How God Changed My Mind (about Communion)

The Gospel of John 6 is a difficult teaching. It is the Source and Summit of the Catholic Faith. It is a dividing line between Protestantism and Catholicism.

Each convert from Protestantism must wrestle with this passage. Should it be taken literally? Or should it be considered merely a metaphor?

My epiphany - my moment of Truth - came in the summer of 2004, when I compared John 6 to Our Lord's parables. In Luke 8, we read . . .

"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up. Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture. Some seed fell amongst thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell into rich soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold." Saying this he cried, "Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!"
His disciples asked him what this parable might mean, and he said, "The mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed to you; for the rest there are only parables, so that
they may see but not perceive, listen but not understand." - and Our Lord went on to clearly explain to His disciples what the parable means -- who is the sower, who is the seed, what circumstances are like the rock, the bird, the trampled path. Everything is made clear to the disciples. The crowds, however, are left with only metaphors.

Clearly, Jesus loved to tell stories and to use metaphorical language. But I found it interesting that he tells His disciples, for you, I make myself clear. The stories are for the crowds. You are different. "The mysteries of the Kingdom of God are revealed to you." That is what He says, exactly.

In John 6, Our Lord is speaking to His disciples - not the crowds. We know from Luke 8, when He speaks to the disciples, He says what He means and means what He says. The disciples question Him, wanting Him to say, oh I'm back to telling stories. It's just a parable. A metaphor. But when challenged, Jesus holds firm. No, my food is real food. My blood is real drink. Unless you eat of my Flesh and drink of my Blood, there can be no life in you. On that day, many of His disciples left Him. In fact, only 12 remained.

From John 6--
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?"

As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

John 6 remains the Source and Summit of the faith. It also continues to be a dividing line. Each convert must wrestle with this teaching. Only the one who can say, as Peter did - I'm not sure I quite know how it happens, but I take your word for it . . . you have the words of eternal life . . . and though this is a hard teaching, I have come to believe and I am even convinced that you are the Holy One of God. If You say that I must eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood or I will not have eternal life, then I say, "Amen." I bow. And I receive Our Eucharistic Lord Jesus Christ.

Skeptics will say that the disciples often misunderstood Jesus, that after He arose and ascended, they understood and even documented in Sacred Scripture what Jesus really meant by certain words and phrases. So much became clear. So that's what He meant by . . .

Skeptics will say that this teaching falls into that category. But here's the thing. Here's the thing I realized after hunting and hunting for the passage that says the disciples realized that He didn't really mean they had to eat His Flesh and He didn't really mean they had to drink His Blood -- On the contrary, they never do that with this Teaching! They never have an aha-moment. They never smile and say, oh, gotcha, you didn't really mean we had to eat and drink. Oh, No! They continue to believe in and teach that the Eucharist really is Jesus. It really is His Body and His Blood.

And the writings by the men who came after them also held to the teaching on the Real Presence.

And they remain firm in this teaching to this day.

For this reason, St. Paul writes in his First Letter to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

How God Changed My Mind (about Communion)

A Sleepover To Remember

Recently, my daughter spent the night at a friend’s house. She has only done this one other time; I used to do it on a regular basis when I was growing up. Some sleepovers are more memorable than others. Like the night I got homesick and had to wake my friend’s parents in the middle of the night and beg them to take me home. Or the night many years later when we had a huge slumber party on the night of the high school dance. Five girls in one bedroom, all putting on make-up and comparing outfits for the big event.



Somewhere in between these two slumber parties, I spent the night at Lori’s house – I was in middle school, I believe. It was a Saturday night and her family was Catholic – Catholic enough that they went to Mass every weekend – not Catholic enough to explain to me that Holy Communion was not open to Protestant preacher’s kids who stayed over for the weekend. In my preacher’s-kid-mind, I believed I was entitled to participate in every faith event. I considered myself to be one born into a spiritual lap of luxury. No holds barred.



In the middle of the Mass, my friend Lori leaned over and asked me if I knew about Communion. “Yeah, we have it at my church.” I said.



She nodded her head as if to say, that’s cool. I watched and waited for the moment the ushers would pass the bread and grape juice around. Instead, everyone started standing up and walking forward. I had the terrifying sense of being carried along by the wave of people and I knew that it would end with me standing in front of the priest, feeling like an idiot who has no idea how to pass through the process smoothly.



I turned to my friend and whispered, “Wait! We don’t do it like this! What do I do?”



Lori gave me the quickest catechesis in the history of humankind. “You hold your hands like this.” She put one upturned hand in the other. “You bow, say amen, and put the Eucharist in your mouth with the bottom hand.”



And that was it.



I felt the heat of embarrassment going up my neck and into my face. Suddenly, my self-assured spiritual pride was gone. I wasn’t even familiar with the terms Lori used. Eucharist? What was that?



Half-way down the aisle, I thought of my parents, and I wondered if I really should be doing this. I probably should have stayed back in the pew and waited. Too late now, I thought.



And then it was my turn. I don’t remember if I followed proper protocol. But somehow, I made it back to the pew and kneeled beside Lori. I stayed there for a moment and wondered what I had done. What was that whirlwind of Communion all about?



The priest took Lori’s parents aside after Mass and asked about me (so I must have drawn attention to myself after all). He told them that non-Catholics were NOT to receive Holy Communion. What were they thinking? They felt duly chastised, and I was left with a completely confusing memory.



Years later, when my journey of grace led me into the Catholic Church, I was properly catechized. I discovered that the Jesus I had loved from childhood was waiting for me in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, this Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord.



It wasn’t a symbol. It didn’t remind us of something that happened 2000 years earlier.



It was my Jesus, truly present.



Do you know what that discovery was like for me? Absolutely beautiful. But there was that memory, and that memory still haunts me. When I thought back to that Mass, I realized what I had missed.



It was like attending a passion play in which you think the death and resurrection of Jesus is being re-enacted. The words are the same, but it isn’t the same. It’s not really Jesus; it’s an actor reminding us of those long-ago events. At least, that’s what you thought when you were there.



And then, decades later, you learn that you weren’t really attending a play at all. You had a front-row seat and participated in the re-presentation of the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That once-for-all-time sacrifice was made present for you, and you were clueless. It was real. You had stood at the foot of the cross, you had traveled to Calvary, you had encountered Jesus, and you didn’t even know it.



And you want to go back in time. You want to make the wrong into a right. You want to be told the truth, so you can run home and tell your family. Hey guess what, Jesus is there. He’s really and truly there.



Mere symbols are gone. It’s Jesus!



A year ago, I shared my conversion story with a parish in Oklahoma. When I came to this part of the story, a seemingly insignificant moment in my childhood, I wept. To have come so close all those years ago, and missed the point altogether. It was an ache - still is an ache - that doesn’t go away.



I encourage you to invite a guest to come to Mass with you. If you do this, please take a moment and explain to your friend what you are receiving – who you are receiving. And that only those who are in communion with Our Eucharistic Lord Jesus Christ can receive this Sacrament. To receive communion, you must be in union. . .



And make sure they know one thing above all other things. The Eucharist is Jesus. Not a symbol. Not representational. It’s the Lord. And when they look at you in disbelief, suggest they read the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John.



If they wonder why they cannot receive, tell them it is for their own good, but to consider studying the faith a bit more. Ask questions. Let it be an opportunity for questions and answers, because that is how the faith is passed on. Until they are fully catechized, though, you must remember the passage in First Corinthians:



I Corinthians 1:27, 29

Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.

A Sleepover To Remember