1523AFC060515 – The Whole Loaf
Read it online here, please
John 6:51 – I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Aloha nui loa ʻŌmea! Here we are again at the verge of summer and the summer break for most school-age kids. Even though the “official” start of summer is Memorial Day (May 25 this year) the actual official first-day-of-summer is June 21. That is also Fathers’ Day. Sounds like a day for Celebrating. Speaking of celebrations, this coming Sunday, June 7, is pretty special, too. It is The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). As I prepared this Aloha Friday Message, I realized this is the third in a series. I didn’t know it was a series until I saw the title – The Whole Loaf. The first message in the series was Fire in the Whole! The second was Whole in One. And now we have The Whole Loaf. It brings to mind something from days gone by about “wholly” and “holy.” It’s based on Matthew 5:48 – Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. I know I am not perfect, I am no saint (yet), and I am far from being any kind of holy. But we need to understand that word “perfect” better. It actually means “grown up,” “mature,” “complete and whole.”
So we begin to see that being holy – Holiness – requires total — whole — devotion to God. Whether in Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, the word used in Matthew 5:48 for “perfect” means to be whole, complete, as in fully developed. God created us for his purposes, not for our purposes. We differ from the world – set ourselves apart – not out of spite, but because we have been called by God to be in his Kingdom, and in his Kingdom we grow and grow until we become like him. God is there with us every step of the way to help us, to guide us, to sustain us, to help us repent, to help us become Holy. That is the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit whom God the Father through Christ Jesus has given to us as our Companion. Still, that seems like a big challenge to meet. What if we fail? Isn’t it more probable that we will fail rather than succeed? Here’s something that popped into my mind once when I was pondering that question.
If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions
Then the road to heaven is paved with good works.
In James 2:18 we read, But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. (Use the link to see that in full context, please.) I don’t think I will ever be perfect – at least not as an earthling – but that’s kind of a crazy thing to say because the whole objective of being a Christian is to become a Saint – someone who ends up in Heaven after leaving this Earth. If I plan to “see him as he is,” then I need to plan on being perfect – mature, whole, complete, HOLY. How in the World can I do that?
The answer, of course, is simple; I cannot. I cannot, but HE can be perfect in me when I am completed in HIM. When all of him fills all of me then I shall see him as he is. One excellent and efficacious way to do that is to be filled with him in the Eucharist. My “diet” needs to be The Word, The Living Bread Come Down From Heaven. “We become what we eat” is the assertion of the Church Fathers. Please take a moment and look at these three short passages:
Through Him, with Him, and in Him …
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
…and especially…
John 6:32-71
The TV commercials and shows about losing weight are ubiquitous and all are based on the same premise: Diet and Exercise make change possible. Hm. Diet and exercise can change our lives. A diet that is the “Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ” certainly is a healthy diet. The exercise of our Faith is facilitated by the excellence of our diet. Diet and Exercise in this case also makes change possible. Better still, it makes complete change not only possible, but also feasible, and probable.
I can imagine someone thinking, “Hey! Hold on a minute! Are you trying to say that only Catholics have the full assurance of Heaven because of their belief in the Real Presence?” No. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. Jesus is the only begotten son of the Father who came to save the World and not to condemn the World. Remember John 3:17 – Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Most people don’t memorize that one. Some people slide right past it, so sure of being redeemed eternally because they are confident they are in the group called “Whosever Believeth in Him” that they have no qualm whatsoever in roping off their part of the world with the Personal Relationship Clause of their religion. So then, what about John 3:17? It seems to me that if God sent Jesus for Salvation and not condemnation, I shouldn’t be condemning either. It seems too impersonal to write someone off because they disagree with me about how my relationship with Jesus works. “Of course I have a personal relationship with Jesus,” I tell them. “In fact, I have a close, personal, and deeply satisfying relationship with the whole family – Father, Son, Holy Spirit, our Blessed Mother, and all the Angels and Saints.” For me, that entire familial connection has its foundation and zenith in the Real Presence – the Whole Loaf, the Living Bread Come Down From Heaven.
