My friends, this week we continue to ponder just what “the Body and Blood of Christ” means to us, and as we said last week, viewing “the big picture,” it truly is about taking what we have received through our brother Jesus, at his last supper—his presence, into our bodies—physical food, along with his words and actions through Scripture—his showing us the way, and allowing ourselves then, to become that “bread,” his body really, for the world.  And we really do need a “big picture” idea to understand this gift that Jesus left us: His real presence, physical, and spiritual in our lives.

   I promised last week not to “rag on” our local bishop, Robert Barron, and his small notion of the Eucharist, therefore I won’t, but instead speak of another individual who was prominent two weeks ago at the Eucharistic Congress, in Indianapolis, Jonathan Roume, who plays  Jesus in the popular series, The Chosen.

   I was upset to see him sporting a tee shirt with the words: “If it is only a symbol, the hell with it!”  What was being uplifted on this shirt is the notion that the Body and Blood of the Eucharist is real human flesh and real human blood—in short, “the Real Presence.” Evidently, if one doesn’t accept that this is real human flesh, and real human blood, then the real presence of Jesus isn’t there either, and the bishops of this country, including our own, are very worried about this. 

   For whatever reason, the bishops of this country feel that uplifting this idea of “real presence,” as in real flesh and real blood, is more important than the fact that we who follow Jesus, the Christ become, his body and blood , physically, spiritually, and emotionally in our world when we try to “imitate,” rather than “adore” him, as the Eucharistic Congress’ attendees seemed to have been instructed to do—adore, rather than imitate. And again, this isn’t to say that these folks don’t in any way “imitate” Jesus in their lives, but clearly this wasn’t where the emphasis was placed. 

   So, the question must be asked and faced: If you are going to spend millions of dollars—28 to be exact, trying to get “faithful heads” to truly believe that what we have on our tables of liturgy is real human flesh and blood—is that all there is?  Wouldn’t it be better to stress that our brother Jesus is truly present when we say the words, and we don’t necessarily have to understand how that exactly is, instead of being boxed in, believing in a simplistic, magical view of “human flesh and blood” without any real connection to the “flesh and blood” of humanity needing attention in our world? I think it would be better, because I believe that is what our brother Jesus intended.

   But, as always, let’s turn to the Scriptures.  The gospel today from John zeros in on what I was saying above.  Jesus is trying to move his followers beyond the mere physicality of the bread, food for the physical body that is spoken of in the Old Testament reading from Exodus where the people are complaining to God because they have nothing to eat.  And being the merciful One that our God is, the people were fed with manna and quail. 

   Our brother Jesus commenting on this fact, that they were like their forebears—that those who followed him weren’t hungering for the “real bread” he longed to give them—his words, his way of living and giving that would ultimately fill their hearts, minds, and souls, but for food to merely quench their physical hunger. 

   I believe what Jesus found in the people, asking for “physical” bread, instead of “bread” that, [in his words] “gives life to the world”  –big picture, through his words and deeds, saddened him, as he wanted them to see more. 

   To me, that is why the over-the-top expense of the recent Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis saddens me so. Additionally, I believe it may have saddened our brother Jesus too, because it didn’t stress the “bread of life” that “gives life” to the world at all.  They that attended, and they that produced this event pretty much stayed on the surface, “adoring rather than imitating” our brother Jesus—something, by the way, he never wanted. 

   And, moving on to what Paul has to say today to the Ephesians, I believe we see someone who “gets” what Jesus was trying to convey in his lifetime: Paul says, to be a follower of Jesus means you must change your ways—look more like Jesus, and less like the world—in other words, if we are not about “justice” and “truth,” something is missing. 

   It would seem that if something truly “life-giving,” beyond the immediate adoration complete with all the “bells and whistles”  had happened at the Eucharistic Congress, it would have been more widely shared, like an announcement sending this 50.000 folks forth to find justice (the bread of life, the body and blood of Christ in the homeless poor, the imprisoned, especially falsely so, which has so much to do with race, the downtrodden due to gender and sexual differences and preferences beyond the norm, in those called to serve, but denied, and more.  We never hear any leadership on these issues—only rules and regs about who is included, but mostly who is excluded.

   Across town, at the same time, Roman Catholic Women Priests sponsoring a Eucharist of Equals advocated and prayed for all of the above. 

   It is understandable in the purely human sense that the Bishops of this country would choose to do the “easier” action, staying stuck on the surface, but it isn’t what Jesus, by his life called them to do.  They need to lead instead of serving themselves and their positions of power, finding a place at the table for all of God’s beautiful people.

   And for us my friends, the call is the same.  I heard someone recently say, “What good thing did you do today?”  Have we been about showing mercy, understanding, being just in our dealings with others, or better yet, have we done the “loving thing” when we had the opportunity? –and as you know, the “loving thing” isn’t always the easiest to do.  Following Jesus will every day call us to be “our best.”

   Today’s readings are about more than meets the eye for each of us—that is truly the meaning of being “bread for our world, seeing Jesus’ “body and blood” in the faces and lives of all that we meet, and in that light, whether we can get our heads around “real human flesh, and real human blood, doesn’t seem to be the most important thing, but,  responding by doing what is most needed, the loving thing, for the true, more real, body and blood of this world.   Amen? Amen!

