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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

Much ado about nothing or, is there something to it?

Readings: Acts 19:1-8 Psalm 68:2-7 John 16:29-33

Paul traveled through the interior of the country and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” [Acts 19:1-3]

Depending on one’s sacramental theology and pastoral practice, this text has been variously interpreted. For example, those who work with the RCIA (catecheumenate) hold that the sacrament of Confirmation should be administered with Baptism as it was in the early Church. It is one of the sacraments of initiation—Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The Eastern Rite of the Roman Catholic Church has retained the tradition of administering all three at Baptism. Yes, the infant receives a small piece of the Eucharist bread. And so in the Eastern Rite, there is no formal celebration of First Holy Communion at the age of reason or Confirmation by the bishop at whatever age the local diocese has determined the age of maturity appropriate for Confirmation. All three sacraments are administered shortly after birth.

Others feel that the celebration of First Communion and Confirmation at a later age ensures the participation of youngsters in parish religious education programs – at least until Confirmation. In this case, many Catholics view Confirmation as the completion of or graduation from religious studies.

In recent years I have become convinced that the RCIA folks and the Eastern Rite Catholics have it right. All three sacraments of initiation should be administered together. First Holy Communion and Confirmation have become more social than spiritual. I do not mean to suggest that there is no connection or that there should be no celebration after sacramental ceremonies but for many, the accent is on the wrong syllable.

The path from Baptism to Christian maturity is life-long and the benchmarks for progress are not easily measured by grouping children by age or grade level for a period of preparation that is largely academic.

This is not to suggest that religious education is optional. Faith development is unique to each person within the context first of family and then of parish. Religious education / formation is intended to provide insight into faith development at an age-appropriate level.

Catholicism has become ‘child-centered’ the result of which, we have an adult population whose religious and spiritual development stopped at Confirmation.

The celebration of Eucharist is the primary setting for faith formation. Religious education is a necessary component but detached from Eucharist, it remain just another subject to master.

Of course this all assumes that the parish celebration of the Eucharist is truly inclusive and meaningful rather than just an empty ritual. The parish at worship should be a rendition of a community of faith that strives to live its faith ‘in the town square’ as I mentioned in Sunday’s homily.

Notwithstanding my commitment to religious dialogue, I do believe that effective dialogue is based on the assumption that although both parties are knowledgeable about the topic. Though they may have different perspectives, they are not based on ignorance of the subject.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Sunday August 16, 2009

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Children below the age of seven or eight do not have the ability to deal with abstract notions when it comes to spiritual realities. They concretize abstractions. For example, they image God as a person and when we refer to God as ‘Father’, they associate God with their earthly father or more likely as a grandfather. Due to their early catechetical ‘training’ many adults do the same and have difficulty moving beyond the literal meaning of words that deal with deep theological realities. Ultimately, God is beyond definition.

When instructing children about the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, they hear the words but tend to think of Jesus as somehow literally inside the white wafer and when they listen to the gospel passage for this Sunday, they find it difficult to grasp the notion that the bread and wine are transparent symbols of a hidden reality that words fail to explain.

I have heard a child inquire whether or not the host will bleed if it is chewed. Most of us recall the days when we were told not to chew the host! In our effort to explain the ‘real presence’ we need to avoid simplistic or overly pious stories about bleeding hosts. And when we so emphasize the words of consecration we risk excluding the importance of the entire context of the sacred liturgy.

The earliest description of what took place at the Last Supper may be found in chapter 11 of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians written in 56 AD. Paul quotes the words of institution but the context of Paul’s words is also important and helps us to move beyond the literal to the deepest meaning of the words. The Eucharist must be understood within the context of a communal meal in which our own personal stories are connected with the Jesus story and of course, the God story, both of which are all about unconditional and sacrificial love.

We have been listening to John’s reflections on the Eucharist sequentially for several weeks but this weekend we come to the main course, as it were. It may be helpful to recall that John’s gospel was written long after Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and later than the other three gospels. Moreover, it is quite likely that someone may have even contributed to his text even after he completed it, in effect reflecting the understanding of the Eucharist among early believers.

John’s insistence on the ‘eating’ of Christ’s ‘flesh’ and the ‘drinking’ of his ‘blood’ was not just a metaphorical expression but obviously it was not meant to be literal either. The most reasonable explanation of orthodox Christians is that the Eucharist was the real presence of the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith not just a symbolic presence but it was never meant to suggest a cannibalistic interpretation. The psalm response, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord…” says it all. In other words, when we gather to remember what Jesus did at he Last Supper, we also remember all of what Jesus did throughout his entire life. It is the wisdom of God personified in Christ that we seek and celebrate when we come to this table. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord…” Taste and see the wisdom of the Lord. Somehow when believers come together to do what Jesus did at the Last Supper, he [Jesus] is truly present in a mystical way so that the overall effect is the same as if we were present at table with him. The priest stands in the person of Christ but the Eucharistic action is not direct toward him [the priest] but toward Christ and toward the entire body of Christ throughout the world.

John’s gospel does not contain a narration of the actual words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper because he took for granted the common practice of early Christians to do what the Lord Jesus had done on the night before he died, namely that he “took the bread, blessed and broke it…” Moreover, John is connecting the words of institution with the words of Jesus spoken earlier to his disciples following the multiplication of the loaves and fishes: “I am the bread of life… unless you eat this bread and drink this blood, you shall not have life in you…” etc.

Then John makes a statement that has incredible implications. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood HAS [emphasis mine] eternal life…” In John’s mind, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And this was the point of this passage in which Jesus claims to be the bread of life for the salvation of the world. In other words, those who feed on the Eucharist already have the gift of eternal life, that is to say that those who accept the wisdom of Jesus already live the fullness of God’s life.

John also makes a connection between the Eucharist and Calvary. This meal is a sacrificial meal not in the sense that God demanded the death of Christ to atone for sin but that God demanded his faithfulness, which of course led to his death. His blood was poured out as gift of love. No one can remain that faithful and not see death. The world seems virtually unable to handle that kind of inclusive love except to demand its rejection. Jesus went to the cross because he could not do otherwise and still remain faithful.

We need to allow the Eucharist to transform us so that over time we do indeed become the Body of Christ and with St Paul we can state that “I live no longer I but Christ lives in me.” This is a call to sacrificial love that is a transforming love for the world, Jesus working in and through us as it were to transform the world.

Jesus connected the meal with service to humanity. “What I command is that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” [John 15:12-13]

“So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, ‘Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me “teacher” and “master,” and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and the teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” [John 13:12-15]

Children will come to know how Jesus is present in the Eucharist as we their mentors strive to reflect the wisdom of God and the goodness of Jesus in all that we say and do. They will “taste and see the goodness of the Lord;” taste and see the wisdom of the Lord.