A group of retired soldiers gathered for a reunion. As they shared stories, something curious happened. When someone began repeating a story for the second or third time, another person would silently hold up two or three fingers. It was a gentle signal: “you have told that one before!”
When I hear today’s gospel, I almost want to hold up six fingers to Jesus. Six times in just a few verses, Jesus repeats the same message: * “I am the living bread” *” Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life within you.” *” Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” *” Whoever eats me will live because of me.” Why does Jesus keep repeating Himself? Because he knows how easily we forget what matters most.
The real question in today’s Gospel is not, “Do you understand the Eucharist?” The deeper question is: Is there life within you?” Not merely physical life. Not simply breathing and existing. Jesus is talking about Life with a capital “L” – the life that comes from God.
We have experienced moments of that kind of life. Perhaps holding a newborn grandchild. Watching the sunrise over the mountains. Sitting beside someone you love. Praying in a quiet church. In those moments we feel connected to something bigger than yourself. We feel fully alive.
And yet, if we are honest, there are times when we live on autopilot. We go through routines. We become consumed with schedules, worries, politics, finances, health concerns and all the circumstances of life.
Jesus asks us today: “Is there Life within you?” The Eucharist is God’s answer to that question. When we come forward for Holy Communion, we are not receiving a symbol of life. We are receiving Christ Himsef, the Living Bread come down from heaven. His life becomes our life. His love becomes our strength. His mercy becomes our hope.
But the Eucharist is not meant to end when Mass ends. If we truly receive the Body of Christ, then we must become the Body of Christ for others. We become Eucharistic people when we forgive instead of holding grudges. When we visit the lonely. When we feed the hungry. When we welcome the stranger. When we put “we” before “me.” The proof that the Eucharist is alive in us in not simply that we come to Mass, it is that Christ’s life begins to shine through us.
As many of you know, I am nearing the end of my ministry here – retiring at the end of the month. Looking over these 16 years, the moments that have given me the greatest joy were not the physical accomplishments or the projects. They were the moments when I saw Christ alive in this parish – in your kindness, your compassion, your generosity, your faith, your care for one another. That is Eucharistic life.
So today, as we approach this altar, hear Jesus asking the same question He repeats again and again: “Is there life within you?”
And may our “Amen” at Communion be more than a word. May it be a commitment to let the life of Christ fill us so completely that others can see Christ living in us.