Gospel & Reflection for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
John 6:51-58
Jesus 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 forever.
Reflection
Friends, one of the world’s most celebrated authors is the late J.R.R. Tolkien. He is most famous for his fantasy books ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord Of The Rings.’ But less spoken about is the fact that Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He was a daily communicant and spent much time in Eucharistic Adoration. He described his love of and deep gratitude for the Eucharist as what sustained him in the wilderness times of his life, especially his harsh experiences as a soldier during the First World War.
He once wrote to his son Christopher saying, “Out of the darkness of my life with so much frustration, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament….” But Tolkien’s love and spiritual dependence upon the Eucharist is actually enshrined in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. If you have read the books or seen the films, you may well remember that the protagonists of the story are the Hobbits Frodo and Sam. Hobbits, while short in stature, are mighty in peace, heart and friendship, and in the case of Frodo and Sam, courage as well. These heroes set out on an arduous and perilous journey to cast an evil ring of power back into the hellish fires of Mount Doom.
While on their adventurous and dangerous journey, Frodo and Sam are sustained and nourished by a special bread called ‘Lembas’ bread. Just a tiny amount of this bread strengthens those who eat it for days. It is bitter tasting to anyone with an evil heart but sweet tasting to those who were humble and good. When they were first given loaves of this bread, the Elven Queen who gave it to them said: “it is more strengthening than any food by men, and it is more pleasant. Well, if Lembas bread represents the Eucharist in real life, who would not want something so pleasant? Quite a few obviously!
Even as our Lord offered His very self, there were those for whom the idea of Jesus as “the living bread” was something too bitter for them to see, believe and receive. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat,” they ask contentiously? The arguments begun that very day, have continued ever since.
As people of faith, I am sure that we all have encountered others who are both curious and confrontational about our faith. They challenge us about why we come to Mass or why we support the Catholic Church. But interestingly, very few people question, argue, or disagree with us over our belief in and relationship with Christ. They never challenge about Christ’s nature or His presence in the Eucharist. They keep the arguments general – issues with hierarchy, our teachings, or our moral stance on issues that no one else will stand up for. They will talk endlessly about those things but rarely ask about Christ and His importance in our lives. I think they don’t ask because to do so is to confront those questions in themselves; to confront the spiritual aspect of their own life that they would rather ignore, even as it cries out for attention.
Tolkien embraced the spiritual. He took hold of Christ in prayer and in the Eucharist and shared Him with as many people as possible in his books and letters. But every one of you here do the same. Your presence in Church has little to do with the headline issues that always get spoken of. You are here for the less mentioned but far more important aspect of faith – growing in relationship with God. You make a conscience choice to do so. In many ways, it is a radical counter-cultural choice for which many will question you but not understand, or simply don’t want to.
The Eucharist is our intimacy in our relationship with God and for us there is no arguments or questions about it. The Eucharist is Christ. He is our strength, and He is sweet of taste to us. Daily or weekly, this is the bread that nourishes and strengthens us on our journey and it inspires us always to be as Christ would want us to be – mighty in peace, heart, friendship, courage and love.
Through the Eucharist, we live in the Lord and the Lord lives in us. If anyone wants to argue with us about anything, they might as well argue with us about that!
Fr. Richard