Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

You can't handle the truth!  Remember that famous Jack Nicholson line from the movie, A Few Good Men?  So dramatic.

Truth or Consequnces!  Remember this famous game show on both radio and TV from the forties to the sixties?  Long before Bob Barker got his start on the Price is Right, he hosted Truth or Consequences.  So popular was this series that a town in New Mexico voted to change their name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences.

Truth be told(yes, pun intended!)many times we can't handle the truth and when we stray from the truth, there are consequences.

As people of faith, Jesus is the truth and He teaches us that His Body is true food and His Blood is true drink!

For the last few weeks we have been hearing the teachings of Jesus about His Body & Blood from the Gospel of St. John.  These powerful words from the 6th chapter of the Gospel of St. John teach us the truth about the Eucharist from He who is the truth, Jesus Christ!

As soon as Jesus teaches the crowds that He is the living bread from heaven and all must eat His body they reject the truth and began to quarrel.  But Jesus doubles down on them clearly saying unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you do not have life within you.  Jesus goes on to drop the T word here, truth.  My flesh is true food he tells them and my blood true drink.  No flowery imagery, no symbolism, not even a parable or a story; Jesus states matter of factly; my flesh is true food for you and my blood true drink for you.

This lesson from centuries ago is the same unchanging message for you and me today.  Our faith, our Church, has taught without wavering that the gifts of bread and wine are, after the moment of Transubstantiation, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  And this Body and Blood is for our eternal life.

Remarkably, in our day and time, many inside the Church still doubt.  There are those who claim it's only a symbolic meal of that which happened 2,000 years ago.  In other words, even today, some still can't handle the truth.  How can this be?  Why do some still doubt?

It is our collective responsibility today to boldly and sincerely proclaim this truth in our own lives.  Let's be careful here because this does not mean by word alone.  It also means by our very lives; by the way we are Eucharistic to others.  It's a bold challenge and it requires an act of faith and a total surrender to the truth.

Notice how bold Jesus remained even when doubts were expressed and many quarreled.  We will learn later in John's Gospel that many left Jesus over this teaching.  Today the truth given to us by Jesus and handed down from generation to generation lies in the Church.  The Church, in society today, often finds herself alone in teaching truth.  The Church remains true to Christ in the many unpopular teachings of today regarding abortion, the death penalty, upholding the dignity of marriage between one man and one woman, artificial contraception, euthanasia, the proper treatment of an alien, immigration, the treatment of prisoners, the death penalty, the preferential option for the poor.  Yes, in all these things and so much more, the Church upholds the truth.  Many ask today, why can't the church just go with the flow, cling to popular public opinion, get with the times?  The answer is simple; she can not be unfaithful to the truth; she can not be unfaithful to He who is the truth, Jesus Christ.

How can we respond to this truth?  As Catholics we must be informed of all the truthful teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church.  Do we know these teachings?  How many of us have a Catechism of the Catholic Church on hand to really know what the Church teaches?  Do we often just share our opinion or do we proclaim the truth? 

As we have focused on the Eucharist these past few weeks do we avail ourselves of Holy Communion in a state of grace and properly disposed?  In other words, are we aware of our own sinfulness?  Do we need the forgiveness that comes only in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?  Do we receive Holy Communion with dignity, showing the proper respect when we receive His true food and His true drink?  These are all things we can do to affirm the truth; the truth that makes us free.

Can you handle the truth?  Is it truth or consequences?  If our lives are fully rooted in Jesus and His Church, it is truth that leads us to eternal life!