This is a transcript, slightly touched up but rather unpolished, of my Sunday Homily on August 18th. The livestream replay can be viewed here.
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Let me jump into the bread of life discourse. First of all, just to affirm in a very straightforward theological way, the Church takes the words of Jesus as an absolute truth! Even if we have to say there’s mystery to it – because we cannot describe it in scientific terms, or even natural terms, we can’t! – it’s the same thing as, it’s the extension of what we’d say of, the Incarnation of Christ. Jesus is “true God and true man.” So, Jesus is the uniting of God and humanity. And then Jesus says that receiving the Eucharist (Holy Communion, his flesh and blood) is to receive himself; that it’s communion with himself. And this is the whole thing… of him saying “it’s the same thing for me to share life with the heavenly Father as for you to share life by receiving my flesh and blood!” So there’re multiple syllogisms here – if you’re into logic – and therefore we put them all together “the Eucharist is Jesus; and therefore, it is the uniting of humanity and divinity; and then, we ‘get-in’ on that union.”
We’re ‘humanity’ right? We’re made of “human nature” and yet we get-in on that “uniting” of humanity and divinity by receiving the Eucharist. I’m going to give an analogy of how great a gift this is, that God has given us.
I use the analogy that actually just two weeks ago the seminarian (here for the summer) gave in a very nice reflection. He [Cale] said “you want to think of the appreciation of really how great a gift it is? That God has given us this, the Body and Blood of Christ to be received in communion, in the Eucharist: to commune with Jesus in an utterly unparalleled way? You want a natural analogy? Think of marriage. Think of the great and wonderful – though natural – aspirations of a husband and wife: to be dedicated to each other and to share all of life, and everything-to-do-with-each-other for the whole of their years… for their family. Think of that ‘natural’ desire for marriage; and that’s actually the closest analogy you can get to thinking how great a gift this is, that God gave us the Eucharist. (Although the Eucharist in a sense is deeper, with a supernatural reality: again the divinity of Christ our Lord is what we’re sharing in). We receive the Eucharist!
There’s a reason that I bring up that analogy. Marriage and the Eucharist. It’s actually because Jesus used it, when he talked about the wedding feast… and the suppers, and the purpose of all the meals and eating; he did! And he said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a marriage feast, and “I’m the Bridegroom and the Church is the bride.” Jesus gave us this whole analogy, himself. It comes from his lips.
This is one of his main pictures. We call it a parable; it’s true to call it a parable, but you see how deep the meaning of it goes? And then the second reason I use this analogy is because next week, when we continue reading from the epistle to the Ephesians – concurrently with Saint Paul and John Chapter 6 side by side – we get to the passage where Saint Paul uses the analogy. “So you want to understand Christ and the Church, and humanity and divinity being united together? Call it a marriage.” Saint Paul is the one who quotes… well actually he imitates Jesus who is the first one who quoted… the passage of Genesis. A man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Right? We know this. This is the description of marriage in the book of Genesis. But Saint Paul takes that description of marriage – like Jesus did – and then says “yes, you know what the ultimate meaning of that is? It’s Jesus and the Church, united; It’s humanity and divinity united. Call it a word play if you want, but I think there’s much more to it. Jesus said marriage is “one flesh.” St. Paul repeats it: “marriage means one flesh.” And then Jesus says “Yes, if you’re going to be one with me, “eat my flesh!” The mystery is deep but yet there we are.
There’s another reason why I jump to the analogy that Saint Paul gives in Ephesians. It’s because when Saint Paul is treating that portion, where he’s actually quoting Genesis – the significance that Jesus gave to marriage – Saint Paul is saying this specifically because he’s trying to talk about marriage and the great calling that’s there in marriage.
If you look ahead you’ll know that next week the next passage from Ephesians… it’s the one where people don’t know what to do with it. Because its translated so awkwardly, “wives be subordinate to their husbands,” and what is this supposed to mean practically speaking? And is this subjective? Is it…?
The whole key is you have to go from before, ahead of the passage, to the end where Saint Paul is talking about Christ and the Church… and the Eucharist! What a great gift God has given us that he has united humanity and divinity in the Eucharist! That’s the end point. But where Saint Paul starts that discussion about vocation and family – family and marriage – and all of the ordering of our lives; where he starts it, is what we read today. And I describe this passage that we read today as, very simply, “how to live eucharisticly.”
You’ll have to take my word for it. There’re actually 4 actions at Saint Paul says all go together. Then the discussions of marriage and family and husbands and wives all fall under the 4th, it seems. But it falls under all four of them. You have to take my word for it, that if you’re reading it in Greek you’ll see all four of these things are supposed to go together; and we read three of them today, but the 4th is all about marriage and family in Christ, and the Church. St. Paul said “be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Be filled with the Holy Spirit! What does this mean?
One 1) “address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” We do that don’t we? Well, we should. Using the words of the psalms and prayers from scripture. Two 2), “singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts.” Have hearts filled with music. Why? Because, gratitude! Why? Because… that’s number three 3) “giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” Thanks “always”! Thanks for everything! And what is number four? Therefore, “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
That’s the fourth thing on the list, “being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” So, what does that mean? It means whatever the arrangement is, whatever the proper plan, or the order, for whatever – whether it be our personal lives or our family life, or our communal life, or our parish life with societal life – whatever the structure, the order, the purpose, the goals… whatever the reason is… DO IT FOR CHRIST! And do it because of Christ! And if we’re wondering whether or not we’re doing it for Christ, and because of Christ, we can go back to the first three things on the list. “Be filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” “Singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts.” “Giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”
What’s the best model for it? The hymn of praise that Mary sang! Go to Luke chapter one, the Magnificat. Those words… those words best expressed everything here. Let us try to be thankful to our Lord. And try to BE thankful in the ins-and-outs of life; and love each other as Christ has loved us, for in doing THAT we prove our gratitude to the Lord for all that he has given us. May we do so more and more, to the end, and unto eternity Amen.
Ubi Petrus VT 