I would like you to cast your mind back to the best meal that you have ever eaten.\u00a0 Can you remember the details of the food, the restaurant, or maybe you were at home?\u00a0 If you use your imagination, now, can you summon up the tastes, the smells?\u00a0 Recently I was fortunate enough to visit Costa Rica, in Central America, and particularly Stella\u2019s Caf\u00e9 in Monteverde. \u00a0Stella was an English Quaker who moved to Costa Rica in 1982.\u00a0 The caf\u00e9 named after her continues to offer amazing locally produced food which long remains in the memory.\u00a0 Especially, since I follow them on Instagram, and I am tormented almost daily by new videos of the most exquisite looking meals eaten in a beautiful garden, surrounded by exotic birds, with monkeys trying to steal some food.<\/p>\n
But why am I talking about food in a homily, you might ask? \u00a0\u00a0Well, it\u2019s because I can’t recall another Sunday in the year when food is so clearly and definitively the theme of our readings and of course that makes sense, because we are truly nourished by coming to Mass.<\/p>\n
So perhaps the question we should ask ourselves is do we anticipate the delights of the feast that is the Mass just as much as we anticipate a good meal?\u00a0 Are we as keen to feed our souls as we are to feed our stomachs?<\/p>\n
The banquet, that is the Mass, is served in two courses, the first course, or perhaps we could call it the appetiser, is the Word.\u00a0 \u201cTaste and see that the Lord is good\u201d we are told.\u00a0 And elsewhere in the Bible the prophet Jeremiah describes the Word of God being as \u201csweet as honey in my mouth\u201d, although he then continues to speak of the bitterness that this food brings to the stomach.\u00a0 The word of God has great beauty, memorable phrases, such as \u201cI am the living bread which has come down from heaven\u201d.\u00a0 So perhaps it\u2019s strange to think that the Word of God can also be uncomfortable for us, even undigestible, but then again maybe it isn\u2019t, because sometimes we can all struggle with God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Sometimes the teaching of the Gospel is just such a challenge to our everyday lives that we don\u2019t want to hear it. \u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t want to absorb it.\u00a0 In the next verses of John\u2019s Gospel, the disciples describe todays Gospel as \u201cdifficult teaching\u201d.\u00a0 In fact, they ask, \u201cwho can accept it?\u201d, indeed the Bible subsequently tells us that many of His disciples turned back and stopped following Jesus at this point. \u00a0Jesus lets them walk away, he doesn\u2019t \u2018water down\u2019 his teaching to keep them with Him.\u00a0 He then challenges the twelve, those closest to him, asking them if they also wish to leave Him.\u00a0 Thankfully, the twelve can \u2018stomach\u2019 the Word of God and they accept the wisdom that Christ is sharing with them.\u00a0 In the same way that we digest food so we need to \u2018digest\u2019 Christ, this sustenance must be accepted, consumed and internalised in order to gain true life, eternal life.<\/p>\n
The main course at Mass is of course the Eucharist, the source and the summit of our Faith, as it was described at the Second Vatican Council.\u00a0 The Eucharist is where our Faith begins, and it is also the very fulfilment of our Faith.\u00a0 It is worth reflecting on how seriously we take this teaching in our lives.<\/p>\n
Hospitality is a recurring theme in the Bible from Abraham feeding the three mysterious visitors at Mamre (as we see in the icon by the sanctuary) through to the last supper and beyond.\u00a0 Today Wisdom is portrayed by the author, King David, as a woman of generous hospitality, wisdom represents the word of God and in the original Hebrew is actually wisdoms<\/u><\/strong>, in the plural.\u00a0 Wisdom\u2019s house represents the church, which is described as being founded on seven pillars, which represent the truth of God\u2019s word.\u00a0 The bread, the meat of the slaughtered beasts, and the wine mixed with water offered at her feast, are clearly precursors of the Eucharist.\u00a0 Likewise, the servant girls foreshadow the disciples as they are sent out to summon everyone<\/strong>, even the foolish, is invited to eat at her table.\u00a0 But those who respond to this invitation must reject their foolish ways and embrace God\u2019s will, exercising true wisdom.<\/p>\n Today, in places like Gaza and Yemen, hunger is a reality of life.\u00a0 So again, I ask you to take a moment and remember a time when you were really hungry.\u00a0 Perhaps you were fasting voluntarily, or perhaps there has been a time in your life when you simply couldn\u2019t have the food that you wanted.\u00a0 Imagine if that was the reality of your life every single day.\u00a0 When you are starving your stomach shrinks, you simply cannot consume as much food as you could before, and it takes some time to recover.\u00a0 In a similar way our capacity to be spiritually nourished diminishes if we are not being \u2018fed\u2019 regularly.\u00a0 If we neglect the word and the Eucharist, we damage our souls and we need to recover.\u00a0 St Paul calls us to be wise, to walk carefully, other Bible translations use the word circumspect<\/strong>, in Latin this literally means to \u2018look around\u2019, but for what?\u00a0 Well, the evangelist tells us to seize<\/strong> every<\/strong> opportunity, every<\/strong> moment, for Christ.\u00a0 This is what we should be looking for, those opportunities to become closer to God.\u00a0 We need to be regularly topped up, not<\/strong> with wine, but with the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Without this refilling we can, just like the people of Gaza or Yemen, become weak, lethargic and defeated, unless we are spiritually replenished.\u00a0 There are many Catholics in the world such as North Korea, parts of Nigeria, India, Iran, China, Pakistan, Eritrea, Algeria who, through persecution, struggle to receive the Word or the Eucharist regularly, these people are being spiritually starved.