Flesh and Blood

On the first day of the week after Jesus had been crucified and buried, two of his followers were walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus.  They were feeling depressed and talking to each other about the recent events.  Suddenly a stranger approached them and asked them what they were talking about.

They were surprised that this stranger hadn't heard about the events that had taken place in Jerusalem; about the prophet Jesus, who they had hoped to be the messiah, but was crucified.  They then explained that some women from their group had that very morning gone to Jesus' tomb and then rushed back to report that the tomb was open and the body of Jesus gone, and that two men of their group had then gone to the grave to see for themselves and confirmed what the women had said.

After listening to this, the stranger remarked, "Are you so slow to understand what the prophets foretold about the messiah; how he must first suffer and then enter his glory?"  The stranger then proceeded to explain what the prophets, starting with Moses, said about this Jesus, the messiah.

When they finally arrived at Emmaus, the stranger made as if to continue on.  The two disciples begged him to stay and eat supper with them since it was getting late.  As they sat at supper, the stranger took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them.  At that moment they recognized the stranger as Jesus himself, and then Jesus disappeared from their sight.

The disciples exclaimed that it was Jesus and then recounted how their hearts burned as they listened to him explain the Scriptures on the road to Emmaus.  The two then quickly returned to Jerusalem and reported what they had experienced.

This is my own paraphrase of what Saint Luke wrote in his Gospel, chapter 24:13-35.



The Emmaus Disciples by Abraham Bloemaert
 

Christianity is an incarnational religion.  What does that mean? 

It means that God took on human flesh, became Incarnate, as Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus the Christ is fully human and fully divine.  He is both man and God.

Some of us may remember tales learned at school about the Greek gods who sometimes took human or animal form.  For anyone familiar with both the Greek myths and Christianity, the comparison ends there.  The Greek gods took the form of creatures not for the benefit of man but simply for their own desires (typically through rape or some other trickery).

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became Incarnate purely for his limitless love of the human race he had created.  Through Adam and Eve's rebellion against God, the relationship between humanity and God was broken.  Because of this, death entered the world and humans were barred from heaven - that is, eternal bliss with God.  This breach in the relationship between God and humans needed to be mended through atonement, but weak humans alone would never be able to accomplish this reconciliation.  Therefore, God became man in order to reconcile God and man. 

Furthermore, God wished to remain physically united with mankind beyond the 33 years he walked the earth as Jesus of Nazareth.  God is physically united with us today both in the Eucharist and in his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

For this post I wish to deal solely with the Eucharist.  The word Eucharist is Greek and means "thanksgiving."  It is the name we give to the ritual whereby simple bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.  It is by partaking of the body and blood of Jesus that we believers are in Christ, and Christ is in us.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell that on the night before he was crucified, when Jesus dined with his Apostles, he took bread, blessed it and said, "Take and eat, this is my body, which will be given up for you."  Then he took a cup of wine, gave thanks and said, "Take and drink, this is the cup of my blood . . . it will be shed for you."

In case anyone thinks Jesus was simply speaking metaphorically and that the bread and wine are merely symbolic of his body and blood, chapter 6 of John's Gospel should dispel that idea. 

This chapter begins with the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes to feed a great multitude of people.  Next we read how that night the Apostles took a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee but Jesus had stayed behind to pray.  A strong wind came up and the Apostles had to row against the wind.  Suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water and they were afraid.  Jesus said, "It is I.  Do not be afraid."  Immediately the boat arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

The following day, the crowds that Jesus had fed came looking for him, asking for a sign so that they could believe in him (How ironic!  The miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes wasn't sign enough?).  It is then that Jesus gives what we now call 'The Bread of Life Discourse.'  Jesus explains that he is the bread from heaven and that all who eat his flesh shall have everlasting life.

Cannibalism is abhorrent to the Jews and those in the crowd listening to this asked, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"  Jesus does NOT respond with an explanation that he's speaking metaphorically.  No, instead he reaffirms what he's already said, "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." (John 6:53-56) 

In the original Greek version of John's Gospel, the word translated as 'eat' isn't the usual Greek word for how humans eat, but how animals eat, and has more the sense in English of 'to bite, chew or gnaw.'

Jesus left no doubt as to what he was saying.  The crowd certainly understood him clearly, saying, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?"  Again, Jesus doesn't attempt an explanation that would be easier for his listeners to accept.  Instead he asks, "Does this shock you?  What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?"  As a result many of his followers left him and returned home.

The twelve apostles were surely as baffled by Jesus' words, but they remained.  (After all, they had experienced the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and Jesus walking on water, all within the previous 24 hours.)  Jesus asked them, "Do you also want to leave?"  Simon Peter responded, "Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."

(visit this website for a more detailed explanation of John chapter 6: http://lonelypilgrim.com/2012/08/19/eat-my-flesh-and-drink-my-blood-a-crucial-passage-the-catholic-eucharist-and-bad-protestant-commentary/)

There's a lot more that could be said on this topic, but I'll add just one more thing.  In Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (11:23-27), after he restates how Jesus instituted the Eucharistic ritual, where bread and wine become his body and blood, Paul goes on to warn, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord."

The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (which comes the Sunday after Pentecost).  In most American dioceses, Corpus Christi has been moved to the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.  So, in Poland it's on May 30th this year, but on June 2nd in America.  It's a national holiday in Poland.

In Polish churches, as in much of the world, this day is marked by processions of a consecrated host, the real body and blood of Jesus Christ, through the streets near the church.  Young girls lead the procession strewing flower petals in honor of our Lord and King Jesus Christ.

Corpus Christi procession in Poland

 

Veni, Sancte Spiritus



Mary and the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost

When Pentecost Day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them.  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.
                                                                                                      Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4

Pentecost falls 7 weeks, or 50 days (hence its name), after Easter, which places it on May 19th this year.  On this day was a major Jewish festival, the Feast of Weeks, which celebrated the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. 

We know from the Acts of the Apostles (1:13-15) that the Apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus and many others (including women), in all totaling about 120, were present in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. 

With the descent of the Holy Spirit on this occasion, many Christians consider this event the "birthday of the Church."

From the Gospels it's clear that during Jesus' earthly ministry, his followers often misunderstood or were confused by what Jesus told them.  If at moments they (dimly) grasped that he was divine (Luke 5:8; Matthew 16:16; John 6:68), more often than not they didn't seem to get Who he was or what he was about.  That would all change after Pentecost.

To those who charge that the followers of Jesus hid his dead body and made up the story of his resurrection, I answer - for what gain?  Jesus' followers faced hardship, ridicule, persecution and martyrdom.  Why would they make up such a ridiculous story (if false) when there were hundreds of reasons for not doing so?  Especially when they could have saved their lives?

No - the Apostles and other followers experienced something they could barely describe in the Resurrection, Ascension and then Pentecost that changed their lives forever.  After that, they couldn't keep quiet.  (Read the entire Acts of the Apostles for this amazing story.)

When our Lord was going to leave the world and return to his Father, he called his disciples orphans; children, as it were, whom he had been rearing, who were still unable to direct themselves, and who were soon to lose their protector; but he said, "I will not leave you comfortless orphans, I will come to you"; meaning to say, he would come again to them in the power of his Holy Spirit, who should be their present all-sufficient Guide, though he himself was away.  And we know, from the sacred history, that when the Holy Spirit came, they ceased to be the defenceless children they had been before.  He breathed into them a divine life, and gifted them with spiritual manhood, or perfection, as it is called in Scripture.  From that time forth, they put away childish things; they spake, they understood, they thought, as those who had been taught to govern themselves; and who, having "an unction from the Holy One, knew all things".

That such a change was wrought in the Apostles, according to Christ's promise, is evident from comparing their conduct before the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on them, and after.  I need not enlarge on their wonderful firmness and zeal in their Master's cause afterwards.  On the other hand, it is plain from the Gospels, that before the Holy Spirit came down, that is, while Christ was still with them, they were as helpless and ignorant as children; had no clear notion what they ought to seek after, and how; and were carried astray by their accidental feelings and their long-cherished prejudices . . .

Yet the first disciples of Christ . . . put off their vanities once for all, when the Spirit came upon them.
                                                                                          Blessed John Henry Newman
                                                                                          from Parochial and Plain Sermons

Veni, Sancte Spiritus - Come, Holy Spirit

Fatima

On May 13th, 1917, in Fatima, Portugal three small children saw an incredible apparition.  10 year old Lucia, the eldest of the three children, described seeing a lady "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun."

Lucia Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto (aged 9 and 7) would see these apparitions on the 13th of each month from May until October.

The lady who appeared to the children called herself the "Lady of the Rosary." 

This Lady of course was the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Mary told the children many things over those 6 months.  Most importantly, she told the children to pray to Jesus for the sins of the world.  It is from these messages that the Catholic Church has added these words to the rosary: "O my Jesus, pardon us, save us from the fires of hell.  Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need."

Mary revealed 3 secrets to the children that have since been published by the Church.  These secrets are somewhat open to interpretation and I won't go into detail.  They can be read in their entirety online.  Probably the two most fascinating revelations concern the conversion of Russia and a great violent persecution of the Church.

Mary promised a miracle would take place on October 17th, her final apparition at Fatima, so that all would believe.  Tens of thousands of people came to see a miracle. What they saw was the sun appearing to "dance in the sky."  Even skeptical journalists writing for secular newspapers reported this amazing event.  This phenomenon has since been explained as a "visual artifact" (an optical illusion) caused by looking at the sun too long.  However, those gathered would not have been looking at the sun but at the tree where the 3 children said the vision of the Lady had always appeared.

 

So, what are we to make of all this? 

The Catholic Church regards Marian apparitions as private revelations and so Catholics are not bound to believe them.  The Church spent some time enquiring into the events at Fatima and in 1930 the apparitions were deemed "worthy of belief."  Again, the faithful are not obligated to believe in the apparition.  There have been thousands of reported Marian apparitions over the centuries, but only a small handful have been deemed "worthy of belief" by the Church.

God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.   
St. Paul's 1st Letter to the Corinthians 1:27-29

Let's start with the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Of all the women in the world in which to become incarnate as a man, God chose Mary, a young woman living in a dusty provincial town at the edge of the mighty Roman Empire.  This young woman's womb was to hold God himself.

As Mary sang to her cousin Elizabeth, "My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.  He looks on his servant in her lowliness; henceforth all generations will call me blessed . . . He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly . . ." (Luke 1:46,52).

The House of the Virgin by Guillaume Dubufe

 



Next, the children.  It usually happens that Marian apparitions are reported by children or simple people (farmers, shepherds, housewives, etc.)  Go back and read the passage from Paul's letter to the Corinthians above.  So many of us are too sophisticated to be open to the miraculous.  This partly explains why Christian culture is decaying in the jaded western countries of Europe and North America but growing vibrantly in Africa and Asia. 

And most importantly, in all Marian apparitions deemed legitimate by the Church, Mary speaks again and again of Jesus Christ and of repentance.  Mary, like all the saints, continually points to Jesus.  All the saints are mirrors of the Light of Jesus Christ, of God.

In this way Mary and all the saints show us how to live.  As Saint John the Baptist said in regards to Jesus, "He must increase; I must decrease."  (John 3:30)

Make a joyful noise!

When my wife and I lived in Katowice, Poland some 10 or more years ago, we lived in an apartment block.  Across the road from where we lived there was a huge city park - Park Kościuszki.  This park was crisscrossed by paved paths and contained open lawns, flower beds, wooded areas, a children's playground and sledding hill, an old wooden church and a Soviet soldiers' cemetery.  Various music concerts were held in this park throughout the spring and summer.

One warm and sunny day as I was walking through this park, I began to hear a distant thumping sound.  This sound had a regular rhythm: THUMP . . . THUMP . . . THUMP, THUMP, THUMP . . .

