Thirty-third Sunday - 2024

We are coming to the end of this present liturgical year. Next Sunday is Christ the King, followed by the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new year. This year we are now completing is year B in the three-year cycle of Sundays and the gospel of Mark has been the principal source for our gospel readings. Next year is year C and the gospel of Luke will be our gospel source. The gospel readings of late have included references to end times, as we see in today’s gospel. In these days we are reminded that God’s salvific plan for us is contained in a framework of time, as is the whole of creation. It begins in time, unfolds for a time, and when completed the end time arrives. That there is to be an end time we know for certain. What we don’t know is when the end of time will come. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Mark 13:32 The first generation of the Church for the most part believed that the second coming of Christ would be in their time. But this seemed not to be happening and some began scoff at the idea all together. St. Peter addresses this in his Second Letter to the churches. Know this, that in the last days scoffers will come to scoff, living according to their own desires and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? From the time when our ancestors fell asleep, everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation.” The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out. 2 Pt. 3: Down through the ages there have been predictions of the imminent end of the world which aroused many people with fear. The seniors among you will remember the Cuban missal crisis of 1962. For 13 days, from October 16–28, Russia and the United States stared down the barrels of their atomic bombs at each other. Fear of Armageddon was real and palpable. I was in the seminary at the time and some America students studying with us were notified to be ready to be called home for military duty at any moment. Today a new doomsday warning is being issued to the world from the environmental scientist – that we may be destroying the planet we live on. Added to this, the Covid-19 pandemic has shaken our confidence in the security of our ordinary daily living. These warnings must not be taken lightly.   Sadly there are religious people who claim that they have been given revelations as to when the end of the world will take place. This is causing some devout people to believe these claims - a direct contradiction to Jesus' words in the gospels; (... no one knows, only the Father) Those who buy into such claims often altar their religious practice in ways that cause them to fail in their vocation to work to bring change to the world, giving it a better future by knowing and following the truth of the gospel. But aside from the question of end times, each of us knows well that our own lives are governed by time and like sands in the hourglass time is passing. For the spiritual direction of these days the Church is counselling us to take to heart the many texts of scripture that exhort us to use wisely our God-given days of time and to live holy lives. “Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit, like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast . . . How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later . . . you, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.” Lk. 12:35 Take some time during these next couple of weeks to check the progress of your spiritual life. How am I doing? What needs to change? What might I do better? Am I ready for that knock at my door?

Thirty-second Sunday - 2024

For these Sundays of October and November, the 2nd Reading in the Liturgy of the Word is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews. The author’s main theme is the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus; it is meant as a means of restoring the lost fervor happening among the Hebrew Christians at that time and of strengthening them in their faith. Another important theme of the letter is that of the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem. This theme is intimately connected with that of Jesus’ ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. The new temple, the new sanctuary is now in heaven and Jesus is the High Priest. Ancient peoples believed that the gods dwelt out of sight somewhere up in the heavens. Although indifferent to humans on earth, these gods could at times become annoyed and angry with humans and would hurl down from the ski all manner of punishment; storms, lightning, floods, earthquakes, famines and all manner of catastrophe. Humans in turn, would try to appease the anger of the gods by offering sacrifices; gifts of all kinds, even sacrificing human life. The ancient Hebrews also were affected by this world view, but through the prophets were beginning to get a clearer idea of what was really true. Yet, they still had the temple, and altars of sacrifice, and priest making offerings with which they continued to believe they could appease God’s anger – manifested when bad things would happen. Jesus comes with an entirely new understanding; a new understanding of who God really is, of who we are in God’s eyes, and why God created us in the first place, placing us here on this earth . Jesus reveals to us that God is a loving God, and he has a very particular plan for us humans. God wants to share His divine life with us; literally making us divine child of God, clothing us with the glory that is God’s glory. But before this can happen, we must be made capable of receiving such glory. The angels were given a share in God’s glory before us, but some of them, when they saw how glorious they were, began to think and act as if they too were gods. It was necessary for God to strip them of the glory he had given them and expel them from heaven. Not wanting this fate to happen to humans when they receive glory, God starts us off here on this remote planet earth, in the school of "humbling reality". Once humans are convinced of the truth of their humble state, it is safe to cloth them in glory. A quick look of human history makes it abundantly clear that we are very slow learners. True religion happens when we enter the school of holiness by attaching ourselves to Jesus in a personal relationship. True relationship is not simply knowing about Jesus – the devil knows all about Jesus, true relationship happens when we enter into a spiritual communion with the Spirit of Jesus. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 And who is our teacher in the school of holiness – it is the Holy Spirit, and the school complex wherein we study is the Church.

Thirty-first Sunday - 2024

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"  Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,  with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." Mk. 12

From a letter attributed to Barnabas The Way of Light Consider now the way of light; any man who is bent on reaching his appointed goal must be very careful in all he does. Now these are the directions that have been given to us for this journey: love your Creator; reverence your Maker; give glory to him who redeemed you when you were dead; be single-minded but rich in spiritual treasure; avoid those who travel down death’s highway; hate whatever is displeasing to God; detest all hypocritical pretense; do not abandon God’s commandments. Do not put on airs, but be modest in whatever you do; claim no credit for yourself. Plot no evil against your neighbor, and do not give pride an entrance into your heart. Love your neighbor more than your own life. Do not kill an unborn child through abortion, nor destroy it after birth. Do not refrain from chastising son or daughter, but bring them up from childhood in the fear of the Lord. Do not set your heart on what belongs to your neighbor and do not give in to greed. Do not associate with the arrogant but cultivate those who are humble and virtuous. Accept as a blessing whatever comes your way in the knowledge that nothing ever happens without God’s concurrence. Avoid duplicity in thought or in word, for such deception is a deadly snare. Share with your neighbor whatever you have, and do not say of anything, this is mine. If you both share an imperishable treasure, how much more must you share what is perishable. Do not be hasty in speech; the mouth is a deadly snare. For your soul’s good, make every effort to live chastely. Do not hold out your hand for what you can get, only to withdraw it when it comes to giving. Cherish as the apple of your eye anyone who speaks to you of the word of the Lord. Night and day you will bear in mind the hour of judgment; every day you will seek out the company of God’s faithful, either by preaching the word, earnestly exhorting them, ever considering how you can save souls by your eloquence, or else by working with your hands to make reparation for your past sins. Never hesitate to give, and when you do give, never grumble; then you will know the one who will repay you. Preserve the traditions you have received, adding nothing and taking nothing away. The evildoer will ever be hateful to you. Be fair in your judgments. Never stir up dissension, but act as peacemaker and reconcile the quarrelsome. Confess your sins, and do not begin to pray with a guilty conscience. Such then is the way of light.

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We are all familiar with the physical condition of blindness. Today we have many medical treatments that in some cases are able to restore full vision or at least help a patient gain partial sight which enables them to have self independence.  We can hardly imagine the hardship and suffering blindness brought upon persons so afflicted in Jesus time. To end up a beggar on the street, like the man in today's gospel, was not uncommon.  It is also not uncommon to use the term blindness in a metaphorical sense. You often hear people say, "... what, are you blind, don't you see ..." Today our technological-scientific world has been turn upside down by a little microscopic virus. Thousands of lives have been lost and everyone's life has been altered in various ways. Of all the lessons the pandemic taught us there is one we must not fail to see - it is that we do not rule - we are not the masters of God's creation. We can alter and manipulate things but to change the original design of creation is not ours do. With increasing frequency in our society today we see the role of religion being marinized or abandoned altogether. Yes there are prophets warning us that we are mismanaging this creation we have taken control over; assigning to it a design and purpose of our own making. They warn us of dyer consequence if we are unwilling to see the evidence before our eyes.  "... what, are you blind, don't you see ..." The blind man in today's gospel is quite aware of his condition. Spiritual blindness is much more difficult to comprehend. Spiritual blindness is most often the last thing sufferers attribute to their troubled life. How ironic it is that a man with physical blindness is the one teaching us today about the need for healing of spiritual blindness.  The blind man in today's gospel did not find Jesus on his own. He may have heard about him but in fact it was Jesus who found him. There are evangelist today who know well Jesus the spiritual healer, often because they themselves were healed. The spiritually blind hear this testimony but dismiss it.  People of  a true living faith are today's evangelist. Their lives of peacefulness and confident trust pointing to Jesus as the source are well known to the spiritually blind. The hope is that there will come a time when their blindness becomes clear to them, and with it the day when Jesus comes bye asking " what is it you want me to do for you?" And they will say . . . .  ". . . let me see again ..."

