From the Pastor’s Desk
My dear friends,
Last week, I told you that we were gradually coming to the end of the Eucharistic Discourse
which began with Jesus’ feeding of the five-thousand. That day, we discussed the Eucharist as a
food. Today, it has come to a head. Christ Himself would teach the people the institution and the
implications of the Eucharist. When His audience resists His statement about His "flesh for the
life of the world," He repeats and reinforces His original words: "Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you"
(v. 53).
This powerful statement not only insists on the importance of receiving the Eucharist but it also
means, as we see everywhere in John’s gospel, that the meaning of the Eucharist must be
reflected in the lives of those who receive the Sacrament. For this is Body-broken and Bloodpoured-out for others. Consequently, we will participate fully in the benefits of the Eucharist
only to the extent that we imitate, in all aspects of our lives, the generosity and unselfishness that
we see in the life of Jesus Himself. The Eucharist will certainly help us to be more thoughtful
and compassionate and forgiving but this cannot happen without our own serious commitment to
love and service of our brothers and sisters.
At this point, John goes beyond the other gospels in spelling out the real-world implications of
conforming our lives to the demands of the Holy Eucharist. The most significant consequence is
presented in v. 57: "Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the
Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me." This is a
truly audacious and wonderful assurance that we fragile human beings can hope to share in the
divine life of God. We can actually enter into that flow of life that progress between the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. And to the extent that this happens, through our commitment to God's
unselfish way of loving, our eternal life will be assured.
Like I told you last week, We are on a journey to heaven, AND, we cannot get
there unless We EAT of the FOOD that Christ gives – THE EUCHARIST.
Fr. Kizzy
Pastor.