Posted on 08/18/2024 8:32:30 AM PDT by annalex
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time ![]() San Alberto Hurtado parish, Las Condes, Chile Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).
Wisdom builds her house and invites all to eat her bread thereWisdom has built herself a house, she has erected her seven pillars, she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine, she has laid her table. She has despatched her maidservants and proclaimed from the city’s heights: ‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’ To the fool she says, ‘Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared! Leave your folly and you will live, walk in the ways of perception.’
Taste and see that the Lord is good. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips; in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. The humble shall hear and be glad. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Revere the Lord, you his saints. They lack nothing, those who revere him. Strong lions suffer want and go hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Come, children, and hear me that I may teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is he who longs for life and many days, to enjoy his prosperity? Taste and see that the Lord is good. Then keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn aside from evil and do good; seek and strive after peace. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Be filled not with wine, but with the SpiritBe very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but you redeem it. And do not be thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not drug yourselves with wine, this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit. Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia, alleluia! The Word was made flesh and lived among us: to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia! He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him, says the Lord. Alleluia!
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drinkJesus said to the crowd: ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’ Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’ Universalis podcast: The week ahead – from 18 to 24 AugustOur Lady, Mother and Queen. Octaves and their history. The First Readings in the Office of Readings. The book of Ecclesiastes. The two-year cycle. (16 minutes) Christian Art![]() Each day, The Christian Art website gives a picture and reflection on the Gospel of the day. The readings on this page are from the Jerusalem Bible, which is used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world. The New American Bible readings, which are used at Mass in the United States, are available in the Universalis apps, programs and downloads. |
KEYWORDS: catholic; mt19; ordinarytime; prayer;
Please FReepmail me to get on/off the Alleluia Ping List.
John | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
John 6 | |||
51. | I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 6:52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. | Ego sum panis vivus, qui de cælo descendi. 6:52 Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in æternum : et panis quem ego dabo, caro mea est pro mundi vita. | εγω ειμι ο αρτος ο ζων ο εκ του ουρανου καταβας εαν τις φαγη εκ τουτου του αρτου ζησεται εις τον αιωνα και ο αρτος δε ον εγω δωσω η σαρξ μου εστιν ην εγω δωσω υπερ της του κοσμου ζωης |
52. | 6:53 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? | 6:53 Litigabant ergo Judæi ad invicem, dicentes : Quomodo potest hic nobis carnem suam dare ad manducandum ? | εμαχοντο ουν προς αλληλους οι ιουδαιοι λεγοντες πως δυναται ουτος ημιν δουναι την σαρκα φαγειν |
53. | 6:54 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. | 6:54 Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : nisi manducaveritis carnem Filii hominis, et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebitis vitam in vobis. | ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν εαν μη φαγητε την σαρκα του υιου του ανθρωπου και πιητε αυτου το αιμα ουκ εχετε ζωην εν εαυτοις |
54. | 6:55 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. | 6:55 Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, habet vitam æternam : et ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo die. | ο τρωγων μου την σαρκα και πινων μου το αιμα εχει ζωην αιωνιον και εγω αναστησω αυτον [εν] τη εσχατη ημερα |
55. | 6:56 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. | 6:56 Caro enim mea vere est cibus : et sanguis meus, vere est potus ; | η γαρ σαρξ μου αληθως εστιν βρωσις και το αιμα μου αληθως εστιν ποσις |
56. | 6:57 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. | 6:57 qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in illo. | ο τρωγων μου την σαρκα και πινων μου το αιμα εν εμοι μενει καγω εν αυτω |
57. | 6:58 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. | 6:58 Sicut misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem : et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me. | καθως απεστειλεν με ο ζων πατηρ καγω ζω δια τον πατερα και ο τρωγων με κακεινος ζησεται δι εμε |
58. | 6:59 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. | 6:59 Hic est panis qui de cælo descendit. Non sicut manducaverunt patres vestri manna, et mortui sunt. Qui manducat hunc panem, vivet in æternum. | ουτος εστιν ο αρτος ο εκ του ουρανου καταβας ου καθως εφαγον οι πατερες υμων το μαννα και απεθανον ο τρωγων τουτον τον αρτον ζησεται εις τον αιωνα |
Have you been following the Jesuits in Britain’s 2014 calendar to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus? For the month of August, the featured Jesuit is Alberto Hurtado, who became Chile’s second saint when he was canonised in 2005. Damian Howard SJ recounts how he came to a fuller understanding of the true nature of humility by exploring Hurtado’s writings and story.