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Twenty-nineth Sunday - 2024

It seems so long ago that parishioners were able to receive Communion from the chalice as well as the Host. Thank God we are once again able to to receive Communion at all. Communion from the Host is to fully receive communion but the privilege of taking both the Host and Chalice further enhances our grasp of Jesus' words describing what we are doing when we take Communion. The following is a post from the Twenty-ninth Sunday 2018 where Jesus uses the word cup or chalice to guide us to understand what is that we are doing when we come forward to take Holy Communion. Mark 10:25-35: In many parishes today, people coming forward to receive Holy Communion are given the option of receiving also from the Cup. Imagine that after receiving the host you move to the station where the minister of the Eucharist is and they present to you this chalice, pictured above, for communion. What would you do? Jesus' words to his disciples and to us in today's gospel: "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?" The disciples are excited about the Kingdom of which Jesus is speaking, (all be it they likely thought he was describing an earthly kingdom. These lowly men could imagine themselves occupying seats of power and glory. Here, Jesus begins to correct their misconception with: "You do not know what you are asking." Glory awaits true, but the way to that glory is the Cross - a concept quite foreign to their thinking. "Can you drink this cup?" To be a true follower of Christ, a true Christians, means you choose to live by a whole new set of values, values that will set you at odds with the values of this world in which you now live. To remain true to your commitment to Christ you must often make sacrifices, to detach yourself from the pursuit of the life of pleasure that so marks this age we live in. Sometimes these sacrifices will be greatly challenging. How easy it is for us to come forward and take communion and return to a comfortable pew. But will I come forward, as I leave the church, and take on the tough choices I must face if I am to be true to the way of holiness which my baptism in Christ expects of me?

Twenty-eighth Sunday - 2024

In Jesus time, the most common way a person would seek out higher learning would be to find someone who had gained much knowledge, so that they might learn from them, person to person, to be their student. They would then be known as a disciples. The Greek and Latin origins of the word disciple means: a pupil of a teacher, apprentice to a master craftsman, a learner, a student. But to be a disciple meant they had to uproot themselves and go and attach themselves to their teacher, and remain with him wherever he went. Today's gospel, taken from chapter 10:17, of Marks gospel, we have the story of a young man who comes to Jesus with some questions about inheriting eternal life. Jesus directs him to the Commandments, but he wants to know if there is more he should know. It tells us that, "Jesus looked at him and loved him". Jesus could see that he had an open mind, seeking to learn, fertile ground to receive the first seeds of the gospel. So Jesus invites him to become his disciple. But there is a problem. His mind may be open, but his heart is divided. He is rich, with many possessions. To become a disciple of Jesus, he would have to leave behind all his possession and follow Jesus where every he went. His head may have been ready but his heart wasn't. The gospels tell us that often there would be large numbers of people who would gather to hear Jesus teaching. But not all were actual disciples. They may be the sick seeking healing, or others looking for miraculous signs. At one point it lists the number of actual disciples at seventy-two. Later, in chapter 6: of John's gospel, when Jesus speaks of eating his body and drinking his blood, it tells us that many of the then disciples could not accept what he was saying, and so quit being disciples and left Jesus. One who is serious about the PRACTICE OF FAITH must recognize that it is not an on again, off again, when I have time and interest, matter. It is a matter of discipleship - of BONDING with Jesus and becoming his student. The PRACTICE OF FAITH is school where one goes to learn, to be with the Master, learning the mysteries of the spiritual life and how to apply them to one's daily life. "Jesus looked at him and loved him". In the end it all comes down to love.  You did not choose me, but I chose you … No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. Jo.15:15 Everyone is called to live by the Commandments of God so that they may inherit eternal life. But it would appear that God has placed in the hearts of some a desire for something more personal - not only to know, but to "know why", - because you are loved personally. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13:

Twenty-seventh Sunday - 2024

This is a link to a commentary on the Church's

teaching on marriage and divorce.

Twenty-sixth Sunday - 2024

Today’s Second Reading comes from Chapter 5 of James. We have had five weeks of tough talk from James as our Second Reading in the Liturgy of the Word. James is speaking to converted Christians – those who embraced the gospel and are now followers of Jesus. He has been warning them of the danger of relapsing back into the corrupt ways of the world. In the gospel for today, Jesus has some tough things to say as well – his words are downright scary. Cutting off your hand, tearing out your eye – that there is a real possibility of going to hell: “… where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.” But have we not passed beyond talking about hell in our time in the Church? Isn’t the message now, “don’t worry God is a merciful God?” How are we to reconcile mercy with Jesus’ warning of going to hell? Mercy verses judgement. An example that I find helpful is to reflect on the dynamics of the addict and their councilor. The councilor approaches the addicted person with great compassion. Their message is clear. Yes, I love you, I will never stop working with you, I am here for you, right to the end if need be – but you are going to die a hellish death if you do not stop destroying yourself with your addiction. We must never forget that God has created us with the responsibility of freedom of choice, freedom to choose how we will live our lives, freedom to choose where we want to spend our eternity. Like addicts of sin Jesus is warning us: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off - if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off - if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out – because if you do not stop … This is the voice of a loving parent pleading with their wayward sons and daughters. This is the voice of loving mercy calling out from the cross, the sign and proof of the desire to forgive. Jesus will be there for us right up to the very last hour – what will we choose?

