16 August 2015: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Liturgical color: Green)
John 6:51-58
"Taste and see the goodness of the Lord!"
Do you know that every celebration of the Mass is actually our invitation to partake in the banquet of the Lord? It is proclaimed beautifully in the words of Responsorial Psalm 34: "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."
The Gospel proclamation this Sunday literally invites us to taste the goodness of the Lord, as we continue with the theme of Jesus as Bread of life.
Jesus said to the crowd: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread
For Catholics, the doctrine of the Real Presence asserts that in the Holy Eucharist Jesus is literally and wholly present, body and blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine.
When they heard this, the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying: "How can this man (Jesus) give us his flesh to eat?" So also we ask: "Why did Jesus give us his Body and Blood?"
Well, our Lord Jesus assumes our humanity, but he also invites us to share in his very Self. That is why He gives us his Body and Blood in the Eucharist. In this way, the human flesh of Jesus continues to link us and the people of every age with the timeless sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on the cross. Thus, it fills us with a lasting sense of connectedness with Him and with one another.
As we reflect more deeply on the mystery of the Holy Eucharist we grow in faith and come to believe and understand the very center and source of our Christian life, in the following ways:
The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist enables us to know his divine Person. Thus, when we eat the "true food" of the Holy Eucharist, Jesus transforms our view of life, helps us to grow in faith, deepens our love, comes to strengthen us and accompany us on our life's pilgrimage.
The Eucharist anticipates and is a foretaste of the life we hope to share in heaven. As we receive the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus, we come to be more and more like Him and so partake, while still here on earth, of the eternal banquet of heaven.
Our sharing in the Body and Blood of the Lord is the high point of our intimacy with Jesus Christ. It guarantees His promise: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day." (Jn 6:54)
In Holy Mass, we should ask ourselves: "How will I offer myself to God in order to match Jesus' love and gift of self to me?" And we will discover that as much as we think we are giving ourselves to Jesus, the reality is that He is never outdone in his generous outpouring of his very life into our own, in the Holy Eucharist.
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.
Ad Jesum per Mariam!
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