Why do smokers get angry with the knowledge that quitting is good for them? Why do we hate to exercise, when we know it will do us a world of good? Why can’t we make ourselves turn off the television and visit with our family after a day at school or work? Why do we want greasy sausage rather than healthy vegetables and fruit? Maybe we really need to examine this reality about ourselves, especially as it affects the practice of our faith!
We say we believe that what we present as bread and wine will become the Body and Blood of Christ, and yet, many of us still would rather do something else on Sunday mornings! Sometimes we make ourselves come to Mass, but we are rather passive/aggressive about our presence. A priest I know, to make a point to his parish, stood outside his church one Sunday and counted. Fully a third of his congregation arrived significantly late. Fully another third was gone before the distribution of Communion was over! The first person to leave held the door open for the last person to arrive! Why is this?? Why are we so resistive to health, be it the health of our bodies, our minds or, in particular, our souls?
We are a people who hunger. We hunger for fulfillment, for meaning, for happiness. But, as the song goes, we “look for love in all the wrong places.” Today we are asked to look to the Eucharist and see it as being the one thing to truly feed us. We are also asked to look to the Eucharist and see ourselves, the Church, as the Body of Christ in the world today. That means that it is our mission to continue Jesus’ work of loving, teaching and feeding!
At the Eucharist, God calls us all to be one, to share in the one bread of life that is the anticipation of our common goal, the banquet of heaven. This Sunday’s Gospel account of the feeding of the five thousand reminds us of the Eucharist: “Jesus took the bread. . . said the blessing. . . broke the bread. . . and gave it to his disciples.” They all ate as much as they wanted. In other words, Jesus satisfied the needs and desires of all. Not only did he feed their spirit, he fed their bodies and minds as well. This is exactly what he wants us to do when he commands us, “Do this in memory of me!”
If we are to truly be the Body of Christ in our world, we cannot honestly be indifferent to the Eucharist, and we cannot celebrate our Eucharist while remaining indifferent to the needs of those around us! As Christians, we must help those in need. We must help the hungry, the sick, the homeless, the poor, the lonely, the despised. It is when we, the Church, begin to respond to the needs of others, that we can most truly claim to be the Body of Christ. Our meal, the Body and Blood of Christ, offers us what we need for happiness in abundance!