“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.” Some of Jesus’ own disciples were having trouble with his teaching which we heard last week. We hear them respond in today’s Gospel, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (Jn 6:60)
Did some disciples leave when Jesus taught that we must love our enemies and pray for our persecutors? Probably, but we disciples know that loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us is the only way to go since God’s love through us transforms all of us, even those who treat us as enemies.
What was the hard teaching that alienated many of Jesus disciples? Was it that marriage by God’s de-sign is only between a man and a woman, for life, un-til death do you part? No, although some people struggle with the teaching that a Catholic Marriage is an indissoluble Sacrament, whereby God’s marital grace is present until death do they part. Thus, a man and a woman truly become one body in the Sacrament of Marriage for the glory of God and his Church, just as Christ is the head of his bride the Church, in order to love and serve his Church family.
The teaching that many of Jesus’ own disciples were having trouble was his teaching about the Holy Eucharist. Jesus taught that he was the “living bread come down from heaven” and that whoever eats his body and drinks his blood will have life within them. In fact, he repeats it several times, “I am the bread of life…You must eat my body and drink my blood in order to have life within you.”
So central to his identity is the Holy Eucharist that Jesus says, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” Jesus wants people to come to him, but they can only grow in this saving relationship when they believe that Jesus is in perfect union with God the Father. That is to say, that Jesus’ divine and human will are in line with God the Father’s eternal will.
Many of Jesus’ disciples chose to turn away from Jesus at this teaching and go back to their former way of life.
Jesus then turns to some of his closest disciples, the Twelve Apostles, and asked, “Do you also want to leave?” You can just sense the sadness and anticipation in this question.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is breaking because people are turning away from him even though he created them, sustains their lives, has healed them, has forgiven their sins through baptism and confession, and now he wants to feed them with his very life - his Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – and they walk away from him.
Jesus asked his Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter, our first Pope, speaks up for the rest of the Twelve, and really for all practicing and yet broken Catholics throughout the world when he says: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:69)
Every doctrine or teaching that Jesus Christ has communicated to us through the Bible and the Catholic Church – which has protected and translated the Bible as well as Sacred Tradition – is expressed out of true love for us, for our saving relationship with God and one another.
We are called to believe all of Jesus’ teachings, the doctrines of his Church, even though we might not understand them fully, at least at this point in our spiri-tual journey.
A story comes to mind. When I was about 12 years old walking to CCD class (faith formation class), a fellow classmate told me, “The only reason why you are going to CCD is because your parents told you to go.”
I felt upset and told him something like, “My par-ents want me to go to CCD, and I want to go too, be-cause I learn about God.”
On the way home, I realized that my parents and I want the same thing. Our wills were united in the desire that I should know, love and serve God, for this is the way to true happiness and heaven.
Much like my Dad loves and serves my Mom, and my Mom loves and serves my Dad, because they want to stay united in pleasing God and one another, so also they have the same desire to love and serve their children, that we might know and love Jesus Christ and his Bride the Church.
Our wills, our choices to follow Jesus Christ are our own, but they are united in the love and the service of the truth about God and how he desires to have a saving relationship with us.
“Do you also want to leave?” There is no way I want to leave Jesus Christ, even though Judas will be-tray him, and Peter will deny him, and even though I sometimes fall into sin, I never want to leave Jesus and his Bride the Catholic Church, for as Peter said when he came back to Jesus, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you… I would never leave you because you have the words of forgiveness and love. You have the words of Eternal Life.”
Peace in Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Thomas McCabe
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