The words of eternal life
It’s the last Sunday of August and the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time and it’s been more than a month since we talked about what the evangelist St. John wrote in his “Bread of Life Discourse” which we have already discussed with our faithful readers. Today’s gospel reading comes from John 6:60-69 a continuation of the whole month’s gospel on the Bread of Life Discourse, which is important to the Catholic Church because the Holy Eucharist is the sole sacrament that separates the Catholic Church, founded by the Lord Jesus Christ, from other “Christian” Churches that claims total belief in the words of Christ, yet like the disciples we read in today’s gospel, they found this teaching hard to believe. Here is what is written in John 6:60-69.
“60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.
“For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
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This was what the Evangelist John the beloved wrote 40 years after Jesus ascended into heaven to return to God the Father. Yet, John the beloved did not change his teaching of what Jesus meant when he talked about being the Bread of Life because John knew that our Lord meant the bread to be fed to the faithful disciples of Christ. That faithfulness remains in the Catholic Church 2,000 years later because this Holy Sacrament is the centerpiece of the Catholic Doctrine that no one has changed since Jesus returned to heaven.
Yet, I know of many Catholics who have been blessed by receiving Holy Communion from their youth, then only to stop receiving the Bread of Christ when they entered another Christian sect that doesn’t give the Holy Eucharist. At the start of today’s gospel, it reads “On hearing it, many of his disciples said: This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
During my meetings or discussions with Catholics who were losing their faith, I have heard this same statement about the Holy Eucharist. This is what happens to former Catholics who no longer believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. My favorite Catholic author Scott Hahn who was once an anti-Catholic, would say that we Catholics have eaten the meal, while our separated Brethren are reading the menu! Indeed, our separated Brethren are happy to hear the Word of God, but refuse to eat his body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. The devil is extremely happy that this has happened to many Catholics!
So the disciples who fail to listen to the words of eternal life return to their old ways. At the end of today’s gospel, it reads, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” “Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Let me remind our readers that the Lord Jesus Christ did not run after those disciples to tell them that what he said was only a figure of speech because he truly meant for us to eat his body and drink his blood so we can have eternal life.
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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
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