Every Christian who is true to her/his faith is called to fearless and joyous communion with God through Jesus as Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters:
Romans 8:15-17 – 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, when we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
So if the diet is Christ, then the exercise is our suffering with and for him. That doesn’t need to be as dramatic as it sounds. Suffering is not always misery, anguish, torment, and affliction. Sometimes it is just keeping your mouth shut when a stinging retort is poised at your lips. Sometimes it is dropping a dollar into a jar for a street musician or a homeless person. Sometimes it is giving up a bit of our time to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club. Sometimes it is taking a moment to be kind to the “least of these my brethren.” For me and for my fellow Catholics, that exercise is made possible in a fuller and more satisfying way for us because of our confidence in the wholeness – mature, fully grown, complete Body and Blood of the Eucharist. I gave up accepting the symbol of our faith as expressed in symbolic communion when I accepted the challenge to live in the Mystery of Transubstantiation. It’s a difficult concept for many Catholics to embrace and not all Catholics accept it. I cannot condemn that nor can I judge them for that perspective.
Whenever we give ourselves over to moments of reverie, we usually can focus on the great times in our lives, but occasionally there are memories of not-so-great moments, too. Of these, the most unyielding are those moments of regret we feel for failing to live Christ’s law of Love. I think that is because we feel those moments make holes in the fabric of our lives, and that is not the kind of holiness we crave. Being holey is not wholly holy.
In our reference verse for today, the Greek word for “perfect” is τέλειός (teleios) {TEH-li-ohs} and is related to the word we studied in the Seven Last Word of Christ Series Τετέλεσται, (Tetélestai) {teh-TEH-les-tie} for “it is finished.” There we saw that Jesus’ words meant consummation, or to complete a process all the way through the final step which means everything that needed to be done has been done. It is a fully-completed, made-to-order, exactly-right process concluded properly and correctly in every possible way. Whatever can or needs to come next can succeed because the perfect preparation for it has been completed. That’s the meaning behind The Whole Loaf, too. Jesus is wholly present in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. I need to be wholly present to receive it and it is possible to do that by being whole through him, with him, and in him. Blessed be God forever.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) http://biblehub.com
1523AFC060515 – The Whole Loaf
Read it online here, please
John 6:51 – I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Aloha nui loa ʻŌmea! Here we are again at the verge of summer and the summer break for most school-age kids. Even though the “official” start of summer is Memorial Day (May 25 this year) the actual official first-day-of-summer is June 21. That is also Fathers’ Day. Sounds like a day for Celebrating. Speaking of celebrations, this coming Sunday, June 7, is pretty special, too. It is The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). As I prepared this Aloha Friday Message, I realized this is the third in a series. I didn’t know it was a series until I saw the title – The Whole Loaf. The first message in the series was Fire in the Whole! The second was Whole in One. And now we have The Whole Loaf. It brings to mind something from days gone by about “wholly” and “holy.” It’s based on Matthew 5:48 – Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. I know I am not perfect, I am no saint (yet), and I am far from being any kind of holy. But we need to understand that word “perfect” better. It actually means “grown up,” “mature,” “complete and whole.”
So we begin to see that being holy – Holiness – requires total — whole — devotion to God. Whether in Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, the word used in Matthew 5:48 for “perfect” means to be whole, complete, as in fully developed. God created us for his purposes, not for our purposes. We differ from the world – set ourselves apart – not out of spite, but because we have been called by God to be in his Kingdom, and in his Kingdom we grow and grow until we become like him. God is there with us every step of the way to help us, to guide us, to sustain us, to help us repent, to help us become Holy. That is the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit whom God the Father through Christ Jesus has given to us as our Companion. Still, that seems like a big challenge to meet. What if we fail? Isn’t it more probable that we will fail rather than succeed? Here’s something that popped into my mind once when I was pondering that question.
If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions
Then the road to heaven is paved with good works.
In James 2:18 we read, But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. (Use the link to see that in full context, please.) I don’t think I will ever be perfect – at least not as an earthling – but that’s kind of a crazy thing to say because the whole objective of being a Christian is to become a Saint – someone who ends up in Heaven after leaving this Earth. If I plan to “see him as he is,” then I need to plan on being perfect – mature, whole, complete, HOLY. How in the World can I do that?
