Real or Symbol?

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 8, 2021

Readings (click here to read in full)
    Reading I: 1 Kgs 19:4-8
    Responsorial Psalm: Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
    Reading II:  Eph 4:30—5:2
    Gospel:  Jn 6:41-51

Word count: 583
Reading Speed

    Slow (100 wpm): 5.8 minutes
    Average (130 wpm): 4.5 minutes
    Fast (160 wpm): 3.6 minutes

In this continuation of the Bread of Life Discourse, the Jews blatantly expressed their rejection of Jesus' self-revelation as "Bread of Life", "the bread that came down from heaven". This was totally unacceptable to them. For them, Jesus only spoke metaphorically. They showed their ignorance and only looked at Jesus’ humble human origin by saying that they knew His parents. Yet, Jesus clarified to them that they could not accept Him because they were not drawn by the Father, because they refused to listen to the  Father. But those who listened and believed in Jesus’ gift of self, His being the Bread of Life, the "Living Bread" sent from heaven by the Father are given eternal life. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

 

At this, Jesus explicitly reveals the great mystery of the Blessed Eucharist. When He said that He is the Bread of Life, He meant it literally and not figuratively, otherwise, this would make no sense at all. In the Holy Mass, what we receive in Holy Communion is not ordinary bread, it is the Bread of Life, His flesh given for the life of the world. However, this has to be accepted on faith.

 

In the Eucharistic Celebration, when the priest invokes the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine and prays in the Words of Christ at Consecration, the ordinary species of bread and wine are now transformed into the real Body and Blood of Christ. This is what we call Transubstantiation. Pope Paul VI explained this by saying,  

 

"For what now lies beneath the aforementioned species is not what was there before, but something completely different; and not just in the estimation of Church belief but in reality, since once the substance or nature of the bread and wine has been changed into the body and blood of Christ, nothing remains of the bread and the wine except for the species—beneath which Christ is present whole and entire in His physical "reality," corporeally present, although not in the manner in which bodies are in a place." (Mysterium Fidei 46)

 

Many people today, like the Jews in the Gospel, are scandalized by what Jesus said about Himself. In the face of their murmuring and rejection, Jesus did not back out of His words, instead, He intensified them by saying that the Bread of Life is His flesh and must be eaten. He said, "whoever eats this bread will live forever." Our salvation, therefore, lies in our firm belief that what we partake in Holy Communion is Jesus Himself, whole and entire.

With all these, I can say that those who come to Mass and firmly and lovingly believe that Jesus is truly, really present, His Body and Divinity, in the Sacred Host they receive in Holy Communion are the ones who listen to the Father. And those who think that the bread is just a symbol of Christ’s presence are the ones who do not listen to the Father. Now let us ask ourselves, do I believe that it is Jesus Himself? Or, do I think that it is just a symbol?

 

If it is just a symbol for you, then the salvation that it brings to those who believe shall not be yours. Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

 

Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS

Image credit: pxfuel.com

Death Is Not The End

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

August 6, 2021, Friday

Reading (Click here to read in full)
    Reading I: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14
    Responsorial Psalm:  Ps. 97:1-2, 5-6, 9
    Reading II:  2 Pt 1:16-19
    Gospel: Mk 9:2-10

Word count: 377

Reading speed

    Slow (100 wpm): 3.8 minutes

    Average (130 wpm): 2.9 minutes

    Fast (160 wpm): 2.4 minutes

Film companies promote new movies by showing movie trailers. They offer a glimpse of the movie. This glimpse evokes in moviegoers a sense of excitement in anticipation of a blockbuster movie. And when the movie is out, people go to see the movie they have been waiting for since they saw the trailer.

Jesus also had His "movie trailer," but with a much deeper purpose, through His Transfiguration. As Jesus was transfigured before His three disciples, He showed them a glimpse of His glory in the resurrection to come. This happened after Jesus told His disciples in the previous chapter, Mk 8, that the "Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days." At this, Peter rebuked Jesus because he would not like Him to suffer and die. However, he missed Jesus’ rising after three days, which was beyond his understanding. In the Transfiguration, Jesus manifested who He truly is in His glorious state, to show them, particularly to the three disciples, that suffering and death was not the end of life. This glory would only happen if Jesus would embrace the cross, be crucified and die on it. The Transfiguration shows that His glory will triumph over His death and that of His disciples and all Christians.

As human beings, our normal tendency is to fear suffering and death, especially in this time of pandemic. Yes, we value life, but let us also not lose sight of the future glory by being with Jesus through thick and thin, by listening to Him as the Voice from the cloud tells us, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Like the Apostles and the early Christians who drew their strength and courage in the face of every tribulation from the glory that was to come, we, amid difficulties, sufferings, persecutions, and even death, also ought to set our eyes on the future glory Jesus assures us of. If we do this, we will have enough strength and courage to face life's struggles. In these difficult times, as people grow more and more desperate to live, let us be a "movie trailer" to them, let us be Jesus’ Transfiguration to them.

Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS

Image credit: pixabay.com