“The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?’ ”

I can only imagine how scandalous this kind of talk must have been for anyone to hear at the time of Jesus, as we hear in John’s gospel story today (JN 6: 52-59). Here was an itinerant preacher, who is spreading a new kind of morality that threatened the powers that be, making claims about being the Son of God, and now he is telling everyone that “…unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.” It is understandable to consider this kind of talk as sounding a bit crazy and even a tad arrogant. Here is one of those moments in the Scriptures that cause me to take pause, to really really let what is being said here sink into my heart.

To feed on the body of Christ, first off, is perplexing enough, but then to take the further step of saying that our very lives depend upon our doing this – feeding on the body and blood of Christ – this seems to be quite another thing. According to Jesus, “This is the bread that came down from heaven…whoever eats this bread will live forever.” So, this is the only option for Life it seems. Everything else is a dead-end option to nowhere. What can this possibly mean…that Jesus’ body is the bread of life and that in order to truly live, we must eat it?

As a Catholic, the centrality of the Eucharist in the liturgy as the body of Christ is not an unfamiliar idea for me. I recall being prepared for this beautiful sacrament as a child, and how special and honored I felt when I finally received it. With that being said, it has taken many years to begin to unpack what this may mean. In fact, still to this day, I am coming to terms with and indeed struggling with what eating the body of Christ means –this… Bread of Life! “Receiving” the Body of Christ sounds better and nicer. But the translation we hear today in the Scriptures is that unless we EAT the body of Christ, we will not have life. Perhaps the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles that we hear today (Acts 9: 1-20) can shed some light on this mysterious directive.

In this dramatic story of the conversion of Saul/Paul while on the way to Damascus, we first hear the malicious intent that Saul has in going to Damascus…

“Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.”

Saul’s entire life, at this point, seems to be motivated by this extreme effort to prevent the further spreading of this new and dangerous way of living that the disciples were engaging. As the story continues, in Saul’s maniacal frenzy to get to Damascus…

“…a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He said, ‘Who are you, sir?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ “

This epiphany experience blinds Saul, literally and spiritually! All of his energies directed toward persecution, exclusion, and violence are stunned and suspended. The Scripture even says that his companions saw nothing, but simply heard the voice. And inasmuch as Saul was rendered blind, they were rendered speechless. All senses are suspended! Everyone is dumbfounded.

Who is this “Jesus” being persecuted by Saul? Saul, on his way to Damascus to imprison and possibly kill the disciples of the Way, is in effect preying upon the body of Christ. Over the next several days, Saul is transformed and enlightened, but only by immersing himself within the community in Damascus before he truly recovers his sight. It takes the reluctant laying on of hands by another (Ananias), for him to realize WHO he is persecuting, to realize his role, mission and responsibility in the community of the Body of Christ.

Saul has to totally depend upon this community to regain his sight, to be baptized, to learn how his ignorance led to death and imprisonment of others. It takes the community also to hold him accountable, to heal, to empower him to embrace his mission, and sustain him. This is Saul’s food. He must feed on and dine with those around him, whomever they are. And although it may not have been all that ‘tasty’ to him (or to them for that matter), it was Life to him and them. And in all this, we now know how important Saul’s (Paul’s) transformation has meant for the life and transmission of the Gospel message!

Is this how we can feed on the Body of Christ, i.e., to eat the Body of Christ, by engaging with each other in such an intimate and radical way that we should die if we fail to do so? Is eating the Body of Christ the most foundational and radical element of basic sustenance for life? Could it be that we must feed on each other? Not in a destructive way led by ego desires and selfish fulfillment that destroys dignity and hope, but in a way where Life is not only spared but created and recreated through wholly sharing! Can it be that we only receive the Body of Christ in as much as we give it?

Shared Food transforms…and this Holy Food is each other!

“Our lives are not our own” may be another way of saying we must eat the Body of Christ. If we allow the mysterious depth of Eucharist, i.e., of the Body of Christ, to really penetrate us, we can begin to see that there is no other way to live authentically. We must be food for each other, by sharing ourselves and participating – really participating – in the Life of God, the Body of Christ!

Holding each other accountable with compassionate healing is another way of holding the sacred host in our hand as we take and eat it. The transformed bread of the Eucharist comes from the very heart of the holy community when we transform violent selfishness and broken ignorance into the Body of Belonging…into the Body of Christ! The invitation from Jesus to Saul, and to all of us, is to dine with and eat or feed on Christ – on each other – the Body of Christ – and that is Divine life flowing abundantly on!

“the one who feeds on me will have life because of me”

Peace

Thomas

(originally published April 15, 2016)