Eat My Flesh, Drink my Blood

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

I don’t like having to read the gospel about eating flesh and drinking blood. It sounds sick. But it’s important to remember that St. John is recalling after a very long time the sense of what Jesus said – not his exact words. Even so, it’s hard to take! And John tells us those who first heard it found it hard to take, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? What kind of talk is this?” But Jews then should have been able to get the sense of it better than people today. Why? Because every day they were sacrificing animals in the temple and then eating the flesh of the sacrificed animal as a way of becoming part of God, a way of sharing in the life and power of God. And this is what Jesus wanted to do in a whole new way. And there is a deep beautiful meaning in this the more we grasp it!

During retreats in South Africa, we usually had communion under both species – bread and wine – and I usually warned the people to beware of the possibility of a fly in the chalice. Well, this led one girl to have her best insight of the whole retreat which she talked about publicly. When she looked in the chalice, instead of a fly she saw her own reflection. There she was in the blood of Christ! And this led her to reflect that she had become one with Jesus, part of Jesus, part of God. Just like Augustine explained! When we take normal food and drink it becomes part of us but when we take the body and blood of Jesus it’s the exact opposite! We become part of Jesus. I know it’s all a great and beautiful mystery and we say that at every mass when the drop of water is added to the wine: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we came to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” That says it all. We are the drop of water, lost in, and drowned in the divinity of Jesus. What a marvelous destiny! Of course I’m not always aware of it. We get so used to mass, so used to communion.

The simplest way of understanding it is maybe the story of the young ocean fish. This young fish was swimming around everywhere looking for the ocean and couldn’t find it. Then he decided to consult an old fish. He said to the old fish, “You’re much older and more experienced than I am. Could you please tell me, where is the ocean? I’m looking for the ocean!” And the old fish was very surprised and said, “But it’s here! This is it! You’re in it. It’s all around you! You couldn’t survive without it!” And the young fish was very disappointed and he said, “Ah no, this is just water! I’m looking for the ocean!” And he swam away still looking for the ocean.

We are in God like the fish is in the ocean; like the drop of water in the wine. We couldn’t exist without him. In him we swim!

“In him we live and move and have our being.” (St. Paul)