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Twenty-fifth Sunday of the Year - 2024

I had a bird feeder attached to my back fence. It was a delight to watch the parents feeding their babies perched on branches. But quickly they are grown, the free lunch is over and competition at the feeder becomes very aggressive – after all this is nature – the natural law for these little creatures is, “the survival of the fittest. St. Peter in his first letter, chapter two says this: “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul.” What does he mean calling us Aliens and Sojourners: he is not signifying absence from one’s native land, this image denotes rather our estrangement from this world during our earthly pilgrimage on earth. Earth is not our real home, we are only living here for a short time. The spiritual world in the heavens is our true home. The law of the survival of the fittest is not our way of living, something much higher is how we are to act while we spend these few years here on planet earth. That is why James writes today: Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?  You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Jas. 4:1-3 This is acting like the sparrows at my bird feeder, not as spiritual people on our way back to the Father’s house. James continues: Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, "God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Jas. 4:4-7 James is a strong antidote for those wish to water down the challenge of holiness found in the gospel. As we observe Jesus navigating through the gospels people keep saying, “Who is this? He is not like anyone we have ever known.” Jesus is trying to get us to understand who we really are – that we have a calling much higher than the creatures of this world. We must stop acting like the birds at the bird feeder.

Twenty-fourth Sunday - 2024

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This gospel passage for this Twenty-fourth Sunday, contains two of the most important questions we may ever be ask to answer. We might characterize them in this way;  + the first is about religion ( “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ) + the second is about faith (“But who do you say that I am?” ) Few questions receive more attention than questions about religion. What people say about religion can vary greatly:  > about God, is there a God or not? > if there is a God what is God like? > are there many gods? > why does God matter to us? > which religion has got it right? So many questions like these make up the discussion, or the debate, or the argument about religion. In places like the Middle East, religion and conflict seem to go hand in hand. Here in our country the question seems to have become more muted, deciding instead that it no long matters that much, or just keep it to yourself if you have an opinion about religion. In the gospels, we see Jesus very much engaged in the religion questions of the day, but his purpose is to get to the deeper question, the question of faith, for it is what you believe that shapes the way you conduct your life. It is one thing to form theories and have opinions about religion, it is quite another to embrace with certainty what you are convinced is true. St. Paul made it quite clear when he said, that if it is not a certain fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead, our whole faith structure collapses into nothing. (1Cor. 15:14) It is the official position of our liberal, democratic society not to have a definitive answer to the questions of religion. As long as we do not impose our beliefs on others, or deny them their rights granted them by law, we can practice what ever religious beliefs we have. It is our country's guarantee of religious freedom under the law. So question one asks, "... what are people saying about ...?" After exploring the question of religion, Jesus turns to the question of faith. Jesus has come into the world to bring together and form a communion of people over which he will be the head. ("I will build my church." ) The nature of this communion will be to have a real yet mystical union with Jesus as head and a true and fraternal union with one another. Their instruction will come, by way of revelation and inspiration by the Holy Spirit forming and guiding their minds and hearts. ( “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”) Their purpose is to live holy lives and be a sign and example for all the world to follow. (Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.) In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 1 John 4:8-16 The fact that in this county we have the freedom of religious belief and practice, which we respect, and see as a blessing, does not diminish the importance of the fundamental question: What do you believe - "who do you say I am?". And if your answer concerning Jesus is the same as Peter's, what is the state and condition of your "communion" in the Church that Jesus builds in the world?

