Without faith, Eucharist is meaningless
WORD ALIVE
An elderly woman, accompanied by a young doctor, was being wheeled into a room in preparation for surgery. Visibly nervous, she blurted out, “Doctor, please be gentle with me. This is my first time to be operated on.”
The youthful surgeon glanced at her and said, “Don’t worry, madam. This is also my first time to do an operation.” (Both were nervous).
When a doctor tells you not to worry that your operation will be successful — even if it’s his first time — and you believe him, that's human faith.
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Similarly in this 20th Sunday’s gospel, Christ asks us to believe in the Eucharist, even though we don't understand how His body can become our life-giving food and His blood our nourishing drink.
It is not surprising why the cynical Jews grumbled, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (Jn 6, 5). “Cannibalism,” one might say today. The Church calls it “transubstantiation.”
How can Jesus give His body and blood as our food and drink? Humanly speaking, we don't know. But if he could use his power to feed 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread, if he could walk on water, if he could raise the dead Lazarus to life, then he could use His power to change bread into his body to feed thousands spiritually throughout the ages.
Ultimately, we are asked to trust in Jesus even though we cannot understand how it all can happen. Like Peter and the apostles who stayed on after the skeptical followers turned their backs on him, we say: “Lord, to whom do we go; you have the words of eternal life.”
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Faith amid trials. Faith in the Eucharist should, likewise, inspire us to put faith in God in the trials and crisis situations of life, which are sometimes difficult to understand.
In his book Through the Eyes of Faith, Fr. John Powell relates about a friend George who had a coronary heart attack in his mid-thirties. He was so weakened that he could walk only short distances and had to live a sedentary life.
Then in his 40s George had more than 20 operations for cancer of the face, including removal of his nose. George was asked if he ever lost faith in God. He replied: “These are the cards God gave me which I lovingly play.” Would we have the same faith as George have?
The adversity or misfortune may not be a life-threatening sickness but it could be the loss of crops, properties, and even a loved one resulting from the destructive floods. It could also be the senseless death of a loved one like the death of cancer, or the traumatic effect of children growing up from separated parents.
You may complain: “I can’t understand God. Why do I experience all of these? It's unfair when I've been trying to be good.”
If we can do something to remedy these problems, by all means, do it. If we cannot, then just hold on in faith and trust that God in his goodness has something better in store for us. Remember: “When God closes a window, He opens another one.”
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Support seminarians. May we appeal help for our seminarians by buying our Magnetic Rosary Bracelets (MRB). The proceeds will go to the seminarians’ funds. Let’s remember how important our future priests are in the Church. But they need support.
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