Matthew 13.1–23 ESV – Bible Gateway

---

At the start of this section, the reference he went out of the house is likely a reference to St. Peter’s house in Capernaum. He teaches a series of 8 parables, with the first parable of the sower being presented in this Gospel passage.

There is a large crowd present and Jesus gets into a boat, sits down, and teaches them. Some have wondered, “How could one be heard by ‘a large multitude’ without the benefit of some sort of sound amplification?”

---

Archaeologist Cobbey Crisler, together with acoustic engineer Mark Myles conducted tests near Tell Hum, site of ancient Capernaum.[1]

Among several coves near Capernaum, there is one that has recently been found to have such sound characteristics of a natural amphitheater. It is located around mid-way between Capernaum and Tabgha, amongst the major areas of Jesus’s Galilean ministry. Acoustical tests were carried out on this site to show that ‘a great multitude’ of some five thousand to seven thousand people could indeed have clearly heard a person speaking from a boat located at a spot near the cove’s center.”[2]

We are used to Jesus’ teachings in parables, so the disciples’ question can be confusing..

From the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture:

But there is a dramatic shift in Jesus’ teaching method: he spoke to them at length in parables. This is the first time Matthew specifically uses the word parables to describe Jesus’ teaching. While Jesus occasionally spoke in parables before, here he suddenly addresses the crowds “at length” in parables, giving several in rapid-fire succession. This movement from teaching the crowds primarily in a straightforward manner (Matt 5–7) to a new emphasis on parables (Matt 13) surprises Jesus’ own disciples, who ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (13:10).[3]

This commentary also mentions that “For the ancient Jews, a parable was a cryptic saying or story intended to stimulate thought.”[4] As Brad Pitre often references, Jesus parables often involved a twist, something unexpected.

Jesus’ reply to the disciples can also seem puzzling with both his answer and referencing to Isaiah.

St. Thomas Aquinas into his commentary on Matthew, remarks on this:

The reason is twofold. One reason is that, by parables of this kind, sacred things would be hidden from the unbelievers, lest they blaspheme: for it was said above, “Give not that which is holy to dogs” (7, 6). Therefore, because many men were blaspheming, for that reason, He wished to speak in parables. Hence, “To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables” (Lk. 8, 10). The second reason is that uncultured men are taught better through parables of this kind. Hence, men, namely, the uncultured, when divine things are explained under similitudes, comprehend and retain them better. For that reason, the Lord wished to speak in parables, so that they might be better committed to memory. For because He had known that worthy men would receive His doctrine, He wished to give it to them in such a way that they might remember it better; “I will open my mouth in parables” (Ps. 77, 2).[5]

Brant Pitre remarks on the apparent carelessness of the sower:

So let’s start back at the beginning of parable. Jesus says: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path.” Now pause there, that is the first unexpected element to this parable, because any first century Jew would’ve known that if you’re going to go and get seed—which was expensive—and you are going to plant it in your field or in your garden and that’s your livelihood, you’d better take good care that none of the seed gets lost. And so what is being described here is a sower who is careless in his sowing of seed.[6]

This facet of the parable strikes me as an aspect of God’s grace. God repeatedly gives us grace, but we often seem to carelessly waste it.. This seems to me to be a glimpse of the same aspect of God’s generousness revealed in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

Another point that strikes me is that this sowing of the seed is not a one-time event in our lives. Jesus the sower does not just come once and we hope to be lucky enough that he comes when we have good soil. In my life, I can recall my own rocky landscape where I rejected grace because I was confident in my atheism.. There were other times in my life where I was sure of my atheism, but wanting to be wrong since I was living a nihilist existence. Those tentative steps towards Christianity, the thorns of my pride choked them and a grasping towards faith withered away. It was only after so much time that the soil became more suitable for growth. Nothing could grow until I could grow.

Oddly, quickly looking up “Amending rocky soil”:

1. Remove Large Stones….
2. Use A Straight Rake To Remove Surface Rocks And Debris….
3. Use A Shovel To Break Up The Soil….
4. Work In Organic Compost….
5. Rake A Layer Of Top Soil Onto Your Chosen Area.