It was back in 2005 that, to bring to an end the long period of formal Jesuit training (‘formal’ because everyone knows that real training goes on until you are six foot under…), I was lucky enough to be sent to Santiago de Chile for the six month programme of study and prayer Jesuits call ‘tertianship’. That year, a landmark event in the life of the Chilean Church was due to take place: the canonisation in Rome of Chile’s second ever saint, a Jesuit priest called Alberto Hurtado. Padre Hurtado, as he was known throughout the country, had died as recently as 1951, well within living memory. There was a sector of Santiago that bore his name and he had become the kind of hero that Latin cultures quote endlessly and admire. With a huge celebration in Rome in the offing, Hurtadomania was the order of the day and no group was more caught up in the excitement than my brother Jesuits. It is not every day, after all, that someone you know well, a member of the family, if you like, is raised to the altars.
Hurtado was an unusually gifted man, of that there was no doubt. He seemed to have shuttled between an astonishing array of activities, so varied that each one of them could have demanded his attention for a lifetime. He had, like any other Jesuit, followed a lengthy period of intellectual and spiritual formation. In addition, he had studied for a European doctorate in education. He involved himself in issues of social policy, trades unions and poverty. He took a keen interest in the life of the Church and wrote articles challenging the bourgeois assumptions of fellow Catholics. He founded a journal, Mensaje, which is still published today. He gave retreats and spiritual direction that changed the lives of countless people. Most enduringly, he worked tirelessly for the poor and marginalised, setting up a charity called Hogar de Cristo, an enterprise which is still a going concern today.
Hurtado had, in other words, a comprehensive vision of the Gospel. He knew that Jesus Christ called forth a response from both head and heart. More than that, he wanted to find ways, as many ways as possible, of serving the Gospel in a very concrete way, with his hands as well. And it almost didn’t seem to matter to him if some of these ways were apparently trivial, as long as he was doing it all for Christ. It’s not that unusual to find people who say that they are trying to serve the Lord. But most of us want to do it in a way that suits us, which is to say by pursuing a single excellence to which we can devote ourselves. Not so with Hurtado. Intriguing…
Thanks to a grave character defect, I harbour a moderate aversion to heroes. Hurtado was clearly a hero to great crowds of Chileans, so a kind of unreflective, default antipathy kicked in within days of my first exposure to him. Big mistake. Hurtado was, as I would later discover, a man whose holiness manifested itself not so much in martyrdom, learned preaching or moral purity (though these were intensely present in his life) but in the way he had learned to act in the service of God, a way that spoke of a vibrant freedom from the compulsions that dominate more ordinary lives. And in this, had I but known it, I stood to learn a great deal.
Instead of which, I indulged myself by feeling irritated by what I saw as his tiresome drivenness and his moralising activism. It didn’t help that powerful people were busy squabbling over his legacy or that his cardboard face gazed down at me as I trundled along the supermarket aisles, nor, yet, that a series of slogans and soundbites had attached themselves to him: ‘what would Jesus have done?’ ‘Is Chile still a Catholic country?’ So it was that, to my shame, I chose to bury my head in the sand and so kept out of Padre Alberto’s way.
It was only months later, having returned home to London, that I found myself leafing through a collection of his writings, short pieces, articles and speeches he had written. As I read, I noticed the spirits starting to move. One piece in particular cut straight to the quick. It was a personal reflection from 1947 entitled ‘The Man of Action’ and something in it touched me deep down inside.
***
It is necessary to arrive at total loyalty. To absolute transparency, to live in such a way that nothing in my conduct might rebuff the inquiry of men, that all might be open to inspection. A conscience that aspires to such rectitude feels within itself the least deviation and deplores it: it focuses within itself, humbles itself and finds peace.
That sounded pretty demanding. Not much chance of my ever getting there. Living an absolutely transparent life? To my mind, that sounded like living a life without sin: impossible!
But that’s not quite what Hurtado was saying. It’s more that, as and when sin crops up, be it as something you are tempted to do or as a fait accompli, what counts is how you deal with it: sensing the ‘deviation’, you deplore it and then ‘humbling yourself’, in the process finding peace. But what does it mean to humble yourself…? A good sign: I was beginning to struggle with the saint’s words and finding his spiritual mentoring strangely compelling.
