Throughout Scripture, we encounter two radically different uses of the word “flesh”. In our second reading, we hear about the failings of “the flesh”. At the same time, in the Gospel of John, Jesus commands us to eat “My Flesh”.
On the surface, these phrases sound nearly identical. In fact, many well-meaning Christians conflate the two, leading to a profound misunderstanding of not only Scripture, but also a profound misunderstanding of salvation itself. At the same time, the distinction between the two is the difference between death and eternal life.
When Scripture speaks of “the flesh”, it refers to our human nature. There are two absolute truths we must understand about our human nature:
“The flesh” is deeply wounded: Through Original Sin, we were robbed of our Original Dignity by the Father of Lies. We were left spiritually bankrupt, left to live a life without grace. As a result, "the flesh" is broken, selfish, and proud. It is not inherently evil, but it is deeply compromised—constantly prone to temptation and concupiscence.
Despite this brokenness, “the flesh” is inherently good: It is fragile and broken, but it is fundamentally good because God created it. We know this with certainty because God Himself became flesh. He inhabited our vulnerable human existence, restoring its dignity…a dignity we receive through baptism.
Still, left to its own devices, "the flesh" is a state of spiritual death.
But Jesus makes perhaps the most bold and substantial statements of all salvation history when He says “My Flesh”. The consequences of these statements cannot be overstated.
That is because salvation happens through "My Flesh." Jesus did not save us in theory; nor did Jesus did not save us in Word alone. Jesus died in a real, physical, human body on the Cross.
Through the Mass, we truly participate in that once and for all sacrifice on the Cross, and through that participation our mortal bodies are redeemed.
We consume “My Flesh” every single time we receive the Eucharist. Jesus promised in the Gospel of John that when we eat His Flesh, He dwells in us and we in Him. This is exactly what Saint Paul refers to in today’s reading: He gives “life to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit that dwells in you.”
That is because through the Eucharist, we are in communion with His resurrected body. As Saint Ignatius of Antioch declared in the early second century, the Eucharist is nothing less than the "medicine of immortality."
Let us be very, very clear: Objectively speaking, apart from the Eucharist and the Sacramental Life Jesus Christ instituted in the Catholic Church, we are hopeless debtors enslaved to our own broken inclinations. "The flesh", cut off from the Flesh of the Son of Man, can only inherit death.
You may ask why so many confuse the two? You may ask why this core truth of Christianity is hidden from so many?
Our Gospel reading gives us the sobering answers to those questions. Those who rely on their own wisdom—those who believe that merely picking up a Bible and declaring Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior is enough—remain blind to the hidden mysteries of God. They are blind because these mysteries are only revealed through the Sacramental Life that Jesus Christ instituted in the one church He built.
When we live merely in “the flesh”—when we choose to live outside the Sacramental Life—we lack the spiritual capacity to grasp the greatest mysteries of God.
Or as we just heard Saint Paul put it, “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
As the Mystical Body of Christ, we Catholics are uniquely privileged. We are the ones to whom Jesus chooses to reveal the Father to the fullest extent possible.
Think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They simply did not recognize Jesus Christ through Scripture alone. They only came to know Him in the Breaking of the Bread. That exact moment of Breaking of the Bread is what we call the Mass today—the precise second the priest breaks the Host at the altar, placing us at the foot of the Cross, truly participating in the Paschal Mystery.
Through the Incarnation, Jesus makes the invisible Father visible to mortal eyes. It is then through the Mass, we continue to look upon Him with our own physical eyes. It is only by touching, hearing, tasting, and therefore physically encountering the Flesh of the Son of Man that we are pulled into the deepest recesses of the intimate, burning life of the most Holy Trinity.
I must ask you: When you come to Mass, do you actually come seeking a physical encounter with the Son of Man? Do you hear His living voice in the Gospel? Do you look at the altar with eyes of faith and see the mysteries of God unfolding before you? Do you realize that you are feeling His Flesh and tasting His Blood through the Eucharist? Does your heart burn within you—like the disciples at Emmaus—with the grace of the Flame of Love as you truly receive Him?
If your answer to any of these questions is "no", then maybe it is time to courageously ask yourself why. What part of "the flesh" are you still clinging to that prevents you from truly experiencing Him? What misconceptions from non-Catholic influences keeps you from truly believing the Eucharist is true meat and true drink, just as Jesus declared in the Gospel of John? What broken habit, what secret pride, what lingering sin are you holding onto that forbids you from abandoning yourself to the Sacramental Life?
Do not settle for a life lived merely in "the flesh". Abandon yourself to Jesus Christ right now, today, through this and every single Mass. Bring your labors, your anxieties, and your burdens to the altar. If you can do that, they will be transformed by the Paschal Mystery into grace. Through the Eucharist, remain in Him, so that He may remain in you. Objectively speaking, that is the only way you will ever find true rest in this life, and everlasting peace in the life to come.
Abiding in the Flesh of Jesus Christ, I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Thanks be to God!
When God created man - he declared it “good”
ReplyDeleteI never considered that our lord declared it “good” again by taking on flesh
Wonderful homily
Makes me think !!
Thank you so much for this explanation. You made a somewhat confusing concept for some very clear to understand.
ReplyDelete