Friday of the Third Week of Easter

St Francis, in the Valley of St Francis

Lectionary: 277


Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.

To make his point Jesus uses the strongest possible language in the most graphic, even barbaric, fashion. We have often heard him use the expression, “Amen, amen,” which is sometime translated as “very truly” or “verily, verily.” Although he has on occasion told us not to swear at all, he makes an exception to swear by himself as he emphasizes how important this teaching is.

Catholics take this teaching quite literally, regarding the Eucharist as “The Blessed Sacrament.” We believe the bread of the Eucharist has been transubstantially changed to the very flesh of Jesus; and the wine, to blood. We do not theorize on how the change is affected. Like the resurrection from the dead, we leave that speculation to idealists and dreamers. 


But many practicing Catholics also fail to heed these words. Despite Jesus’ command, they will not “drink his blood” from the chalice. Religion is a funny business; it is always simpler and more complicated than anyone can imagine. 


Eating human flesh and drinking human blood would be barbaric in any case, but Jesus’ teaching also flouts the Jewish abhorrence of drinking blood. They recalled God’s command to Noah, the ancestor of the entire human race: “Any living creature that moves about shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. Only meat with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.” 


To this day some Protestant religions avoid the eating of blood. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for instance, refuse blood transfusions because it may be a form of consuming or eating, though they will accept solid organ transplants. They use that argument to refute the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. 


All that is interesting but it hardly penetrates the mystery of Jesus’ words. What does he mean and what are we doing when we receive the Eucharist? Why must he use such intense, even distasteful language? 


The answer to those questions is really quite simple: because we must believe what he tells us. Jesus uses every possible argument and persuasion to show us himself and his authority, and the absolute necessity of faith in him. To prove his love even to the most skeptical he will not hesitate to undergo several trials in Jewish and Roman courts, torture, humiliation and crucifixion. He leaves us no choice but to believe in him because there is no other choice. We must take him at his word. When he says, “This is my body! This is my blood” and “Do this in remembrance of me” we must eat and drink. 


Recently a Veteran told me how his faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament has kept him in the Church these 70+ years. Like everyone else he has been disheartened by the human failings and sins of our Church. But they never distracted him from the Presence of Jesus and his duties as a husband, father, Catholic and citizen. 

At his feet, a bluebird

Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come… because you have the LORD for your refuge and have made the Most High your stronghold. (Psalm 91: 7, 9)

On this April 19, the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Waco Texas firebombing, and several other incidents: pray for peace among Americans; and that God will spare us today.