THE WORD
Ac 9,1-20 / Jn 6,52-59
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “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. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
IN OTHER WORDS
Great was the confusion and sadness that followed when our extended family received the news that Dionisio and Victor, two of the best and the brightest in the clan, had left the Church to join
one, a born-again group, the other an evangelical church. They claimed that they could not believe, much less accept wholeheartedly, the Catholic teachings, especially the mass. In their new faith communities they say they have found warmth and companionship, joy in the lively singing and meaning in the personal, spontaneous prayers of their ministers and elders.
Jesus spoke about the Eucharist, he being the bread come from heaven, the bread of life. He also said that unless one ate the bread he gave and drank his blood, that person would not have life everlasting in him. So difficult were Jesus’ words for his listeners to accept that many left and no longer walked with him. Saddened, the Lord asked those disciples who remained, “Will you also go away?”
Many former Catholics find joy and warmth in their newly found faith-communities. But, not a few confess that, especially during Christmas and Holy Week, they miss the beauty and the depth
of meaning Catholic liturgies offer. Remembering the bread of life that they share and the cup of salvation they drink from, they feel a unique kind of homesickness, realizing that eating crackers instead of the sacred host and drinking grape juice are not the same.
Today, our family prays earnestly and hopes fervently that one day Dionisio and Victor will realize the Lord’s truth when he said, “Unless you eat the esh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you….He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.”
- Fr. Flor Lagura, SVD | U.S.A.
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