My friends, as promised, today and the next several Sundays will be, big picture, about the “body and blood of Christ,” and it is important, thinking about the “big picture,” that when we speak of “Christ,” we don’t mean Jesus’ last name, but a concept that Franciscans, Ilia Delio and Richard Rohr, as well as other expansive thinkers, of the ilk of Diamuid O’Murcho in Quantum Theology, speak of as inclusive of all peoples, times, and places—in other words, Christ is for all. 

   So, my friends, the chosen readings for today are so good in that they indeed tell us how to receive Jesus’ body and blood, and what to do with it once received.  I believe these readings do tell us how to get out of the small boxes that our Church hierarchy have been, sadly, famous for putting us into. 

   The 1^st reading from 2 Kings gives us the prophet Elisha telling “a giver of bread” –20 loaves, to, “give it to the people.”  As we humans tend to do, we see the “small picture,” as the giver of the loaves says, “How can I serve it to 100 people?” 

   Likewise, in today’s gospel from John, we see the same phenomenon—too little food, too many people.  The prophets Elisha, and Jesus simply say, “Give it to the people.”  And miraculously, in both cases, while not enough to start with, there are leftovers!  So, what can we make of this?  Clearly, something beyond physics is going on…

   Psalm 145 gives us an initial clue:  “You open your hand and [you will] satisfy.”  It has been said by others that the small offering given, in both readings, became great because of the example given by one person that encouraged others to give what they had too when they saw that there wasn’t enough to go around. Or, one can simply believe that the “blessings” of the prophets, Elisha and Jesus, miraculously multiplied the loaves, and in Jesus’ case, the fish, to make not only enough, but more than enough. 

   I personally like the idea that both Elisha and Jesus initially, “showed the way” and others responded in kind…  Jesus, in my read of Scriptures was always “showing the way” to be our best selves. 

   Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, our 2^nd reading, fleshes out beautifully I believe, just how we are to be “our best” in our earthly existence:  He says, “I plead with you then…to lead a life worthy of your calling…” basically, treat others charitably, with unselfishness, gentleness, patience—doing all you can to preserve unity. 

   It seems then, that there is always the chance that when we “give what, as Saint Francis of Assisi said, is ours to give,” there is the possibility that more will be added to our gift by others.  We should never underestimate our personal power in this regard, to start the ball rolling, so to speak.  At the very least, we have the responsibility to, “show up,” –the Spirit will probably take it from there. 

   So my friends, we can’t really speak about the “body and blood of Christ” in the Eucharist without mentioning the extravaganza, to the tune of $28 million held by the hierarchy of our Church, in Indianapolis last weekend.  To be fair to our Winona/Rochester diocesan bishop, Robert Barron, I felt I had better listen to what he had to say at the Eucharistic Congress. 

   Bishop Barron is definitely what some would call, “a charismatic individual,” which can be a good, or not so good thing, and people needing perhaps, a strong message, are very much attracted to him—they in fact, love him, and his words. 

   In his talk he spoke about what is wrong in our world, and to him, it is that “love is not being addressed, or applied.”  He told those gathered that they need to be, “Lumen gentium,” light of the world, only he doesn’t ever say what that means. He does say in so many words that we as individuals have no right to, “listen to ourselves,” or act on our own desires—that is God’s to do—to tell us who we are, and how we should act, and interestingly enough, “God’s message” is exactly what the hierarchical Church teaches.  What was, as a good friend of mine says, “crazy-making,” to me, was his dialog about “not listening to our egos” –only his persistence on doing things by the rules and regs (his way, in fact), without any thought about listening to our own beings, made him sound quite egotistical, and arrogant, something he, I am sure, is totally unaware of.  I am always a little skeptical of someone who is so sure that they have the absolute truth. I always thought that God gifted us with free wills—but not so, it would seem in listening to Bishop Barron. 

   So, the more that I listen to him, the more I know quite clearly, why he won’t come and speak with us…

   But going back to his notion that what is wrong with the world is that, “love is not being applied, “ I would ask him, if that is the case, why does he never speak about, nor  encourage his followers to address climate change (talk about Word/World on Fire), poverty and hunger in our world, ceaseless wars, nuclear proliferation, the death penalty, acceptance of those who have struggled to live within the narrow confinements of gender okayed by the Church hierarchy, God’s equal calls to women and men to serve at our liturgical tables—to full leadership in our Church.  In my mind, it’s because he doesn’t understand the profound nature, and expansiveness of love as depicted by our brother Jesus.

   In conclusion then, Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire, that he hopes to ignite within his following, and spread throughout the world, I would say will not have the massive effect that he hopes for because it clearly, in my mind, is not about “love” in the grandest sense of the word.  It has no direction beyond its narrow scope of what is acceptable –it is exclusive, arrogant and small-minded. 

   I say “small-minded” because in its attempt to have us all spend our creative minds and energies merely accepting that “the bread and the wine of communion is human flesh and human blood,” rather than what Jesus’ body and blood transformed in us is doing, or should be doing in our world, extending acceptance, kindness, open ears and hearts, hearing individual and unique things our God is doing in the world, seems to me to have missed the point! Truly, I would say that when, “the Word, is truly on Fire, people will keep finding more and more ways, not less, different nuances of what love means.  And let me be clear, I am not saying that followers of this movement are not doing “good” things in this world, as I know they are, but if we are about love, in the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, then, no one can be excluded, everyone is worthy, and certainly, not, “a waste of time,” as Bishop Barron said of us! Amen? Amen!