20th Sunday
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Tagaytay, Philippines
August 18, 2024
Introduction
It is a joy and privilege to offer Holy Mass here at Our Lady of Lourdes, the first church in Tagaytay, under the pastoral direction of the Capuchin Friars. I come here as a pilgrim, together with Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, the leader of the Knights of Columbus world-wide, & his wife Vanessa, their daughters, and a good priest-friend, Msgr. Dariusz Zielonka. Thank you for welcoming us as pilgrims and friends here at your beautiful parish.
A Deeper Hunger
Let me begin with a common experience: Have you ever enjoyed a wonderful meal with family and friends only to find yourself hungry a few hours later? Sometimes, it seems, the more we eat, the hungrier we become. Today’s Scripture readings teach us that only the food God gives satisfies our deepest hunger, namely, the longing of our heart for the living Presence of God within us, our longing to be loved, unconditionally and infinitely.
St. Paul sets the stage for this teaching in today’s reading from Ephesians. He steers us away from a carnal, earthbound, foolish way of thinking, from the illusion that only earthly food and earthly pleasures will satisfy us. When we fill our minds and hearts with things that are trivial, degrading, and self-centered, we starve ourselves inwardly. As St. Paul says, we end up living in ignorance, that is, ignorance of the true food and drink with which the Lord wants to nourish us.
The Book of Wisdom
Pulling in the same direction, today’s reading from Proverbs presents God’s wisdom as a lavish banquet held in a beautiful home, held a house that Wisdom herself built, a house supported by seven pillars. Surely this image reminds us of the Church, the house that God in his wisdom built, where we listen to God’s Word and are supported by the seven sacraments.
The food that the Church sets before us with a mother’s love is lavish and of a quality that exceeds every human standard. For the Church offers us the living Word of God in its fullness by presenting to us all that is contained in Scripture and Tradition. At this banquet of Wisdom, Christ speaks to our hearts in the power of the Spirit. The Word made flesh reveals the Father and his love – and in showing us the Father’s love reveals us to ourselves, bringing to light our high calling to share in God’s own life and love (cf. GS, 22). Dear friends, this is a food that can changes us, a food that can enable us to understand. This food touches our deepest hunger to be loved, infinitely and unconditionally. When we partake of God’s wisdom, we become wise and filled with understanding. Thus Wisdom says to us: “Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.”
The Bread of Life
But let us ask ourselves this question. When Proverbs presents the Wisdom of God as a lavish banquet, is it just a striking comparison, just a metaphor, just a figure of speech? Jesus teaches us otherwise in today’s Gospel, taken from his Bread of Life discourse. The banquet Wisdom sets in front of us is not merely a matter of ideas or words – even if these are divinely inspired. No, Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, God’s own Son clothed in our humanity. In loving obedience to his Father’s saving will, Jesus feeds us with himself, with the reality of his own Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven [Jesus teaches us]; whoever eats this bread will live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn. 6:51).
As we know, those who first heard Jesus’ teaching rejected it. They couldn’t see how Jesus could give them his very flesh to eat. But Jesus wasn’t talking about earthly food or carnal desires. He was talking about giving himself to us in a way that is true and real, becoming our true spiritual nourishment under the appearances of bread and wine. And indeed, Jesus realized his teaching when, at the Last Supper, he gave to his Apostles the Bread that was his Body, his Body that would be sacrificed on the Cross, and Wine that was his Blood, the Blood he would pour out to save us from our sins. And Jesus continually fulfills his teaching on the Bread of Life every time Holy Mass is celebrated in churches throughout the word. For in the Eucharist, Jesus’ saving death and resurrection are again made present, so that in receiving his Body and Blood, we may share in all he did to save us.
And what a beautiful thing: the Lord wants to take flesh in us, in the depth of our being! Through the Eucharist, Jesus, the Word made flesh, enables us to share ever more deeply in the truth of the Gospel he preached, to partake of the power of the sacrificed he offered on the Cross, to experience the joy of his living Presence deep within our souls.
Eucharistic Missionaries
It was with all of this and more in mind, that the Supreme Knight, the leader of the Knights of Columbus, called on us, the two million members of the Order, to be Knights of the Eucharist, men whose lives are deeply rooted in the mystery of the Eucharist, men who draw their strength from the Bread of Life, men who set an example for their children by devoutly participating in Mass every Sunday without fail.
In fact, this is something we can all do. Let me conclude by briefly suggesting three ways we can all respond to what the Word of God is saying to us today. First is to pray for the grace to be renewed in our Eucharistic faith. If every Catholic truly believed Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel, no one would ever miss Mass on Sunday, and no one would ever want to miss Mass. Second, is to receive the Eucharist joyfully and worthily – free of serious sin – through the frequent and fruitful reception Sacrament of Reconciliation. Third, is to welcome the Lord into our hearts with such love that we will share with others the love he has first shared with us . . . that we will be “eucharistic missionaries” who bear witness to our faith by what we say, and even more importantly, by how we live our lives.
May God bless us, deepen our Eucharistic faith, and keep us always in his love.