My Flesh is Real Food

Saint Anne Church - June 9, 1996

Today's Gospel begins with these words of Jesus: "I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he shall live forever, for the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

When Jesus spoke these words, many of his disciples were scandalized. For he went so far as to say, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." The disciples were horrified. Sounds like cannibalism, a practice abhorrent to human nature. Furthermore, the Law of Moses forbade eating or drinking of blood, any blood, even that of animals.

Jesus offers no easy explanation. He just keeps repeating and emphasizing: “Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall have no life in you.”

At that point, many who had followed Jesus left him. What he says just doesn't make sense. We can't take it.

Then, came the Last Supper. Jesus took bread and said: "This is my body; take and eat." Then he took a cup of wine and said: "Take and drink, all of you; this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new covenant."

Many Protestants find this too much to take literally. Even those Protestants who otherwise take the Bible very literally. So, they say that the bread and wine are mere symbols reminding us of what Jesus did at the Last Supper. Others will say: When we eat and drink together remembering Jesus, he is in our midst. Somewhat like when Jesus says that when we are gathered two or three in his name, he is in our midst.

But the authentic Christian faith for 2,000 years has held firmly that Jesus is really present in the consecrated bread and wine. How? I cannot tell you. It's a great mystery. Like the Incarnation. How can Jesus, the son of Mary, be God in person? The words of Jesus are equally clear especially in today's Gospel: "My flesh is real food and my blood real drink."

I know Jesus is present in the consecrated bread and in the wine because he tells me, and I believe Jesus. I have good reasons to believe Jesus. That's what faith is all about.

Unfortunately, the faith of many Catholics is faltering today. An article appeared in THE ANCHOR, our diocesan paper, in February last year under a bold headline: "Is faith in the Eucharist collapsing?"

In January of 1992, a Gallup poll showed that less than 1/3 of U.S. Catholics well understood and accepted the teaching of the Church on the Holy Eucharist. Only 30% of those surveyed believed that when receiving Holy Communion they were really receiving the body and blood, soul, and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine. It's as if they believed that those who saw Jesus when he was on the earth, he was nothing more than the man they saw with their eyes of flesh, and not God in person who had assumed unto himself a human nature.

Some theologians attribute this problem to poor preaching, inadequate catechesis, questionable Eucharistic practices, decline of the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and lack of reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament (that shows a lack of true faith in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, in the Tabernacle).

What needs to be done? Priests much preach more about the Catholic faith concerning the Blessed Sacrament, especially the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread and wine; better teaching of this central part of our faith in Catechism classes; revive the reverence we used to have in celebrating the Mass and receiving communion; reverence for the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle, which is often sorely lacking in our churches today. Lack of reverence in our churches is a clear sign of our lack of faith that this is truly, as Jesus said, "the house of God," that Jesus is present in the Tabernacle.

I am deeply gratified by what I see in this church today. Perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is a public and powerful proclamation of our faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. When that faith is there, we see a greater reverence for Jesus present in our church. I find it most gratifying to see more and more people coming to pray quietly before the Blessed Sacrament. And, thank God, this devotion "Perpetual Adoration" is spreading all over our country right now.

Sermons on the Eucharist Index