HOMILY 21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE “B” August 22, 2021
“Many
of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can
accept it?”
What is this hard
saying? Well, just four verses earlier Jesus
states: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks
my blood remains in me and I in him.”
This is
presumably the saying that the disciples found hard to accept. Now it is important for us to understand why they found it hard to accept. On it’s face it could be that these disciples
misunderstand Jesus by taking His statement too literally. ¿Are they repulsed by the idea of physically eating
Jesus’ flesh and drinking Jesus’ blood?
Are they misunderstanding Jesus as advocating cannibalism?
I think that
solution lets us off the hook too easily.
Because you see, WE know that Jesus is not advocating cannibalism. We know that Jesus is speaking figuratively,
or better, sacramentally. We know that
Jesus gives us His flesh under the form of bread, and His blood under the form
of wine. And so we know this hard
statement is not about cannibalism.
But the
disciples of Jesus’ day were not literalist dummies. Just a few verses before this they understood
perfectly well that Jesus was speaking figuratively. When Jesus instructed them: Do not work for food that perishes but for
the food that endures for eternal life,...." The disciples responded: “What can we do to accomplish the works of
God?" [John 6:27-28] They understood
well that Jesus was not talking about physical food, but rather about doing the
works of God.
So then, why
did they get so upset that they turn away and abandoned Jesus? I think it was not because they misunderstood Jesus in some literalistic repugnance
to cannibalism, but rather something else.
They understood all too well what Jesus was talking about, and it was
because they understood that they left Jesus. Not because they misunderstood.
For the “hard
saying” they reacted to was what we would have heard in last week’s Gospel
except we celebrated the Assumption of the BVM: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in
him.”
What is Jesus
talking about? If Jesus is not to be
taken in a simplistically literal way, then how should we understand Him?
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.” This is
a statement about very deep closeness, about very intense union, about
intimacy. It is about being known deeply
and completely by the Lord, and knowing Jesus closely. For to eat something is to become one with
it. When we eat food it becomes a part
of us. In this case, in the Eucharist,
as St. Augustine pointed out long ago, we become part of what we eat. We become part of the Body of Christ. The Life of Christ is in us. That is intimate.
And the thing
with intimacy is that it is scary. Anyone else here …? It is threatening because intimacy makes us
vulnerable. You cannot be intimate in a
suit of armor. Genuine intimacy is also
a lot of work. To truly be intimate with
someone you have to share your hopes, your dreams, your fears, your desires,
your likes and dislikes, your very being.
You have to argue and laugh and cry and speak profoundly about who you
are.
Genuine
intimacy is difficult. And yet that is what
Jesus is talking about: “Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” This is about intimate union, a deep
personal closeness. This is about
love.
That is powerful. And it is scary. It demands a great deal of us, just as deep intimacy with any other human demands a great deal of us; in terms of honesty, in terms of being vulnerable, in terms of dependability and loyalty, in terms of commitment. To eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood demands an absolute and thorough commitment from us, the same kind of commitment Jesus makes in giving us Himself. It is to remain in Him and He in us. That is POWERFUL.
And a lot of
us have a problem with such heavy-duty commitment. So did those early disciples we hear about in
today’s Gospel. They weren’t just confused
and so left Jesus over a misunderstanding.
No. Rather they understood Him
all too well, and so they are a challenge to
us. We are now presented with
this invitation to radical intimacy with The Lord. We too are tempted to pull back and walk
away.
So Jesus’
question today is also addressed to us: “Do
you also want to leave?”
The price of staying is steep. The demand of committed discipleship is high.
But it is the only way to the fullness
of life.
We answer with
Simon Peter: “Master, to whom shall we
go?
You have the words of eternal life. We
have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
Amen.
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