Two Tables

Receiving nourishment from the Word and Sacrament

08/05/2018

John 6:24-35 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.  And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."  So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." So they said to him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Several years ago my brother took a cooking class and taught me something about a meal that I never knew. He explained that a good meal actually has three parts. First is the presentation of the food on the plate: the colors, the arrangement, how it looks. You sort of “eat” the food with your eyes first. Second is the smell. Think of the scent of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies as they come out of the oven. A good meal enters your nose long before it enters your mouth. And third comes the taste. Most people think the taste is all that matters, but it constitutes only 1/3 of a good meal, albeit taste is also an essential element.

But I believe there’s actually a fourth part of a good meal, namely, the company and conversation. Who you share the meal with also enhances the experience. How often romantic rendezvous are shared over a meal? Would the Pilgrims and Indians have been able to bury the hatchet without that first Thanksgiving meal? How many business lunches and dinners have helped to seal the deal at a meal? In other words, when you share a meal, you not only nourish your body (through eyes, nose and mouth), but you also fill your heart; indeed, you enter into a deeper relationship with others. The fourth part of a good meal is when it is shared, when food goes hand in hand with fellowship.

The whole sixth chapter of John is the spiritual equivalent of this truism: a meal is meant to be shared, food should lead to fellowship. In the first half of chapter 6, verses 1-16, Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes, and feeds well over five thousand people. I’m sure those loaves smelled delicious, looked beautifully arranged in the baskets, and were mouth-watering to taste. But chapter 6 continues – after a brief interlude where Jesus walks on the water in verses 17-22 – with the Eucharistic “Bread of Life discourse.” Jesus makes it abundantly clear that his disciples must eat his Body and drink his Blood to have eternal life. They must eat the Bread that would be his Body, the Eucharist. Our Lord’s discourse, therefore, happens during a dinner, and leads to the deepest possible relationship with Christ. We become one flesh with him as we feast on his food and his fellowship.

If we stop for a second, step back and survey the whole chapter from 30,000 feet, we see two parts of the chapter: first there is food and second there is fellowship; there is dinner and a discourse. Have you ever noticed how John chapter 6 perfectly parallels the Mass, our Catholic Sunday service? At every Eucharist, we have two halves: each focused on two tables you might say where we are fed. First we feast on the Word of God, by reading, proclaiming, and conversing over the Scriptures. That is our modern-day version of the “bread of life discourse,” our fellowship, topped off by the sermon. Secondly, we turn to the table of sacrifice and share the bread of life itself, the Eucharist, Holy Communion. Scott Hahn put it poetically quoting Pope Benedict XVI, saying: “The Bible is not merely informative, the Holy Father went on to say, it is ‘performative.” It leads us to an action: the Eucharist, which Jesus meant to be transformative” (Consuming the Word, 138). That is, every Eucharist is structurally as well as spiritually both food and fellowship, dinner and discourse, leading us to a one flesh Communion with Christ.

I believe these two halves highlight both the strength and weakness of Catholic and Protestant worship services. Admittedly, this is a generalization, but nonetheless rings true. What do Protestants by and large pride themselves on? Their preaching is paramount, their fellowship is first, they are all about the bread of life discourse, and are eager to eat at the table of the Word. But that’s only catching half of John 6. On the other hand, what do we Catholics consider our forte? We love the liturgy, a Catholic is all about Communion – that’s why we leave after Communion because we got what we came for – we come hungry for the Bread of Life itself, and we happily sit at the table of the Sacrament. But that, too, is only half of John 6. These highlight our respective strengths but I would suggest to you they also hide our respective weaknesses. What do I mean?

Why do so many Catholics leave the Church to join Protestant denominations? We can frequently lay the fault at the feet of poor preaching – that’s on me, guys. Catholics routinely complain: “I don’t get anything out of the Mass,” meaning they didn’t hear a good sermon. They felt no fellowship at the table of the Word. But we might also ask why so many Protestants go through RCIA every year to enter the Catholic Church? I believe it’s because many so-called “Bible churches” do not have Holy Communion, the Bread of Life, they long to dine at the table of the Sacrament. They miss the meal. A good meal is not just made up of what enters the eyes and the nose and the mouth; it also requires someone with whom to share the meal. The best food always involves fellowship. All of John chapter 6 is intended not only to be informative; it needs to be performative so that in the end it is transformative.

A priest friend of mine has a house on Lake Ouachita, and I’m sure you don’t know who he is. But sometimes he has Mass on Sunday mornings in his chapel in his home and invites his neighbors, some of whom are from Fort Smith. Everyone loves to attend his Masses. Do you know why? He serves mimosas after Mass, and no one misses. When food and fellowship are not enough for the Mass, just mention mimosas.

Praised be Jesus Christ!