It is our job to build a life in which Jesus’ presence is obvious in every circumstance of the world
If everything in the world were ordered properly, Jesus’ presence would be immediately apparent. Because we live in an imperfect and broken world, it is tougher to see that Jesus is truly present, not just in the Eucharist, but in the world.
God’s manifest presence has come to us in many waves throughout history. The Bible is one of the sources where we find some of those manifestations. We can also read the lives of the saints and clearly see the presence of God in their lives. If we listen to those who have gone before us, we hear the faithful presence of God both in good times and bad, in sickness and in health.
When Jesus sat at the Last Supper with His disciples, He took the ordinary bread and wine on the table and declared that He would then and forever be present in those elements. His action, repeated in the Church today, offers us a way to experience the Real Presence of Jesus. When everything in our life is in sync, we might find it easy to believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. But perhaps those are the times when we find it most difficult to believe or find ourselves drawn away from the Eucharist, because we don’t really need it as our life is already in sync.
Have you ever examined what are the true anchors or places of security in your own life? I can imagine that if we truly believed that Jesus was present in the bread and wine consecrated at the Eucharist, this would be one of our anchors in life and one of the answers to our questions. Why do we seek our security in something other than the presence of Jesus?
I wonder if our comfort has something to do with that. In general, we want for very little and are rarely inconvenienced. We control the day and night by turning on a light switch, and we control the climates through our heating and cooling systems. Why wouldn’t we be convinced that we don’t really need Jesus in our lives? We don’t really have to rub shoulders with the poor, the imprisoned or the immigrant if we really don’t want to.
I know that some people are appalled at how few Catholics profess to believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Some try to tell us just to believe, have faith, and that makes all the difference in the world. If we were talking to robots, that might be true, but we are human beings and our lives must have some congruity. If we don’t have someplace where we are called to believe and to experience the presence of Christ in the world, it might be difficult for us to come to Eucharist and to believe that more deeply.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” That invitation is not simply at the altar during Mass. If that act at Eucharist is isolated from the rest of our lives, how can we sustain a belief in the Real Presence? If our encounters with immigrants, imprisoned people and the poor simply end by doing good deeds without an anchor in Jesus, what use is there in it?
As we continue on the next several weeks in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, we will continue to hear about the bread of life. Notice it doesn’t just say the bread of life present on the altar at Mass. It doesn’t say that blind faith in the Eucharist is enough. It does firm for us that Jesus is the bread of life and it is our job to build a life and a world in which His presence is obvious in every circumstance. When that happens, it might have something to do with our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but it will also have something to do with that belief penetrating each and every choice that we make and all the circumstances of our lives.
Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
