When Jesus said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven,’ he meant it 

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
First Reading: 1 Kgs 19:4-8
Second Reading: Eph 4:30 - 5:2
Gospel Reading: Jn 6:41-51

Again this Sunday, the First Reading describes a “type” of the Eucharist. By a “type,” the Church means a person, thing, action, or event—usually in the Old Testament—that “prefigures” or “foreshadows” a new and greater truth, action, or event—usually in the New Testament. Through “typology,” the Church perceives the full significance of the Old Testament, which is apparent only in the light of Christ.

“Get up and eat,” an angel told Elijah in the First Reading; “otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” Elijah had to be urged twice, but eventually, he “got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.”

Each of us is on a journey to heaven, and we need bread for that journey. In the Gospel Reading, Jesus says uncompromisingly and unambiguously, that the bread he offers us is his “flesh.”

“I am the bread of life,” he says, “the bread that came down from heaven.” Through Church-authorized typology, we can add, “eat; otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” It is no coincidence that the Eucharist is called viaticum, meaning “provision for a journey,” from the Latin via, or “way.”

The Jews of Jesus’ time objected. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” they said. “How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”

Many people today make a similar objection. How can what looks like a piece of flatbread be Christ’s body? How can the words of a priest change its nature?

Relying on Christ’s own words, the Catholic Church has always held that the bread and wine brought to the priest in the offertory procession are changed into Christ’s body and blood “by the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit” when, at the consecration of the Mass, an ordained priest says over them the words Jesus said: “This is my body.... This is my blood.”

In the 16th century, the three leaders of the Protestant Revolution rejected this teaching. Martin Luther said that after the consecration, the bread and wine continue to co-exist with Christ’s body and blood; Ulrich Zwingli said that the bread and wine are unchanged; and John Calvin said that the bread and wine are unchanged, but nevertheless communicate to us the “power” or “virtue” of Christ’s body and blood.

In fact, it has been estimated that Protestants today interpret what Christ said at his last supper in about 100 different ways. Some agree with one or other of the Protestant leaders, while others have no communion service at all. However, they all agree that Jesus could not have meant exactly what he said.

Some “Catholic” hymns assert a Protestant view. For example, one says, “Welcome these symbols;” another says, “precious body, precious blood, here in bread and wine;” still another says “wheat and grape contain the meaning.” No! At the consecration, the substances of bread, wine, wheat, and grape disappear, replaced by Christ’s actual body and blood, although their appearances remain.

Even believing Catholics tend to soften or water down their belief by their language. For example, they avoid the words “body” and “blood,” preferring “the blessed Sacrament,” “the host,” “the chalice,” or “the precious blood.” They avoid the words “eat” and “drink,” preferring “consume,” “partake,” or “go to Communion.”

In contrast, the Greek New Testament uses the word trogon, which means “gnaw.” It is true that the more elaborate, polished phrases express reverence and awe, but they can also be symptoms of embarrassment or ambivalence.

“The Eucharist is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation,” said Pope St. John Paul II. “By being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift.”

Father Hawkswell has now finished teaching The Catholic Faith in Plain English, however the course remains available in both print and YouTube form at beholdvancouver.org/catholic-faith-course. Starting Sept. 22, he will again teach the course in person on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre, 4885 Saint John Paul II Way, 33rd Avenue and Willow Street, Vancouver, and Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon in St. Anthony’s Church Hall, 2347 Inglewood Avenue, West Vancouver. The course is entirely free of charge and no pre-registration is necessary.

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