I must always consider myself a servant of a great work. And because my role is that of a servant, I will not reject the humblest tasks, modest tasks in administration, even the cleaning… Many aspire to have quiet time to think, read, prepare great things, but there are tasks that all reject, may these be my preferences. Everything must be accomplished if the great work is to be realized.
Keeping in sight the great work to which my own efforts are a small contribution: that’s common sense. But then the reflection becomes rather uncompromising. It’s not a comfortable thought. How many times had I excused myself from menial, humdrum tasks with the specious excuse that my training had put me above that sort of thing? And yes, hadn’t the priority at the back of my mind, lurking in the shadows where it’s hard to discern the truth, often been what would give glory to me? Writing something brilliant and original, or acquiring an encyclopaedic knowledge of some complicated subject that would lend me a fine reputation? Should I really prefer to perform the unseen, un-praised chore? ‘Yes, you should…’
Humility consists in inserting yourself in your true place. Before people: not by considering myself the least among them, because I do not believe this; before God: by recognizing continually my absolute dependence with respect to Him, and that any superiority I might have in the sight of others comes from Him.
What an insight that was, how honest and real. The ‘humility’ I had understood I was to aim at was about seeing others as always better than me. I hadn’t been terribly successful in acquiring it, you understand. But how much more difficult was the life-giving humility Hurtado was evoking. It would mean knowing myself really well, taking responsibility for my gifts rather than finding excuses for not using them, and accepting the inevitable ego-damage that comes with correction. I might even have to learn from failure without the compensating histrionics which have not infrequently been my trademark.
What I was slowly coming to realise, as I continued to read, was that St Alberto really lived out the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. He had found a way of expressing the kind of practical spiritual wisdom that Ignatius had passed on to his brothers. And what he had discovered and articulated was radical and demanding and surprisingly attractive. It reminded me of why I had joined the Jesuits in the first place, why I had fallen for a spirituality that put me in touch with God on a daily basis so that minute by minute I might live as a companion of Jesus, receiving the grace of his encouragement, yes, but also finding myself corrected, challenged and put firmly back on the right track.
It’s easy in the spiritual life to settle for some cheap version of what we aspire to, a phony kind of holiness. It’s why we need the lives of the saints to show us the real thing so we can let God put us back together: words and thoughts, prayer and action, all combining to make a coherent life offered in its entirety to the Lord. No mean feat, that. It requires nothing less than total transparency to God. For only such a transparent soul could have seen the almost concealed egotism that hesitates to think big for God:
Munificence, magnificence, magnanimity, three words almost unknown in our times. Munificence and magnificence do not fear the cost of realizing something grand and beautiful. They do not think in terms of investing and filling the pockets of their supporters. The magnanimous person thinks and acts in a way worthy of humanity: he does not belittle himself. He who does not think big, in terms of all men, is already lost. Some will tell you: Careful with that pride!… why think in such a big way? But there is no danger: the greater the task, the smaller one feels. Better to have the humility to begin great tasks with the danger of failing, than to reduce one’s goal out of pride in order to guarantee success.
Damian Howard SJ
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom's invitation to her banquet
--------------------------------------------
[1] Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven pillars.
[2] She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine,
she has also set her table.
[3] She has sent out her maids to call
from the highest places in the town,
[4] "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!"
To him who is without sense she says,
[5] "Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
[6] Leave simpleness, and live,
and walk in the way of insight."
*************************************************
Commentary:
9:1-6. The introduction to the book of Proverbs ends with an invitation from Wisdom to attend a banquet she is holding at her house. This meal is a symbol for the teachings of the wise men; those who listen to them assimilate those teachings, which become part of them (cf. Sir 24:26-29; Ezek 3).
This nourishment prefigures the true Bread of Life (cf. Jn 4:14; 6:35) that God will give mankind -- the Body of the Incarnate Word, of Wisdom made man. An ancient Christian writer puts these words on Jesus' lips: "To those who are lacking in the good works of faith as well as to those who desire to lead a more perfect life, he says: 'Come, eat of my body, which is the bread that will nourish and strengthen you; drink my blood, which is the wine of heavenly teaching that brings you delight and makes you holy; I have mixed my blood with my divinity for your salvation'" (Procopius of Gaza, "In librum Proverbiorum", 9).
