3RD FRIDAY HOMILY OF THE EASTER — YEAR A
3RD FRIDAY HOMILY OF THE EASTER — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “FOR MY FLESH IS REAL FOOD, AND MY BLOOD IS REAL BLOOD”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 117:1-2; John 6:52-60
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, 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. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
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The declaration of Jesus, inviting them to eat His flesh and drink His blood is truly shocking to His listeners: “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” In fact, they were scandalized and insulted by His words. Is He openly endorsing cannibalism to them? If we hear those words for the very first time, we would surely be baffled as well. Most likely, we will say, ‘Are you serious?’ ‘Are you out of your mind?’ Fortunately for us, we have already heard these words so often that we are not anymore surprised.
Furthermore, it must be noted that the Jews have great reverence for, and even fear of, blood which they consider as the source of life. A person who touches blood immediately becomes ritually unclean. That is why, in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), the priest and the Levite ignored the injured traveler, most certainly because he was bleeding, and they were unwilling to jeopardize their temple duties by being rendered unclean. The woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years (Mark 5:25-34) was fully aware of this, that is why she surreptitiously mixed in with the crowd and discreetly touched just the tassel of the cloak of Jesus.
And now, here comes Jesus urging the people: ‘Eat my flesh and drink my blood!’ Yet Jesus does not take back what He said. Instead, He insists that if they do not eat His flesh and drink His blood, they will not have life. Those who eat and drink are assured of life: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”
Of course, Jesus is not talking in the physical sense. Otherwise, right then and there He would have been eaten alive by the cannibalistic crowd. Rather, He is talking in a sacramental sense. This will be made clear to the Twelve at the Last Supper when Jesus, holding the bread, says, “This is my Body. Eat it.” And holding the cup of wine, says, “This is the cup of my blood. Drink it.”
Jesus is not talking figuratively or symbolically, but in a real and sacramental sense. Hidden behind the form of bread is the real flesh of Jesus; behind the form of wine is the real blood of Jesus. He insists on this in His discourse: “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
Strange and incredible it may sound, but there are saints who have proven this to be true. They literally took these words to heart, and lived solely on the Eucharist as their food.
St. Catherine of Siena (a.d.1380), for the last few years of her life, refused to eat, for it made her very sick. So, she lived entirely on the Eucharist alone. St. Catherine of Genoa (a.d. 1510) fasted during the entire seasons of Lent and Advent taking only Holy Communion as her food. St. Joseph Cupertino (a.d. 1663) lived for five years without food apart from the Eucharist. St. Rita of Cascia (a.d. 1456) took scarcely any nourishment, and the sisters of the convent always believed it was the Holy Eucharist which sustained her. St. Silvinus, bishop of Regionnaire (a.d. 718), lived for forty years on the Eucharist.
Other saints include John The Good Of Mantua (a.d. 1222); Marianne De Jesus (a.d. 1645); St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds (a.d. 1715-1791). But the most well-known, most scientifically documented and most rigorously recorded case is that of Blessed Alexandrina da Costa (a.d. 1955). She spent thirteen (13) years without food or drink except the Eucharist.
So far, the latest among these is the Servant of God Luisa Picaretta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will (1865-1947). Beginning at age sixteen she awoke one day from an ecstasy and felt a great revulsion for food; so she began to refuse to eat. She was forced to eat by her parents, and later, by her confessor. She did eat but only a little amount, simply out of obedience. But after eating she would always bring up the food immediately, whole and fresh – and sweetly fragrant.
These saints concretely illustrate that the Body of Christ is true food and drink, and that it is, indeed, possible for man to live without food, but not without the Eucharist, the Bread of Life. St. Padre Pio declared, “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”
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