MY REASONS FOR FAITH
We began reading from Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John at Mass last Sunday and will continue to ponder on the message of the Eucharist over these next few weeks. Today, the Psalmist reminds us that even as the people were grumbling in the wilderness about not having bread or meat, that “the Lord gave them bread from heaven”[i]. God was faithful and continued to provide for them even in their struggles. Our Gospel today continues from last week, where the people were hungry and actively sought out Jesus. But Jesus sees through their seeking for him, pointing out that they only were looking for him because he had just performed a miracle and fed five thousand men before going away with his disciples.
What was their real motive for seeking Jesus then? What is our motive for seeking Jesus today? We are invited to ponder on the reasons for our own faith: “why do I believe in the Catholic faith? Is it because it is very comfortable for me, and it provides all that I need?” Some of us might even wonder if it is right to question our belief. Yet Pope St. John Paul II taught us that faith and reason are not in conflict but have a complimentary relationship that leads us to discovering and knowing God more fully. “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”[ii] Hence, in faithfully seeking the deeper answers behind why we are Catholic, we will come to see Jesus as the Way, Truth, and Life[iii].
St Paul in today’s second reading challenges us to “put aside (our) old self…and put on the new self…in the goodness and holiness of the truth[iv]”. But the readings from today also state the obvious – that we partake of the bread from heaven during the Mass. When we ponder on the mystery of becoming what we eat and knowing that this Eucharist is Jesus “the bread of life”, we come to a beautiful realisation that this ability to ponder on the mystery is something we do not do on our own. We are fed by the very source of Life given to us by the Father, Jesus himself! Do spend a few moments to reflect on this amazing generosity and love of God. He gives us a greater sign that at every Mass we can visibility see and express our faith, that it is not just bread we live on, but the very Word of God made flesh.
Perhaps another reflection point for us is whether we take the Eucharist for granted. Do we realise that it is Jesus himself who we consume every single time we go for Communion? Has it become mere habit, where our attitudes and dispositions reflect this habitual response to the invitation to partake of the Eucharist? St Teresa of Avila, the Carmelite mystic, writes in her 'Meditations on the Song of Songs': “I think that if we were to approach the Most Blessed Sacrament with great faith and love, once would be enough to make us rich. How much richer from approaching so many times as we do. The trouble is we do so out of routine, and it shows.[v]”
On our blog entry for Corpus Christi, we were reminded that the Eucharist is the True presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity even though to our human senses we see that it takes the form of bread. We can also spend some time in prayer with the Blessed Sacrament at the adoration room. To help deepen our appreciation of the Eucharist, the Church has also recognised many Eucharistic Miracles, a constant reminder that the Eucharist is much more than what we see. Do spend a few moments this week to read about some of the stories of the Eucharist that continue to transform and touch lives and deepened the faith of so many of us. A list of these miracles were compiled by Blessed Carlo Acutis[vi], an English-translated exhibition of Eucharistic miracles and stories about the Eucharist can be found online at http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html.
It is heartening to know that even today where we experience so many conflicting messages in the world, many of us would stand up for our faith when we intuitively recognise that it might be made fun of and challenged. Some of us might not be vocal or have very much to say about it, but casual conversations show that there is some discomfort that is felt when Catholics read about events or observe something wrong happening. This illustrates to us that the Eucharist, the priesthood, sacraments, and the celebration of the Mass are much more than symbols for many of us Catholics, that they are quite deeply personal expressions of our faith that we wish to uphold and safeguard to hand on to our future generations.
As we ponder on the mystery of the Eucharist over these next few Sunday gospels, I leave you with this delicate and reverent arrangement of one of the beloved Eucharistic hymns. I particularly love how the late Richard Proulx handled verse 4, where he musically conveys that the mystery of the resurrection and life is so delicately shrouded and remains something that we cannot fully comprehend in this life nor on our own human ability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyHindbONms
Article by Daniel Tham, HFC Blog Contributor
———————————————————————————————————————
[i] Psalm 77(78): 25
[ii] John Paul II. “Fides et Ratio.” The Holy See, 14 Sept. 1998
[iii] John 14:6
[iv] Ephesians 4:17,20-24
[v] St Teresa of Avila. “Meditations on the Song of Songs.” 3:13
[vi] Bl. Carlo Acutis, known for his devotion to Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions, which he catalogued on a website he designed. He is the first millennial to be made a Saint, and is expected to be Canonised in 2025 during the church’s Jubilee Year celebrations. Bl. Carlo Acutis, pray for us!