The "seven pillars" of Wisdom's house (v. 1) may be a reference to its perfection (seven was a symbol for perfection), but it is more likely to refer to the seven collections of proverbs that go to make up this book -- those of Solomon (10:1-22:16). the wise men (22:17-24:22), another collection of words of the wise (24:23-34); Solomon again (25:1-29:27); Agur (30:1-14); the Numerical Proverbs (30:15-33) and the words of Lemuel (31:1-9). The fact that there are seven means that the wisdom taught in the book is perfect (it includes, we know, wisdom of Israel, and wisdom from the countries round about).
From: Ephesians 5:15-20
Walking in the Light (Continuation)
-----------------------------------
[15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, [16] making the most of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. [18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, [20] always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus to God the Father.
***********************************************************************
Commentary:
15-17. The new life one receives in Baptism is characterized by a wisdom which contrasts with the foolishness of those who are bent on turning their backs on God (cf. 1 Cor 1:18). This wisdom, this sanity, stems from ones' knowledge of the will of God and full identification with his plans. When a person's life is coherent with his faith, true wisdom is the result; and this immediately leads him to "make the most of the time" ("redeeming the time", in the famous words of the King James version). In fact, we have to make up for lost time. "Redeeming the time", St Augustine explains, "means sacrificing, when the need arises, present interests in favor of eternal ones, thereby purchasing eternity with the coin of time" ("Sermon 16", 2).
The word "kairos", translated as "time", has a more specific meaning in Greek. In refers to the content of the point in time in which we find ourselves, the situation which it creates, and the opportunities which that very moment offers as regards the ultimate purpose of this life. Hence, "making the most of the time" is saying much more than "not wasting a minute": it means "using every situation and every moment" to give glory to God. For, "time is a treasure that melts away," St. J. Escriva reminds us. "It escapes from us, slipping through our fingers like water through the mountain rocks. Tomorrow will soon be another yesterday. Our lives are so very short. Yesterday has gone and today is passing by. But what a great deal can be done for the love of God in this short space of time!" ("Friends of God", 52).
This is a particularly pressing matter, "because the days are evil", as the Apostle puts it. St Peter makes the same point: "Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world" (1 Pet 5:8-9).
18. This verse is an invitation to temperance. In a pagan environment, so easily to be found then and now, one often meets people who think that happiness and joy can be attained simply though material things. Nothing could be further from the truth. St Paul identifies the source of true happiness--docility to the action of the Holy Spirit in one's soul. This docility gives a peace and a joy which the world is incapable of providing.
Temperance is "the virtue which holds our passion and desires in check, especially the sensual ones, and which bring us to moderation in using temporal goods" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 917). This virtue expresses man's lordship over everything that God has made, and its practice is essential if one is to see life from the correct, supernatural, perspective. "Any food excessive to the body's need eventually stimulates impurity. A soul in this position, sated with food, cannot wear the bridle of temperance. So, it is not just wine that intoxicates the mind. Any kind of excessive eating renders it dull and easily influenced and completely undermines its purity and integrity" (Cassian, "Institutions", 5, 6).
Temperance is a sign of the genuineness of the Christian life of the "children of light", and it is something that attracts and wins over all naturally noble people. "Temperance makes the soul sober, modest, understanding. It fosters a natural sense of reserve which everyone finds attractive because it denotes intelligent self-control. Temperance implies not narrowness but greatness of soul" (St J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 84).
19. From the very beginning of the Church, Christian liturgy has expressed its appreciation to God through psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles. Because man is made up of body and soul, proper worship of God needs to have a certain external expression. "God has disposed that 'while recognizing God in visible form we may through him be wrapt to the love of things invisible' (Christmas preface). Moreover it is natural that the outpourings of the soul should be expressed by the senses" (Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 8). In the Church's liturgical ceremonies, canticles are a form of celebration of the greatness of God, and an expression of gratitude for blessings received. For their part, "in the psalms there is an opportunity for the people to bless and praise God; the psalms express the admiration that people feel and what the people want to say; in them the Church speaks, the faith is professed in a melodious way, and authority finds a ready acceptance; there too is heard the joyful call of freedom, the cry of pleasure and the sound of happiness" (St Ambrose, "Enarratio in Psalmos" 1, 9).
