Living Lives Worthy of the Eucharist

The readings for this 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time continue the theme of the Eucharist we have been considering these past weeks. The miracle of Manna in the first reading directly corresponds to Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 (from last Sunday’s Gospel). Our Lord tells the Jews not to work for food that spoils but for the true bread which, as Pope Saint Pius X taught, is the shortest and safest path to heaven. The theme we will consider is the need for Catholics to live lives worthy of the Eucharist.

Sometimes, it is difficult to understand the unbelief of the Jews in God despite seeing all of his miracles, including the parting of the Red Sea. In the first reading, they express to Moses and Aaron their regret of leaving Egypt for the Promised Land. They complain of hunger and reminisce about the bread and meat they ate in Egypt, despite their enslavement there for 400 years. God eventually gives them the famous manna, but not without a test.

"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not" (Exo 16:4). 

What does God require of us for him to satisfy the hunger of our hearts? Saint Paul in the second reading answers this question in today’s second reading:

“... that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self…” (Eph 4:22-24).

This new self that is required for God to feed us is the life of grace, given to us at our baptism. This is why the Church considers baptism “... the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments” (CCC 1213). Through this sacrament, we are given the necessary grace to fulfill God’s commandments, provided we cooperate with that grace.

Jesus in the Gospels today rebukes the Jews for misunderstanding his miracle of the feeding of the 5000. He tells them that God has put his mark of approval on him as the Son of Man, and that belief in him is necessary to do what God requires. To those who believe in him, he promises the bread of eternal life – his own body and blood.

Friends, the readings for this Sunday remind us of the need to live lives worthy of the Eucharist. We receive the gift of faith in the Eucharist and all of God’s saving truth through baptism. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church §1253 states, “Baptism is the sacrament of faith.” But the Eucharist, as Pope Benedict XVI once said, is the sacrament of love – a love that requires us to respond. We respond through daily conversion, frequent mortification, and acts of charity. Our Lord says to us “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:13-14). He has shown and continues to show us the greatest love of all through the Eucharist – his very life. We partake in this love by doing what he commands of us – avoiding sin.

Luckily, whenever we fall into sin, the Lord’s merciful love is still present to help us in the sacrament of penance. Our Lord tells us that “... whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). In the sacrament of penance, he forgives us of whatever sin we have committed because he loves us. We have not been forgiven little, so let us not respond with little love by continuing to sin. His love through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is so accessible to us. But we need to respond to that love through worthy living because it is only love that can repay love.