THE NECESSITY OF EATING THE SACRAMENT

FRIDAY, Third Week of Eastertide

Reflection from friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 9:1-20; Ps 117; Jn 6:52-59

The Necessity of Eating the Sacrament

The gospel passage we have today is one of the demanding teachings of our Lord in the Gospel. The difficulty is in its content and the method the Lord used in presenting it to his audience. The content is the subject of his body and blood. He presented his body and blood to his audience as food necessary for their salvation. The Lord moved from presenting himself as the bread of life they must receive to the specification of his body and blood as food and drink. It was not too difficult for them to admit his word as he presented himself as the bread of life; they understood him as implying his words or teaching that they must adhere to or live on. The Lord moved from the mention they made of the manna their forefathers ate in the wilderness as a sacrament of God’s word to the presentation of his body and blood as real food and drink. His words were so harsh in their ears that they could not contain their resentment. But he repeated his statement with emphasis: “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.” 

What we can garner from the content of the teaching and the manner the Lord presented it include the following. The first is the authority of the Son of Man as the Sacrament of the Eternal Word among us. The content of the teaching would only make meaning as coming from the divine Person of the Eternal Word. As such, the human audience must receive the teaching with reverence. We mentioned the obediential potency of every creature before God in our reflection yesterday; even more is required from his rational creatures who must submit to God’s will without questioning or doubting his goodness and good will. The second consideration is the relationship of the speaker to the audience. The Jewish audience was already prepared to receive this teaching from the Son of Man through their history of interaction with God through his word. Their reference to Moses and the manna he fed their ancestors in the wilderness demonstrates the suitability of their background to the teaching of our Lord. The third insight from the passage is that the Lord gave his teaching in response to their request for a similar food to what Moses gave their ancestors. This confirms our position that everything in our lives serves as a sacrament the Father uses to bring us to Jesus Christ. The fourth point is the necessity of the teaching for our salvation. The Lord presented the teaching without makeup to minimize the possibility of misunderstanding or misrepresentation because of its importance for salvation.  

From the above considerations, we note that divine authority and the necessity of God's will were at play in the arrest of Saul on his way to Damascus. The Lord uses various means and tools to prepare us for the moments of truth. These are moments when we must accept God’s revelation of himself to us based only on faith in his divine authority. In such moments, it is enough to know that it is coming from God to us. The knowledge is from faith and not from physical sight. What is sure is that God uses our past experiences to prepare us for the required act of faith when the bitter pill is given to us for our healing and well-being. The moment Saul heard the voice of the Lord, he believed and obeyed subsequently. “Who are you, Lord? He asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.” The Lord tells us what to do to have eternal life. We must obey with faith without any doubt. This is the bread that comes from heaven which we must eat to have eternal life.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to always believe in your infinite love and care for us, that we may eat your body and drink your blood in faith even when it is difficult and hidden from our understanding. 


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