Dignified recital and chant of liturgical prayers makes for active participation of the faithful in liturgical ceremonies, allowing everyone to share what St Augustine tells us was his experience: "I wept at the beauty of your hymns and canticles, and was powerfully moved by the sweet sound of your Church's singing. Those sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart--so that my feeling of devotion overflowed, and the tears poured from my eyes, and I was happy in them" ("Confessions", 9, 6).
Liturgical prayer in this way becomes a source of genuine fervor and piety, while at the same time promoting solidarity with other members of the Church, not only those who praise God while still on their earthly pilgrimage, but also those who unceasingly glorify him in heaven. "What a wonderful thing it is to imitate on earth the choir of angels!", St Basil explains; "preparing oneself for prayer at the first hour of the day and glorifying the Creator with hymns and praise. And later, when the sun is at its height, full of splendor and light, doing one's work to the accompaniment of prayer on all sides, seasoning one's actions, so to speak, with the salt of ejaculatory prayers" ("Epistle", II, 3).
20. We need to be continually thanking God, "for everything works for good with those who love (God)" (Rom 8:28) or, in another version, "everything helps to secure the good of those who love God" (Knox). Everything that happens in life falls within the providence of God. He permits us to experience sorrows and joys, successes and failures. Therefore, for a Christian who acts in line with his faith, everything is success, even things which in human terms he may find negative and painful; for, if he views disagreeable things in a supernatural way and approaches them with love for Christ's cross, they bring him joy and peace and merit. That is why we should always be grateful to God: "Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because he gives you this and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven't what you need or because you have [...]. Thank him for everything, because everything is good" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 268).
From: John 6:51-59
The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation)
-------------------------------------------------
(Jesus said to the Jews,) [51] "I am the living bread which came down from Heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh." [52] The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" [53] So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you; [54] he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55] For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. [56] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me will live because of Me. [58] This is the bread which came from Heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever." This He said in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
****************************************
Commentary:
49-51. The manna during the Exodus was a figure of this bread—Christ Himself--which nourishes Christians on their pilgrimage through this world. Communion is the wonderful banquet at which Christ gives Himself to us: "the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh". These words promise the manifestation of the Eucharist at the Last Supper: "This is My body which is for you" (1 Corinthians11:24). The words "for the life of the world" and "for you" refer to the redemptive value of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In some sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were a figure of the sacrifice of Christ, part of the animal offered up was later used for food, signifying participation in the sacred rite (cf. Exodus 11:3-4). So, by receiving Holy Communion, we are sharing in the sacrifice of Christ: which is why the Church sings in the Liturgy of the Hours on the Feast of Corpus Christi: "O sacred feast in which we partake of Christ: His sufferings are remembered, our minds are filled with His grace and we receive a pledge of the glory that is to be ours" ("Magnificat Antiphon", Evening Prayer II).
52. Christ's hearers understand perfectly well that He means exactly what He says; but they cannot believe that what He says could be true; if they had understood Him in a metaphorical, figurative or symbolic sense there would be no reason for them to be surprised and nothing to cause an argument. Later, Jesus reaffirms what He has said—confirming what they have understood Him to say (cf. verses 54-56).
53. Once again Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary to receive Him in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in divine life and develop the life of grace received in Baptism. No parent is content to bring children into the world: they have to be nourished and looked after to enable them to reach maturity. "We receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us an increase of grace and the gift of eternal life" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 289).
54. Jesus clearly states that His body and blood are a pledge of eternal life and a guarantee of the resurrection of the body. St. Thomas Aquinas gives this explanation: "The Word gives life to our souls, but the Word made flesh nourishes our bodies. In this Sacrament is contained the Word not only in His divinity but also in His humanity; therefore, it is the cause not only of the glorification of our souls but also of that of our bodies" ("Commentary on St. John, in loc.").
Our Lord uses a stronger word than just "eating" (the original verb could be translated as "chewing") which shows that Communion is a real meal. There is no room for saying that He was speaking only symbolically, which would mean that Communion was only a metaphor and not really eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ.
