Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 2, 2015

Homily for Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 2, 2015

Eucharist, Part I

 

            Last week as we read in the Gospel, Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The people are thrilled with the miracle and they declare “this is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world!” That sentence has a very specific meaning in Judaism. You see, right before Moses died, he promised the Israelites that God would raise up a prophet that is like Moses – the greatest of all prophets – and that this prophet would do the same things that Moses did.

            So the people think that Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy! And it certainly looks like it – just as Moses goes up the mountain to receive the Jewish Law, so Jesus goes up to the mountain to deliver the Sermon on the Mountain, which is the New Law of love. Moses gives the people manna – mysterious bread – from Heaven, as we hear in the first reading. And so the Jewish people, seeing the miracle that Jesus did, realized that He, too, was giving them bread from Heaven, fulfilling the prophecy from Moses!

            And yes, Jesus is the New Moses. He is the prophet that God sent into the world. But He is so much more, and that’s where the Jewish people misunderstand Him. John’s Gospel is based around seven of Jesus’ miracles – they are called “signs” in this Gospel – but the miracles are always meant to reveal something deeper about Jesus. Jesus heals a blind man – and then teaches us that He is the light of the world. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead – and then teaches us that He is the Resurrection and the Life.

            And now Jesus does this miracle – the multiplication of bread and fish – to teach us that He Himself is the Bread of Life! The miracle isn’t the point – the point is faith in Jesus. The point of all of his miracles is to cause people to surrender their lives to Christ in faith.

            One of the best ways to surrender your life to Christ is through the Eucharist. In the next couple weeks, Jesus will explain this Holy Sacrament, which is truly His Body and Blood. Our Church teaches that the “Eucharist is the Source and Summit of Christian life”. All of our work and actions are directed towards that loving union with God that we find in the Eucharist, and from the Eucharist flow all graces to allow our work and actions to be fruitful. We cannot change the world unless we are first changed by that intimate connection with Him, which is found most profoundly in the Eucharist.

            You see, the Eucharist is unique among the Sacraments. In Baptism, there is a real effect – the child is truly freed from original sin, their soul is truly marked with the seal of God. In marriage, there is truly a real spiritual bond created between two persons. But only the Eucharist makes present the Body and Blood of God Himself. The water that we use at baptism is not God; the oil we use at confirmation is not God. But the Eucharist is truly God – present on our altar in the Holy Eucharist. There is nothing on this earth that is more valuable, more beautiful than the Eucharist, where God humbles Himself to reside in our tabernacles.

            Saints have lived and died for this truth. St. Tarcisius was a young Roman boy who served as an altar server in the early church. He lived in the third century under the harsh persecutions on Valerian, when the church had to meet in secret. One day, the priest wanted to bring Holy Communion to the Christians in prison, but it was too dangerous for the priest to go out in public. So twelve-year-old Tarcisius volunteered to go. Carrying the Eucharist, he set out to visit those in prison, but as he walked past a field, he saw some of his non-Christian companions playing sports. They invited him to join them, but Tarcisius refused. They were curious about his refusal, as Tarcisius never turned down a game, so they began to crowd around him and ask what he held in his hand. Knowing that he could get killed if he showed them the Eucharist, he refused. But they persisted, wanting to know what he carried. Again, he refused to allow them to possibly desecrate and mock the Blessed Sacrament. The group became angry and started to push him around, but still Tarcisius wouldn’t budge. Finally the kids started picking up rocks to throw at him, which they did with such force that he died. Twelve-year-old St. Tarcisius gave up his life protecting the Eucharist, and is now a saint because of it.

            Jesus’ Body and Blood is the most valuable thing in the universe. And in a few short moments, we are privileged to receive Him.