Sunday’s Reading is from John 6:60-69. It follows Christ’s disconcerting words, “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”
“Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said,
‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
He said to them, ‘Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending
to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.’
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray Him.
And He said,
‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me
unless it is granted him by my Father.'”
We should read His Words and obey. People who don’t want to believe tend to “murmur”. They talk amongst themselves to reinforce believing in what’s comfortable. Murmurers ignore any mind-stretching, belief-changing commandment.
Such vanity is so strong that murmurers will try to avoid uncomfortable newness even when it is put before them by a Person who performed great miracles they actually saw. They should read His Words. Obey. Don’t murmur.
Murmuring is a sign that faith in Christ is being replaced with faith in some lesser system. Jesus may be implying in the passage that He really doesn’t care if people don’t believe and are lost.
“My words are spirit and life.” in the passage may mean that any contradictory words from every other created being are spirit and death. All the more reason to read His Words. Obey. Don’t murmur.
Jesus makes it clear that no one can come to Him, and to everlasting life in Heaven, “unless it is granted to him by My Father.” This tells us that we should pray for salvation so that our prayer may be granted.
Our choice to pray for salvation is motivated by God. Hopefully, it will lead us close enough to God to let us realize we, unlike the weak disciples, must not murmur when we hear that He said “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.” How do we respond to those words?
Don’t murmur! Don’t make excuses to avoid the basic reality of what Jesus said. If we do, we are no better than the weak disciples of His time and the following times who preferred death to true faith. Repeat what He said and think of the fullness of “If you do not eat My Body and Drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”
After the most serious thought possible on “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.” has led you not to avoid it, simply say, “God, let me be Catholic so I may take Communion.”
There is no other way to fully eat His Body and drink His Blood. Not one. Read His Words. Obey. Don’t murmur.
