Glorious Food

Filling our souls with the glorious food of the Eucharist

05/05/2017

 John 6: 52-59 

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.

         Boys and girls, have you ever seen the musical movie called “Oliver”?  If you haven’t I hope someday you will watch it.  It’s about an orphanage of boys and every day they have to eat this gray goup called “gruel” for their breakfast.  None of the boys like it, and they all dream of eating real food and growing fat like all the people in charge of the orphanage.  They come to breakfast singing a song called, “Food, Glorious Food” as they march in to eat their gruel.

         What is your favorite food?  I hope it’s not gruel!  Some people love to eat pizza, others are huge fans of chicken pot pie, while others love cheeseburgers.  If you’re hispanic, you might like “carne asada.”  If you’re an Indian like me, then you definitely love you some “chicken curry.”  Like those children in the musical movie, we all sit down to our favorite meals and we’re ready to sing, “Food, Glorious Food!” before we dive in.

         Now, how many times do you like to eat every day?  Many years ago I read a book called, “Lord of the Rings,” where I learned about little creatures called “hobbits.”  Most of us eat three times a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner - but how many times do you think a hobbit eats?  They eat seven times a day: breakfast at 7 a.m., second breakfast at 9 a.m., elevenses at 11 a.m., luncheon at 1 p.m., afternoon tea at 4 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m., and finally supper at 8 p.m.  They love to eat!  A hobbit sings that song, “Food, Glorious Food!” seven times a day when he sits down to eat.  We all love food, and we all love to eat our favorite food.

         Today, I want to tell you about a beautiful young lady, who gave up eating all food, except one, and that was her favorite.  She only ate the Bread and Wine of the Mass, the Eucharist.  Her name was Alexandrina da Costa, and she lived in Belasar, Portugal.  She was born in 1904 and died in 1955, when she was 51 years old.  For the last 13 years of her life, she did not eat anything - no cheeseburgers, no pizza, no carne asada, no chicken curry - and she only received Holy Communion each day.  And she didn’t get Communion seven times a day like a hobbit, but only once.  Her love for Jesus was so amazing that the doctors wanted to test her and make sure she was not cheating, and hiding candy under her pillow (like some kids do).  They took her to the hospital for 40 days and watched her closely to make sure she did not eat.  The only thing she ate was Holy Communion.  

          Maybe she sang, “Food, Glorious Food!” when the priest brought her Communion every day.

In the gospel today, Jesus says, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”  Jesus is talking about Holy Communion, where that Bread is really Jesus’ Body and that Wine is really Jesus’ Blood.  That’s what Blessed Alexandrina da Costa believed, and that’s what you and I believe as Catholics.  Boys and girls, you and I don’t have to give up eating our favorite food, like Alexandrina did, but we do have to eat the Eucharist every Sunday.  At Sunday Mass, we should sing as enthusiastically as those children in the musical movie did, “Food, Glorious Food!” because the Eucharist is indeed “glorious food.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!