Twenty-third Sunday - 2024

During this month of September the Second Reading in the Liturgy of the Word is taken from the Letter of St. James. James is referred to as James the Lesser; not a standard of importance but by the chronology of age, being the younger James, son of Alphaeus or Cleophas as mentioned in John. James was leader of the Church in Jerusalem and this letter is thought to have been written about AD 47. St. James wrote his Letter for the Jewish Christians outside Palestine, who, for the greater part, were poor and oppressed. St. James was moved to write his Letter as he witnessed that the first fervour of the Jewish Christians had grown cold, and a certain spirit of discouragement was developing amongst them. How appropriate for us to hear his words in our own time of declining fervour and faith in the Church. The Jewish Christians James is addressing had come into a beautiful new living faith through the gospel and the Gift of the Holy Spirit – some may have even heard or witnessed Jesus before his death on the Cross. Ignored at first by the people among whom they lived, now they were experiencing backlash, rejection, even persecution. Their social condition was becoming even worse than before they embraced the faith. Our challenges to the Faith today are also rooted in the cultural influence that surround us – the secularism of society – the injustice that divides people – the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. Let us look for a moment at some of St. James’ words we will here in the next few Sundays. In chapter one, – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” In chapter two, as we heard today - “Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?” Again in chapter two, next Sunday, one of James’ most powerful lessons – “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Then, the following week from chapter three – “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Lastly in chapter five – “Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;” James does not hold back in his use of strong language, because of the urgency of his message. We need to hear the same kind of uncompromising straight talk today, lest we be swallowed up by the chaos around us. Our faith in Jesus is a treasure beyond price. Let nothing rob you of it.

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Twenty-second Sunday - 2024

Many of us spend so much time shining the outside of our cup - ensuring what we project to those around us is life in order. The important thing is what is inside of us - where is our heart? What is the state of our soul? Are we truly “clean” on the inside?  The Word Among Us had a nice perspective. "Sometimes we need cleaning up on the inside as well. We may exert all our energy in doing godly things, but we do them with the wrong attitude or disposition. For example, you might be serving the poor at a homeless shelter, but in your heart, you are judging how some of the people there got to such a low point. Or maybe you are attending daily Mass, but instead of listening to the readings, you find yourself criticizing the way the lector speaks. You don’t mean for these thoughts to rise up in you, but they sneak in anyway!”  Pope Francis has this wisdom for us to consider. "You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. It is a concept, that Jesus “repeated many times in the Gospel”, offering certain people a clear warning: “Your interior is bad, it is not just, it is not free. You are slaves because you have not accepted the justice that comes from God”, which is the justice that Jesus gave us. It is an interior freedom, which leads to doing “good in secret, without sounding the trumpet”: indeed, “the way of true religion is the same way of Jesus: humility, humiliation”. And as Paul says to the Philippians, Jesus humiliates himself, empties himself. And, this is the only way to take selfishness, greed, arrogance, vanity and worldliness, away from us. Faced with this example we find instead the attitude of those whom Jesus reproaches: “people who follow the religion of makeup: the appearance, to appear, pretending to seem” a certain way “while inside...”. (…) Let us ask the Lord that we never tire of going down that path; that we never tire of rejecting this religion of appearances, this religion of seeming, of pretending.... We must instead be committed to proceed “quietly, doing good”, and doing so “freely as we have freely received our interior freedom”. May He guard this inner freedom for all of us. Let us ask for this grace.”  (Santa Marta, 11 October 2016)      By Dave Weber

Twenty-first Sunday - 2024

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also wish to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "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 6:66-71                       Today’s gospel text brings to a close our reflection on chapter six of John’s gospel, which has been our focus these past five Sundays - and it ends in a serious crisis. “Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Things started out wonderfully when Jesus feed the large crowd with only five loaves and two fish. When the people saw this, they identified Jesus as the prophet all Israel was waiting for. They were going to make him their king. But Jesus avoided this and left them. The next day Jesus rejoins the crowd who are still looking for him, but now everything is about to change. Jesus tells them that he has come to feed them with the bread of life – they all acclaim, give us this bread. Jesus then announces that he is the bread come down from heaven – the bread he has come to give his flesh to eat. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him”. To the Jewish ears there could not be a more repugnant idea – eating human flesh – disgusting, totally pagan and evil. The crisis is struck, and many walk away.  What is striking here is that Jesus does not try to soften his language – explaining “Transubstantiation” – it will still look and taste like real bread. Jesus in no way wants anyone to think of the “Communion Bread” as merely a symbolic recalling of the Last Supper. The Eucharist is Jesus’ flesh and blood. What are we to make of “Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” in today’s experience? Even though we see the Eucharist still in the form of bread and wine, many people have a problem connecting it to Jesus’ truth flesh and blood. And if all it is is a symbol, why is coming to Mass and receiving Communion all that important?  So many no longer come to this table. Each year at this time the liturgy takes us back to this chapter six of John’s gospel and it does this so that we can examine our position on this profoundly important question regarding the Eucharist. When I take this Eucharist into my hands and then eat it, what am I thinking? Is my body and Jesus body now becoming one - a true and mystical "Union"? We are living in a time of crisis in the Church - a crisis of faith. What will get us through this crisis?  "The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. Butthere are some of you who do not believe." "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." Faith is after all a work of grace. There is a plan to be sure, and when it is revealed the Eucharist will be at the centre of it.

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