<\/p>\n We are set apart from most other Christians by virtue of what we believe about the nature of the Eucharist. \u00a0For us as Catholics, the<\/strong> most<\/strong> important point is, that when Christ was challenged by the Jews, he repeated in several different ways that His flesh is true<\/strong> food, and His blood is true<\/strong> drink.\u00a0 The Jews wilfully misinterpreted this teaching as promoting some form of cannibalism, but the message was always clear, Christ Himself is the living sacrifice<\/strong> offered for atonement, to wash away the sins of the world.\u00a0 In the Eucharist we receive the entirety of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ. \u00a0What other meal can offer such a feast, such a delight for the senses?\u00a0 The bread and wine are not<\/strong> just symbols of His sacrifice, they are the reality which expresses the sacramental grace of the Eucharist, the transformation of the substance of bread and wine into the real presence.\u00a0 This is the \u2018mystery\u2019 of transubstantiation, something that cannot be rationalised, the ingredients are transformed by the priest into real<\/strong> food and drink, food for the soul.<\/p>\n This is Christ\u2019s great gift to us, and we should not take it for granted.\u00a0 Many practising Catholics deny the real presence in the Eucharist, and that\u2019s a tragedy, because so many others would literally die to receive the Eucharist.\u00a0 So, let us delight in the food that is served from God\u2019s table.<\/p>\n Here ends the appetiser, and now for the main course!<\/p>\n Deacon Ray<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I would like you to cast your mind back to the best meal that you have ever eaten.\u00a0 Can you remember the details of the food, the restaurant, or maybe you were at home?\u00a0 If you use your imagination, now, can you summon up the tastes, the smells?\u00a0 Recently I was fortunate enough to visit Costa Rica, in Central America, and particularly Stella\u2019s Caf\u00e9 in Monteverde. \u00a0Stella was an English Quaker who moved to Costa Rica in 1982.\u00a0 The caf\u00e9 named after her continues to offer amazing locally produced food which long remains in the memory.\u00a0 Especially, since I follow them on Instagram, and I am tormented almost daily by new videos of the most exquisite looking meals eaten in a beautiful garden, surrounded by exotic birds, with monkeys trying to steal some food. But why am I talking about food in a homily, you might ask? \u00a0\u00a0Well, it\u2019s because I can’t recall another Sunday in the year when food is so clearly and definitively the theme of our readings and of course that makes sense, because we are truly nourished by coming to Mass. So perhaps the question we should ask ourselves is do we anticipate the delights of the feast that is the Mass just as much as we anticipate a good meal?\u00a0 Are we as keen to feed our souls as we are to feed our stomachs? The banquet, that is the Mass, is served in two courses, the first course, or perhaps we could call it the appetiser, is the Word.\u00a0 \u201cTaste and see that the Lord is good\u201d we are told.\u00a0 And elsewhere in the Bible the prophet Jeremiah describes the Word of God being as \u201csweet as honey in my mouth\u201d, although he then continues to speak of the bitterness that this food brings to the stomach.\u00a0 The word of God has great beauty, memorable phrases, such as \u201cI am the living bread which has come down from heaven\u201d.\u00a0 So perhaps it\u2019s strange to think that the Word of God can also be uncomfortable for us, even undigestible, but then again maybe it isn\u2019t, because sometimes we can all struggle with God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Sometimes the teaching of the Gospel is just such a challenge to our everyday lives that we don\u2019t want to hear it. \u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t want to absorb it.\u00a0 In the next verses of John\u2019s Gospel, the disciples describe todays Gospel as \u201cdifficult teaching\u201d.\u00a0 In fact, they ask, \u201cwho can accept it?\u201d, indeed the Bible subsequently tells us that many of His disciples turned back and stopped following Jesus at this point. \u00a0Jesus lets them walk away, he doesn\u2019t \u2018water down\u2019 his teaching to keep them with Him.\u00a0 He then challenges the twelve, those closest to him, asking them if they also wish to leave Him.\u00a0 Thankfully, the twelve can \u2018stomach\u2019 the Word of God and they accept the wisdom that Christ is sharing with them.\u00a0 In the same way that we digest food so we need to \u2018digest\u2019 Christ, this sustenance must be accepted, consumed and internalised in order to gain true life, eternal life. The main course at Mass is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12606"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12621,"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12606\/revisions\/12621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintedmunds.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n
\n Reading 1<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n Prov 9:1-6<\/span><\/td>\n Eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared for you.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Psalm<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n Ps 33: 2-3. 10-15 r.9<\/span><\/td>\n Taste and see that the Lord is good.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Reading 2<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n Eph 5:15-20<\/span><\/td>\n Recognise what is the will of God.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Gospel Acclamation<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n John 6:56<\/span><\/td>\n He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Gospel<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n John 6:51-58<\/span><\/td>\n My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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