The answer, of course, is simple; I cannot. I cannot, but HE can be perfect in me when I am completed in HIM. When all of him fills all of me then I shall see him as he is. One excellent and efficacious way to do that is to be filled with him in the Eucharist. My “diet” needs to be The Word, The Living Bread Come Down From Heaven. “We become what we eat” is the assertion of the Church Fathers. Please take a moment and look at these three short passages:
Through Him, with Him, and in Him …
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
…and especially…
John 6:32-71
The TV commercials and shows about losing weight are ubiquitous and all are based on the same premise: Diet and Exercise make change possible. Hm. Diet and exercise can change our lives. A diet that is the “Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ” certainly is a healthy diet. The exercise of our Faith is facilitated by the excellence of our diet. Diet and Exercise in this case also makes change possible. Better still, it makes complete change not only possible, but also feasible, and probable.
I can imagine someone thinking, “Hey! Hold on a minute! Are you trying to say that only Catholics have the full assurance of Heaven because of their belief in the Real Presence?” No. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. Jesus is the only begotten son of the Father who came to save the World and not to condemn the World. Remember John 3:17 – Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Most people don’t memorize that one. Some people slide right past it, so sure of being redeemed eternally because they are confident they are in the group called “Whosever Believeth in Him” that they have no qualm whatsoever in roping off their part of the world with the Personal Relationship Clause of their religion. So then, what about John 3:17? It seems to me that if God sent Jesus for Salvation and not condemnation, I shouldn’t be condemning either. It seems too impersonal to write someone off because they disagree with me about how my relationship with Jesus works. “Of course I have a personal relationship with Jesus,” I tell them. “In fact, I have a close, personal, and deeply satisfying relationship with the whole family – Father, Son, Holy Spirit, our Blessed Mother, and all the Angels and Saints.” For me, that entire familial connection has its foundation and zenith in the Real Presence – the Whole Loaf, the Living Bread Come Down From Heaven.
Every Christian who is true to her/his faith is called to fearless and joyous communion with God through Jesus as Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters:
Romans 8:15-17 – 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, when we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
So if the diet is Christ, then the exercise is our suffering with and for him. That doesn’t need to be as dramatic as it sounds. Suffering is not always misery, anguish, torment, and affliction. Sometimes it is just keeping your mouth shut when a stinging retort is poised at your lips. Sometimes it is dropping a dollar into a jar for a street musician or a homeless person. Sometimes it is giving up a bit of our time to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club. Sometimes it is taking a moment to be kind to the “least of these my brethren.” For me and for my fellow Catholics, that exercise is made possible in a fuller and more satisfying way for us because of our confidence in the wholeness – mature, fully grown, complete Body and Blood of the Eucharist. I gave up accepting the symbol of our faith as expressed in symbolic communion when I accepted the challenge to live in the Mystery of Transubstantiation. It’s a difficult concept for many Catholics to embrace and not all Catholics accept it. I cannot condemn that nor can I judge them for that perspective.
Whenever we give ourselves over to moments of reverie, we usually can focus on the great times in our lives, but occasionally there are memories of not-so-great moments, too. Of these, the most unyielding are those moments of regret we feel for failing to live Christ’s law of Love. I think that is because we feel those moments make holes in the fabric of our lives, and that is not the kind of holiness we crave. Being holey is not wholly holy.
In our reference verse for today, the Greek word for “perfect” is τέλειός (teleios) {TEH-li-ohs} and is related to the word we studied in the Seven Last Word of Christ Series Τετέλεσται, (Tetélestai) {teh-TEH-les-tie} for “it is finished.” There we saw that Jesus’ words meant consummation, or to complete a process all the way through the final step which means everything that needed to be done has been done. It is a fully-completed, made-to-order, exactly-right process concluded properly and correctly in every possible way. Whatever can or needs to come next can succeed because the perfect preparation for it has been completed. That’s the meaning behind The Whole Loaf, too. Jesus is wholly present in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. I need to be wholly present to receive it and it is possible to do that by being whole through him, with him, and in him. Blessed be God forever.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) http://biblehub.com
