Sunday, August 18, 2024 – Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B Readings: Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34 “ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord”, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:51-58

                                       BREAD THAT RAISES THE DEAD
 
     God’s Word, as well as the Eucharist, is the repast that feeds our soul. It would be reckless not to take part in the banquet that God’s Wisdom has prepared for us: Bread and the Word. The Gospel enlightens our mind; the Eucharist moves our will. Christ’s promise makes a new light shine within us on the horizon of our hope: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
 
Brothers and Sisters,
 
1. In the Eucharist Jesus instills in us an immense desire to live, to be simple and authentic. Jesus, before consummating his bloody sacrifice on the cross, wanted to invite us to a banquet that he himself had prepared with a surprising and almost disconcerting type of food: his body and blood. What is the meaning of a banquet in which we are offered food and drink that can only be present through the sacrifice of a victim? There is a lot to understand here, much to adore, much to believe and much to love.
 
The Eucharistic banquet nourishes us and at the same time drives us to solidarity with others so that everyone may take part in the feast. It teaches us to embrace the little ones, foster friendship, and lead our brothers and sisters to the banquet  a “common union” where what is “mine” becomes “ours”, and God changes it into “his”, God’s.
 
2. Holy Communion not only nourishes the soul but also gives us strength and makes our spirit enjoy the sweetness of divine things. It is not the sacrament that becomes, like the bread and wine, part of our substance, but rather we who mysteriously become like Christ. The Jews argued, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” We can no longer argue as they did; we must adore, thank and commit ourselves. He left us a last memory, beating and warm throughout the ages, to remind us of that night when he promised to remain upon the altars until the end of time, insensitive to the pain of loneliness he would experience in so many tabernacles.
 
3. The Eucharist is not only strength and food for the road; the Eucharist is not only for the present. It is also a pledge of future glory. What does “Whoever eats this bread will live forever” mean? Already from the present moment, the Eucharist plants a little “heaven” inside us, because in the Eucharist we receive the suffering and glorious Christ. We are pilgrims of this land, yet citizens of another country towards which we journey and where we will dwell eternally.
 
Our final destiny cannot be this world. God opens our poor existence on to the horizon of eternal life. His promise must inspire us. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood already has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” How do we nourish our hope and yearning for the final feast? Let us ask the Lord to welcome us into heaven because we have fed on the bread that raises us to true life. Amen.
 
Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests