June 7, 2026, at Saint William Parish and the Naples Maronite Mission
Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14-16 + Psalm 147 + 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17 + John 6: 51-58
“How?” the leaders ask themselves. It’s not necessarily a bad question. Abraham asked that question, and young woman in Nazareth asked it as well. There is so much we do not know, and even then, there is even more we do not understand. There was really nothing wrong with the question those leaders asked. Their problem was that they were talking to themselves and not really listening to Jesus. Surely, overhearing their conversation, Jesus pushes his messages and drives it home with graphic words that cannot be watered down or explained away as though it were a metaphor or just symbolic.
It is near Passover time John tells us, and Jesus presents himself as the sacrificial offering, that Lamb whose flesh is eaten, affirming God’s covenant with his people leading to their liberation. These words then are as much about the identity of Jesus and what he perceived was his role and destiny as they are about eating and drinking. Yet, eating the flesh of that lamb and the flesh of Jesus Christ cannot be separated. It’s real flesh to be eaten.
Jesus does not make it easy for those who do not seem to really want to know how. Pushing harder, he hammers it into them by repeating the phrase that makes them back away: “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Three times he says it and then adds: “Whoever eats me will live because of me.” John uses that word “flesh” very carefully here. Matthew, Mark, and Luke use the word “body.” If at the last supper John had cared to focus on the meal rather than the washing of feet, Jesus would have said: “Take and eat. This is my flesh. This is my blood.” This how the work of salvation is accomplished in flesh and blood. God takes on flesh and blood in the person of his son to redeem all those who will receive him. To eat his flesh and drink his blood is to welcome and accept God’s saving action into our whole being. When we consume his flesh and blood, we are consumed by him.
For those who wonder, “How,” I always wonder why they can’t get it. If God can create all things out of nothing, God can certainly change bread into flesh and wine into blood. If Jesus could take jugs of water and change them into wine, he can take wine and change it into his blood. What he goes to say is that this is how we are saved. Consume him, eat and live.
I never forget that in 2004 I was really close to death after open heart surgery that didn’t exactly go well. After getting me to CCU, the surgeon went back into surgery for another patient, and I crashed. The nurses called down to surgery, and he told them to pump blood into me until he finished and then bring back. I had nine units of blood that morning, and because someone gave that blood, I’m standing here. It saved my life.
If anyone of you has had any similar experience, it’s probably not hard to understand what Jesus promises, offers, and gives us. There is life in this food that we have because he died surrendering his life, pouring out his blood for the life of the world. What’s the point of asking how. It might be better to ask why, and accept the fact that God thinks we are worth it. Take and eat. This is my flesh given for you.