"All these invitations, promises and threats sprang from the great desire which (Jesus) had of giving us Himself in the holy Sacrament of the altar. But why should Jesus so ardently desire us to receive Him in Holy Communion? It is because love always sighs for, and tends to a union with, the object beloved. True friends wish to be united in such a manner as to become only one. The love of God for us being immense, He destined us to possess Him not only in Heaven, but also here below, by the most intimate union, under the appearance of bread in the Eucharist. It is true we do not see Him; but He beholds us, and is really present; yes, He is present in order that we may possess Him and He conceals Himself, that we may desire Him, and until we reach our true homeland Jesus Christ wishes in this way to be entirely ours, and to be perfectly united to us" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice", Chapter 2).
55. In the same way as bodily food is necessary for life on earth, Holy Communion is necessary for maintaining the life of the soul, which is why the Church exhorts us to receive this Sacrament frequently: "Every day, as is desirable, and in the greatest possible numbers, the faithful must take an active part in the sacrifice of the Mass, avail themselves of the pure, holy refreshment of Holy Communion and make a suitable thanksgiving in return for this great gift of Christ the Lord. Here are the words they should keep in mind: `Jesus Christ and the Church desire all Christ's faithful to approach the sacred banquet every day. The basis of this desire is that they should be united to God by the sacrament and draw strength from it to restrain lust, to wash away the slight faults of daily occurrence and to take precautions against the more serious sins to which human frailty is liable' (Decree of the S.C. of the Council, 20 December 1905)" ([Pope] Paul VI, "Mysterium Fidei").
"The Savior has instituted the most august sacrament of the Eucharist, which truly contains His flesh and His blood, so that he who eats this bread may live forever; whosoever, therefore, makes use of it often with devotion so strengthens the health and the life of his soul, that it is almost impossible for him to be poisoned by any kind of evil affection. We cannot be nourished with this flesh of life, and live with the affections of death. [...]. Christians who are damned will be unable to make any reply when the just Judge shows them how much they are to blame for dying spiritually, since it was so easy for them to maintain themselves in life and in health by eating His Body which He had left them for this purpose. Unhappy souls, He will say, why did you die, seeing that you had at your command the fruit and the food of life?" (St. Francis de Sales, "Introduction to the Devout Life", II, 20, 1).
56. The most important effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union with Jesus Christ. The very word "communion" suggests sharing in the life of our Lord and becoming one with Him; if our union with Jesus is promoted by all the sacraments through the grace which they give us, this happens more intensely in the Eucharist, for in it we receive not only grace but the very Author of grace: "Really sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. `Because the bread is one, we, though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread' (1 Corinthians 10:17)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 7). Precisely because the Eucharist is the sacrament which best signifies and effects our union with Christ, it is there that the whole Church manifests and effects its unity: Jesus Christ "instituted in His Church the wonderful sacrament of the Eucharist, by which the unity of the Church is both signified and brought about" (Vatican II, "Unitatis Redintegratio", 2).
57. In Christ, the Incarnate Word sent to mankind, "the whole fullness of deity, dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9) through the ineffable union of His human nature and His divine nature in the Person of the Word. By receiving in this sacrament the body and blood of Christ indissolubly united to His divinity, we share in the divine life of the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. We will never be able to appreciate enough the intimacy with God Himself--Father, Son and Holy Spirit—that we are offered in the eucharistic banquet.
"We can therefore do nothing more agreeable to Jesus Christ than to go to Communion with the dispositions suitable to so great an action, since we are then united to Jesus Christ, according to the desire of this all-loving God. I have said with `suitable' and not `worthy' disposition, for who could communicate if it was necessary to be worthy of so great a Savior? No one but a God would be worthy to receive a God. But by this word suitable, or convenient, I mean such a disposition as becomes a miserable creature, who is clothed with the unhappy flesh of Adam. Ordinarily speaking, it is sufficient that we communicate in a state of grace and with an anxious desire of advancing in the love of Jesus Christ" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice", Chapter 2).
58. For the third time (cf. 6:31-32 and 6:49) Jesus compares the true bread of life, His own body, with the manna God used to feed the Israelites every day during their forty years in the wilderness--thereby, inviting us to nourish our soul frequently with the food of His body.
"`Going to Communion every day for so many years! Anybody else would be a saint by now, you told me, and I...I'm always the same!' Son, I replied, keep up your daily Communion, and think: what would I be if I had not gone'" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 534).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.