the source and summit of our Christian lives and existence.” Little wonder, Ecclesia De Eucharistia Number 1 also attests that the Church draws her life from the Holy Eucharist.
Background & Summary of the Readings
In the first reading (Prov. 9:1-6), wisdom is personified as a woman who built a house, prepared an irresistible meal, and invited all to partake. It indicates that while wisdom’s meal leads to life (v.17), foolishness kills her guests (v.18). It points to God as wisdom personified who prepares the feast in which bread and wine are served (vv. 2,5) as in the Holy Eucharist which leads to the afterlife (v.6) where all are invited to the heavenly banquette.
The second reading (Ephesians 5:15:20) recounts how St. Paul encourages us to redeem the wicked world we are living in by the power of wisdom and the Holy Spirit while singing psalms and hymns of thanksgiving to the Father through Christ.
The gospel (John 6:51-58) presents us with an expose of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The controversy among the Jews about Jesus’ firm assertion: “The bread that I shall is my flesh, for the life of the world” tells the story more. Expectedly, they grumbled: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Rather than getting discouraged, Jesus used the opportunity to do a full-length Catechesis on the Holy Eucharist: “…if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.”
Theology of the Real Presence
In Catholic tradition, the doctrine of the real presence states that in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus is literally and wholly present in Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity under the appearances of bread and wine (CCC. No 1374). What this means is that at the very celebration of Holy Mass, Christ is present (Cf. Cor. 10:16-17, 11:23-29; John 6:32-71) giving his children life in abundance. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is really, truly, and substantially present in the Eucharist.
This means that “at every mass, a sacrifice is effected in which Christ is offered to the Father through the action of the priest at the altar.” Because Jesus is present in the Sacred Species after the prayer of consecration, Catholics adore and revere the Holy Eucharist. That is why the priests purify the chalice and ciborium after administrating the Holy Communion to ensure that no particle is desecrated.
The Communion Plate is used to ensure that no particle of Holy Communion falls off. This is also why sometimes the faithful are not served the Blood of Christ during Mass. It is easier to pick fallen particles of the Body of Christ than the Blood when it spills. Besides, to eat of the Body is to have partaken in the Blood. Devotions like Benediction, Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, and reservation of the Holy Communion in the Tabernacle point to the Real Presence of Christ in the Catholic Church. Catholics believe in the Real Presence because – 1. Christ said it and meant it (Matt. 26:26 & 28); 2. His followers knew it as some stayed while others left (Jn. 6:60 & 67); The Early Church knew and taught it (Acts 2:42-46; 1 Cor. 11:27); and, the Church Fathers knew and handed it (Didache c. 90 A.D).
Miracle of the Holy Eucharist
In the 8th century, a priest in Lanciano, Italy was experiencing doubts about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In the middle of saying Mass, he said the words of consecration “This is my body…This is my blood.” At that instance, he saw the bread and wine transform into real human flesh and blood. The blood coagulated into five globules which was later believed to represent the five wounds of Jesus. The miracle news quickly spread, and the local archbishop launched an investigation. The Church approved the miracle. The flesh is still preserved to this day. A certain Professor of anatomy, Odoardo Linoli conducted a scientific analysis of the flesh in 1971 and concluded that the flesh was cardiac tissue; the blood appeared to be fresh blood without a trace of preservatives.
Pastoral Lessons
- Embrace a Eucharistic Life: Like Lady Wisdom in the first reading, we are urged to make our lives a Eucharistic table where the unloved, the lonely, the orphaned, the widow, and other vulnerable groups find succour and reprieve.
- Redeem the world: Acknowledging that we live in a wicked world, St. Paul encourages us to redeem it through the power of wisdom and the Holy Spirit while singing psalms and hymns to the Father through Christ.
- Avoid Eucharistic controversies: The drama that ensued in the gospel warns us against any philosophical, logical, or nihilistic arguments that introduce doubt about the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament as well as attempts at committing any kind of sacrilegious actions against the sacred species.
- Seek Life: Since the Catholic Church remains the right “bakery” for “manufacturing” this spiritual meal that leads to eternal life, we are encouraged to seek eternal life through the daily reception of the Holy Eucharist as instructed by the Lord in the gospel.
- Share the Divine Life: Since it is divinity that differentiates us from Jesus who shared his body, blood, and soul with us in the Holy Eucharist, we are charged to allow the communion we receive to mould us into sharers of the divine life with our broken world.
Summary Lines
- The first reading personifies wisdom as a woman who built a house, prepared an irresistible meal, and invited all to partake.
- In the second reading, St. Paul encourages us to redeem the wicked world we are living in by the power of wisdom and the Holy Spirit while singing psalms and hymns of thanksgiving to the Father through Christ.
- The gospel presents us with an expose of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
- The controversy among the Jews about Jesus’ firm assertion: “The bread that I shall is my flesh, for the life of the world.”
5 “…if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.”
Conclusion
Our readings present the Holy Mass as a miniature eschatological feast. Since the Church through the apostles, early Christians, and Church Fathers has handed over this teaching to us, we must preserve it. Communicants must assess the quality of lives they live based on the Liturgy for Life. St. Paul insists that we should be careful about the sort of lives we lead bearing in mind that we are in a wicked age. Let us seek wisdom, act intelligibly, and not behave like the senseless people who turned up for the wedding feast without the garments of righteousness and integrity. May God help us to receive and adore Christ who is present in the Blessed Eucharist in body, blood, soul, and divinity both now and forever. Amen!