The sound got closer and louder and I realized it was a bass drum.  And then I saw a column of people dressed in gray military style uniforms marching through the park.  They were carrying musical instruments and there were a few female majorettes.  They marched to an open area of grass and then formed up into ranks.  As I looked over their uniforms I discovered they were from the Ukraine. 

After their band leader barked out some instructions, the band began to play.  As they played they maneuvered into ever changing formations, with the majorettes strutting in front and waving their batons and the band leader giving an occasional blast on his whistle.   A small crowd of onlookers soon gathered to watch.

Ukrainian military marching band

I stood watching and listening enthralled.  They were very precise in their maneuvering; obviously professionally trained.

I can't say how long their performance lasted, maybe 15 or 20 minutes.  After they finished, they reformed their column and marched away, with the bass drummer beating out, THUMP . . . THUMP . . . THUMP, THUMP, THUMP . . . 

The crowd of onlookers dispersed.  I walked home marveling at what I had just witnessed. 

Later that same day I happened to look at the city newspaper and read about an international marching band competition taking place that weekend in Katowice.  The news article mentioned that various of the bands taking part in the competition would be appearing throughout the city to give mini-performances as a lead up to the competition.

Music is a very powerful thing.  I guess that's something most everyone knows, but I wonder how deeply we actually think about it.  We've seen the old black and white film from the 1950s of radio station owners or DJs pronouncing that they refused to play rock-n-roll, 'the devil's music,' then breaking a vinyl record over the corner of a table.  They took the power of music seriously, though we chuckle over their dramatics today.

Plato was very concerned about the power of music, too.  In his work The Laws (Book III), Plato's character, the Athenian, comments on the decline of Athenian democracy:

And then, as time went on, the poets themselves introduced the reign of vulgar and lawless innovation . . .

And by composing such licentious works, and adding to them words as licentious, they have inspired the multitude with lawlessness and boldness . . .

In music there first arose the universal conceit of omniscience and general lawlessness;-freedom came following afterwards, and men, fancying that they knew
what they did not know, had no longer any fear, and the absence of fear begets shamelessness . . .

And then the attempt to escape the control and exhortation of father, mother, elders, and when near the end, the control of the laws also; and at the very end there is the contempt of oaths and pledges, and no regard at all for the Gods-herein they exhibit and imitate the old so called Titanic nature, and come to the same point as the Titans when they rebelled against God, leading a life of endless evils.

(My thanks to BadEagle.com - http://www.badeagle.com/2009/07/12/plato-bad-music-destroys-democracy/)

 

Lucifer: Pride by Gustave Doré

 

Plato's words are worth reflecting on in regards to much of the popular music nowadays and the shocking decline of our culture.  Allen Bloom in his book The Closing of the American Mind likens teenagers' addiction to rock music to drug addiction.  Is he exaggerating?  Try taking a teen's music away and see.

Now, I am one who loves and is deeply moved by music.  As a child I soaked up the music I heard at home and church - lots of John Denver, The Carpenters, and old gospels ('I'll Fly Away,' 'How Great Thou Art,' 'That Old Rugged Cross,' etc.).  As a teenager I went through a succession of rock and pop passions.  I pretended not to like the classical music we listened to in music classes at school.  As I got older I acquired tastes in jazz, Irish and other folk music, country, blues and lots more classical music. 

Simple Minds in their heyday, circa 1983



I understand the profound power of music.  Music can lift you up or bring you down.  I'm not going to argue that music can cause a teenager to kill himself, but I don't think it's a coincidence that so often a young person who's taken his or her own life spent a lot of time listening to some rather dark music.  I'm sure the troubled individual sought out the darker music as it reflected the state of his or her soul, rather than the music being the cause of the darkness.  However, someone who lives in the dark doesn't need more darkness, but more light.

As with individuals, the same can be said for entire societies: less vulgarity and darkness, more beauty and light.  Make a joyful noise!

Johann Sebastian Bach - dig the wig!