The Virtue of the Sacrament

Gospel Reflection for August 11, 2024 - John 6:41-51

The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said: I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then saith he, I came down from heaven?

Jesus therefore answered, and said to them: Murmur not among yourselves.

No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day.

It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me.

Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father.

Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life.

I am the bread of life.

Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead.

This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. (John 6:41-51 DRA)

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is one of the most profound and important in all of Scripture. It is the clearest explanation and justification for the traditional doctrine of the Eucharist, alongside its sacramental institution at the Last Supper, with Christ stating unequivocally that all people must eat (“gnaw” or “chew” in the Greek) His flesh and drink His blood, offering no clarification that His words are merely symbolic. Indeed, He even allows many of His followers to depart and no longer remain in communion with Him. Precisely by denying this central doctrine of the Christian faith, these disciples were no longer truly Christian. Like the Jews in the Old Testament, who honored the manna so much that they carried it in the Ark of the Covenant, despite it being mere bread offering only bodily sustenance, true Christians throughout history have revered and worshiped the Bread of Life of which the manna was only a type and a shadow. 

In this divine food, the panis angelicus (angelic bread) as it is called, God shows us that He is our true food, that His divine life alone can give us eternal life, that we are not purely physical animals but also spirits destined for beatific union with Him, and so we continue to obey His clear commandment to eat His flesh and drink His blood in the Eucharist and to adore His abiding Eucharistic presence in the tabernacle, which Pope Benedict XVI once called the “beating heart” of the parish. In this way, Christ is truly the Bread of Life: “That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ.” (St. Augustine)

These above-mentioned truths are certainly necessary for Catholics to understand and believe, and must be preached to all the world not as an optional accessory but as central to the Faith and to our eternal salvation. However, at times some truly well-meaning Catholics can become too single-minded in their apologetic defense of the Eucharist, countering Protestants and others who dispute Christ's words in this Gospel passage. But the Church Fathers also confidently engaged the interior and spiritual implications of this doctrine without in any way neglecting the objective truth of the Eucharist. They emphasized that it is not good enough just to receive the Eucharist for salvation, any more than Baptism, which imparts sanctifying grace and thus saves us, guarantees our salvation. It is also required that the grace of Christ working through the power of the Holy Ghost in this sacrament be accepted freely, enabling the will to assent to the truths of the Gospel in faith and live a life of heroic virtue. Only by this relationship of cooperation between man and God, made possible by our conformity to Christ in the Eucharist, can we participate in His divine life and merit our salvation. As St. Augustine wrote, 

But are we, who eat the bread that cometh down from heaven, relieved from death? From visible and carnal death, the death of the body, we are not: we shall die, even as they died. But from spiritual death which their fathers suffered, we are delivered. Moses and many acceptable of God, eat the manna, and died not, because they understood that visible food in a spiritual sense, spiritually tasted it, and were spiritually filled with it. And we too at this day receive the visible food; but the Sacrament is one thing, the virtue of the Sacrament another. Many a one receiveth from the Altar, and perisheth in receiving; eating and drinking his own damnation, (1 Cor. 11:29) as saith the Apostle. To eat then the heavenly bread spiritually, is to bring to the Altar an innocent mind. (Catena Aurea)

Many Catholics receive the Eucharist every Sunday or even more frequently. A large portion of these even assent to the doctrines of the Church and believe themselves to be true Catholics. All the while, however, some will rarely think of Christ in their daily life, neglect to give God the time in prayer which He deserves as our Spouse and King, fail to cultivate virtue by disciplining their passions, and refrain from upholding the truth of the Gospel when confronted by its enemies or offering it charitably to those who ask. The Faith for many is more of a hobby, an insurance policy against damnation or a club to belong to in order to feel favored by God and superior to others. Many Catholics who are externally obedient will compromise doctrines, ignore or even dispute God's existence and conform to the ways of the world through their moral choices. 

In this way, the Eucharist may be received, but its grace and virtue are not truly applied to the soul, thus forfeiting its ultimate end. Catholics must remember this, even as they work to defend the truth of the Eucharist in apologetics in an age which largely denies it, checking themselves with a daily examination of conscience. This is the saintly integrity which will attract converts and bring about the Eucharistic Revival in the Church which is so needed today. 

On this feast of St. Clare of Assisi, one of the first disciples of St. Francis, may we ask for her intercession as we watch television, and pray for authentic Catholic TV networks like EWTN. St. Clare was made the patron saint of TV by Ven. Pope Pius XII, due to her once being unable to attend Mass because of illness but enabled by God to watch it from a distance through a vision. 

St. Clare, ora pro nobis!

(Cover image source: https://dumtacetclamat.wordpress.com/2020/06/04/our-lord-jesus-christ-the-eternal-high-priest/)