Whenever Mass is celebrated, the Scripture readings are taken from a book called the Lectionary, from the Latin word lectio, which means “reading.” For some centuries, the Church had a lectionary in which the same passages were repeated on any given Sunday, year after year. At the Second Vatican Council, however, it was decided that the lectionary should be updated and expanded, and so our current lectionary was introduced in 1970. It has three Bible readings for each Sunday Mass, instead of just two, as in the past, and instead of using the same Gospel passages year after year, it follows a three year cycle. That way the average Catholic, over the course of three years, would hear 70% of the entire Bible proclaimed at Mass, compared to 14% in the old lectionary.
The three-year cycle is divided into Year A, in which the Gospel reading is normally taken from St. Matthew; Year B, which focuses on the Gospel of St. Mark; and Year C, which primarily uses St. Luke’s Gospel. We are currently in Year B—but you may have noticed that instead of being taken from St. Mark, the Gospel reading for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time is from the Gospel of St. John (6:24-35). That’s because Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four, and doesn’t contain enough material to cover an entire year. Therefore, five straight weeks of readings from St. John’s Gospel were inserted into Year B. All of these passages are from the 6th chapter of John, in which Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish, describes Himself as the true Bread come down from Heaven, and insists that unless we eat His flesh and drink His Blood, we have no life within us. This, of course, is part of the basis for the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist.
When our new lectionary was introduced over fifty years ago, our Protestant brothers and sisters paid us the compliment of stealing or borrowing it for their own use. They call their version the Common Lectionary; it largely follows our pattern of Bible readings, and most Protestant congregations use it—which means that on any given Sunday, the same Scripture readings are used at Catholic Masses and Protestant worship services throughout the world. It also means that Catholic and Protestant pastors can use some of the same preaching or homiletic resources in doing research for their sermons. I once subscribed to a Protestant journal containing stories and homily ideas for each week of the year. In our Catholic liturgical calendar, every year on the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity or Feast of Corpus Christi—the Body and Blood of Christ—which attests to our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I went to the Protestant journal to see if it had useful ideas for my homily, only to find it didn’t even have an entry for Corpus Christi; that date was listed as just a regular Sunday in Ordinary Time. That’s because Protestants generally do not accept what Jesus says about being the Bread of Life; most of them interpret everything Jesus teaches about Himself in John chapter 6 in a symbolic sense. As we’ll see over the next few weeks, however, Our Lord didn’t pull any punches or speak in symbolic terms. His miracle of multiplying the loaves and fish was intended to demonstrate His power to work an even greater miracle—and every time we worthily receive Holy Communion, we truly share in His divine life.
God is the One Who provides true food for His people. As we see in the Book of Exodus (16:2-4, 12-15), the Lord caused manna to appear on the ground each morning, from which the Israelites could make loaves of bread even while journeying in the harsh and unforgiving desert. However, God had a far greater miracle in mind: a heavenly bread leading to eternal life, and Jesus presented Himself as the fulfillment of this heavenly plan. St. Paul (Ephesians 4:17, 20-24) tells us that we must put away the old way of thinking and living, and instead be renewed in the spirit of our minds while putting on a new self, rooted in God’s grace. This is what we as Catholics do if we believe in Our Lord’s words in the Gospel and receive His gift of the Eucharist while in a state of grace. As Jesus promises, Holy Communion truly satisfies our deepest hunger and thirst.
The same Scripture readings from the Lectionary are being used at every Catholic Mass throughout the world today, the same words of consecration are being said by every validly ordained priest to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and the same Eucharist is being received today by Catholics of every race, language, and nation. We are fortunate that we can celebrate Mass openly and in reasonable comfort; some Catholics around the world are, because of their poverty, worshipping in primitive or unpleasant conditions, and others are gathering in secret because of the very real possibility of persecution. This has been the case throughout the Church’s history. Some 200 years ago Catholics in Vietnam bravely endured torture and death while refusing to deny their faith. The authorities were amazed, and one of them said, “They have been eating of that enchanted Bread which casts a spell upon the soul” (Msgr. Arthur Tonne, Stories for Sermons, Vol. 10, #29).
The Eucharist isn’t enchanted, of course, and it doesn’t cast a spell on us—but it is an other-worldly source of grace and strength. If pagan enemies of the Church could somehow recognize this, we as Catholics have no excuse for ever doubting Our Lord’s words, taking Holy Communion for granted, or receiving It while in a state of serious sin. If we knew Jesus was going to appear in visible form and visit us in our homes later this week, we would do everything necessary and possible to make sure our homes were clean and orderly and welcoming, and we would eagerly look forward to His coming. As it happens, He does come to us at every Mass we attend, speaking to us in the Scripture readings, revealing His presence to us in the people around us, and giving Himself to us as the Bread of Life when we come forward for Holy Communion. There is much more going on here at Mass than we realize; the angels and saints are present and worshipping with us, and sometimes souls from purgatory are here with us, being cleansed of sin and being prepared for their entry into Heaven. Holy things are happening all around us. The Lord Jesus doesn’t expect us to see with our eyes or hear with our ears, but He does ask us to believe in His promise with all our hearts. He truly is the Bread of Life, capable of satisfying our deepest hunger and thirst; He lovingly offers Himself to us in a gracious and miraculous way—and our eternal destiny will be determined by our response.
