8/23/2015 – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – John 6:60-69

       For five Sundays in a row now, we’ve been reading through the 6^th chapter of John’s Gospel.  This Chapter is referred to as the Bread of Life discourse. Jesus describes himself as the living bread that has come down from heaven, as the bread that will give us eternal life. As we hear the conclusion of our readings from the Bread of Life discourse today, we can make some observations of what we’ve been hearing these past five weeks.

        Several times in these readings, it mentions that the people murmured and quarreled.   It seems like in our modern world, murmuring and quarreling are part of our DNA, something we think we are entitled to do. We can be complainers, can’t we?  Sometimes we murmur or complain for no good reason.  With all that Jesus had explained to the people about being the bread of life, of his disciples eating his true flesh that will give them eternal life unlike the mana that the Israelites ate in the desert, they were very confused and frustrated, not understanding what he was really saying.  Even his own disciples say:  “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”  Even 2,000 years later, after all of our education and theology and the faith that has been passed down to us, many of the faithful still have trouble believing Jesus’ words.  The national Catholic research organization at Georgetown University in Washington, DC – CARA – did a study recently, asking practicing Catholics if they believed that Jesus was truly present in the bread and wine that we receive in the Eucharist, if we believe that it is truly his Body and Blood.  Now, mind you, these are practicing Catholic who were surveyed, so we might expect the response to be high.  However, only 57% Catholics surveyed said that they believed in that statement.  What a staggering statistic.  In our faith, we are called to see greater understanding, and as we grow in our understanding of God, we are called to grow in our faith.  Some of the mysteries and tenants of our faith are difficult to understand, to be sure, which is why Bible study groups and religious education and small faith communities are so important.  We started an apologetics class last fall, and it really struck a chord with the adults who attended it, so much so that this group will reconvene in September.   In light of today’s Gospel, it might be relevant for us to ponder this:  When we think that understanding our faith is too hard and too difficult, is it really the Word of the Lord that is hard, or is it ours hearts that want only to close themselves off from what Jesus is trying to tell us?  Are we threatened by the way the Word of God contradicts some of the ways we live our lives and the secular values that have ensnared us?

        At the end of Christ’s discussion today with the disciples, some of them decide that this is too much; they draw back into their former way of life and leave their life of discipleship.  If we look back one or two generations, especially prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and the changes the world went through in the 1960s, most Catholics back then attended mass because they knew it was the right thing for them to do, that it was what they were asked to do in their faith.  More than that, they respected the authority of the Church and felt a sense of obligation to practice their faith. Perhaps we could say that there was an element of fear as well.  Some of that way of thinking might not have been the healthiest way to approach the faith.  Today, that sense of obligation is not present in a lot of Catholics. The Body and Blood of Christ that we receive in the mass each time we gather should encourage us and transform us into wanting to live out the spirit of the Eucharist in our lives.  

I remember when I first arrived as a missionary in a remote jungle region of Ecuador, I was amazed to find how much that region was abandoned by the government, and how much the Catholic Church stepped in and provided basic services to the people.  Schools, hospitals, medical clinics, an orphanage, agricultural stations, community centers, business initiative programs, small loan funds, community art projects – it seemed like the Church was involved in every area of the people lives.  Everywhere, our Church is working very hard to be relevant in the lives of the people.   In our masses, in our religious education program, and in our youth group here at St James, we try to be engaged in what is important in the lives of the people, to try to stimulate us in the values of the faith.  As the United States is becoming more secular, as we see more and more people leaving the faith, we need to find ways to stay firm in the faith and to live out the spirit of the Eucharist in the world.  I don’t think everyone is aware of all that goes on in our parish.  This past week, our prison ministry group went out to Dismas House, a facility that helps federal inmates transitioning back into society after their incarceration.  The original Dismas House was founded in Kentucky with the help of the Knights of Columbus, so it is an important ministry for us to get involved in as Catholics.  Members of our parish went out there with a spaghetti dinner for them, as well as socks and underwear, items that the residents there desperately needed.   This past Thursday, our senior citizens outreach ministry went out to the Traceway Manor facility where we hosted a Hawaiian luau dinner.  We expected maybe about 40 residents – we ended up serving 88 residents, and I cannot tell you how many came up to me with big smiles on their faces thanking us for coming.  Members of our youth group helped serve with great joy in their hearts.  And this morning I went out to have a mass with members of our 

      That is the point about the Eucharist, of Jesus as the Bread of Life.  It is to bring joy to our hearts and call us to action, just the opposite of the murmuring and quarreling and leaving the faith that we saw in some of the disciples in today’s Gospel.  If the Eucharist is supposed to be the Bread of Life, how is it breathing life into our lives?