18th Sunday of Ordinary Time- Sunday, 2nd August 2015

“The Eucharist; in it contains every pleasure” – John 6:24-35

The Jews quote Scripture to Jesus: Our father had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. What scripture said that? The story is told in the Book of Exodus when, coming across the Red Sea and arriving in the desert of Sinai, the people find themselves without food until God gives them bread miraculously in the desert. And when the Jews remember it, they celebrate it – in the psalms it is called “the bread of angels,” and the Book of Wisdom says, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat,” and then adds, “containing every pleasure and suited to every taste” (Wisdom 16:20).

This bread is like a meal in itself – Italian, Chinese, Indian cuisine, good ol’ Irish – whatever you’re looking for, it’s there in this single host of bread, which is the Body of Christ, the bread from heaven which contains in itself every pleasure. Some special souls of recent years like Marthe Robin survived on nothing but the Eucharist for years. This isn’t something we should try ourselves – no thanks! – but their experience is still a great sign to us that the Eucharist really contains in itself every pleasure. We can think of the Eucharist in many ways, but one of the great discoveries of Youth 2000 is that the Eucharist is more than simply a spiritual resource. It is our joy and our pleasure just to be here in the presence of Jesus. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is a response to these words of Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel,
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.”

Of course, we think, we’ve all known times when we were at Mass or in adoration and we couldn’t wait to get out, hungering for something else. And so adoration implies surrender, opening ourselves to the presence of the Lord, surrendering our other priorities for that one hour so as to enjoy the pleasure of Jesus’ real presence there in front of us. In a special moment we might really have the intuition of reality: that all our life’s search for happiness, friendship, acceptance, peace, health, and life will be answered in the real presence of Jesus. Then, surrendering our cares to him, we will really see that he is the bread of life, containing in himself every pleasure.

Fr. Terence Crotty OP