Unless…

Brothers,

Here is a great message from Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt, Grand Island, Nebraska, such a good reflection.

What were some of the first “unless” statements you heard as you were growing up? At our house we didn’t have dessert all that often, but the rule was “unless you clean your plate you cannot have dessert.” There was also the rule that “unless you finish your homework you cannot watch television.” Whenever we couldn’t find something in the shop my dad would say, “unless you put things back where you found them, you won’t know where they’re at the next time you need them.” These ‘unless” statements carry with them certain consequences. No vegetables, then no dessert. No homework, then no passing grade. Unless you close the gate, the cattle will get out. Unless you practice your saxophone, the band director will find a way to embarrass you. I’m sure you could come up with your own list of life’s “unless” lessons learned. These “unless” statements leave us with the freedom to choose our own behavior while at the same time announcing the consequences of what is chosen.

We note a most important “unless” statement from Jesus in the Bread of Life discourse from John’s Gospel at Mass yesterday. Jesus said, “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.” With this statement, Jesus announces the consequences of either choice. We learn what happens if we don’t receive Holy Communion and what happens if we do.

In John 6:53 Jesus tells us that: “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you do not have life within you.” At face value, from a merely physical perspective, this is untrue. Billions of people have never received the Eucharist, and they are still alive – they have life within them. So obviously, Jesus must be referring to some other kind of “life” when he said this.  Rather, he is referring to his “divine life.” Unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we do not have his “divine life” within us. Without the Eucharist, without receiving Holy Communion worthily, we’re not just missing something, we’re missing someone – Jesus, and all that comes to us in life form our union with Him!

At the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted Eucharist, he took bread and said, “Take this all of you and eat of it, for this is my body.” Then taking the cup filled with wine he said, “Take this all of you and drink of it, for this is my blood.”  Notice the verbs “take” and “eat” and “drink.”  He didn’t just say “this is my body” and “this is my blood.” No, he commanded the disciples to “eat” and “drink.” Because unless we “eat” and “drink” of his precious body and blood, our life is so much less than it could be. People who have been away from Mass and come back often report this – they’ve experienced it.

In skipping Mass from time to time, or falling away completely from receiving Holy Communion, we’re kidding ourselves if we think “I don’t have to go to Mass to be a good Christian.” Yes, there are many important ways in which we should live the Christian life: personal prayer, works of mercy and service to others, generous stewardship of our resources, and more.  Doing all these things is praiseworthy, but it was Jesus who said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”Thus, in the Eucharist, Jesus desires so much more for us than we realize. To this now let us turn our attention.

In John 6:54, Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”  Notice that Jesus does not say this in future tense but in the present moment.  Therefore, in the act of receiving Holy Communion we already possess eternal life and the pledge of it on the last day. In Holy Communion we HAVE eternal life! We are being saved.  Like the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the Israelites during the Passover in Egypt, the blood of Christ stains our lips as a pledge of eternal life with God, and here-and-now it is saving us! Truly, this is a great mystery, but our faith assures us that it is so.

We, then, who regularly participate in the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion, should always be mindful of this “life” that is ours because of the Eucharist. Believing in the words of our Lord should make us always hunger for this life, this saving grace.  Furthermore, we ought to thrive in works of charity and mercy because of the love and mercy we have received from our Lord.  We are at our best when we offer to others what we ourselves have received. 

If it is true that “at the heart of the gift is the love of the giver,” then how blessed are we by this “divine life” in which by means of the Eucharist we participate! The Eucharist is a banquet of love and mercy.” Without it we do not have life within us, but with it, we are being transformed to have the mind and heart of Jesus. All the more reason, then, should we become Eucharistic missionaries, inviting people back to the table of the Lord – to the fullness of life our Lord offers us in this great sacrament.

“Unless” we take seriously our Lord’s words, we will never know the “more” that he desires for us. Unless we participate faithfully in the celebration of the Eucharist, we are opting for a mediocre spiritual life that will leave us feeling less than alive and unfulfilled, though we may not be able to pinpoint why.  Frankly, without the Eucharist, we are debilitating ourselves, spiritually.  Without the Eucharist our Lord does not REMAIN in us and we suffer the consequences of isolation and self-reliance. Unless we take our Lord at his word and act on it, we do not have His life within us!

Let me leave you with this...

Unless the Lord builds the house,

Its builders labor in vain;

Unless the Lord protects the city,

its watchmen stand guard in vain.”

~Psalm 127:1