I now see how that process applied spiritually for me. First, those large stones of sin being removed. Continuously working on sins that thus became visible. Repeating the process and replacing evil practices with more virtuous ones. I did not know at the time I was doing this or what this ultimately would lead to, other than knowing I was not a good man and desired to be one. What is annoying is that this is a never-ending process in this life to grow closer to Christ.

Sources

• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

---

1. “The Acoustics and Crowd Capacity of Natural Theaters in Palestine”, Biblical Archaeologist Dec 1976, pp. 128–41.  ↩
2. The Holy Land Jesus Knew, Robert J. Bull and B. Cobbey Crisler  ↩
3. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
4. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
5. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
6. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time  ↩

Matthew 10:26–33

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³² So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 10.26–33 ESV – Bible Gateway

---

In the broader section this passage is in, Jesus is training and preparing the disciples for their overall mission. He is sending them out into the mission field and that fundamentally, they must rely on him to equip them with their material and spiritual needs. To prepare them that many and that will reject his message this should not deter them from preaching the message. This paragraph and the preceding paragraph is focused on the persecution they will meet and how they should deal with it.

Peter Kreeft on one of the central point:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God” (John 3:19–21). If you are committing a crime, you prefer the night to the day. If you love good and hate evil, then you will love light and hate darkness, and one day there will be no more darkness, only light, and those who love God, those who love what God is, which is truth and goodness, and who hate falsehood and evil, will be totally happy because they will get only what they love and none of what they hate. That is the day when, as Jesus puts it, “nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” Fear needs darkness; in heaven there is no darkness. The more we love light, the more we will love heaven.[1]

Death avoidance is a natural human reaction. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane asked the Father to remove this cup from him, but foremost that his will be done. We are not to just rush into danger thinking that God’s providence will remove any problem. St. Joseph, in response to the Holy Spirit, moved the Holy Family to Egypt and that on return later, prudentially determined where to live to lessen any danger to them. Still, what we prioritize shows us what we value the most. If we focus only on materialistic desires, we risk our relationship with God.

363 In Sacred Scripture the term “soul” often refers to human life or the entire human person. But “soul” also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image: “soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man.[2]

From Brant Pitre’s commentary on this passage:

So what Jesus is trying to get the disciples to do here is to have a rational, rather than an irrational, fear. Although most of us think it’s rational to be afraid of death, and there’s a sense in which it is, death is painful, it means an end to our natural life. What Jesus is saying is it is irrational to be more afraid of physical death, which is temporary and finite—however horrible it is, it only lasts for a time—than to be afraid of spiritual death, because spiritual death—being separated from God forever in Gehenna, the ancient Jewish name for hell, the realm of the dead—is something that’s not finite, it’s going to last forever, it’s never going to end. So what he is telling the disciples is “as you go out to preach the Gospel, there’s simply no reason to be afraid, even if your life is in danger, because by preaching the Gospel you will save your soul, and the life of your soul will last forever, whereas the life of your body in this world is only for a time and for a season. So he’s trying to turn the disciples way of looking at their lives, looking at reality, upside down and get them to see it the way God sees it, to see from God’s perspective, to see it from an eternal perspective, to understand that although they live in this world, they were made for everlasting life, they were made for eternity.[3]

He also makes a related point:

Now notice this—Jesus is so good about this with the way teaches—as soon as he brings up the fear of God, he recognizes that people can take that in the wrong way, that they could concoct out of that an image of God that would make them terrified of him, as if God is out to get us. So no sooner has he said something about the fear of God that he also talks about the providence of God, and the fatherhood of God, and the care of God for us. So what does he say next? He says “are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will [or apart from your Father’s will]. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” So no sooner has he taught them to fear God that he also wants to make sure they understand that they are not just creatures of the Creator, they are the children of a loving father.[4]

St. Thomas Aquinas makes a similar point in his commentary on Matthew:

Fear not those who only kill the body, but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell, because one ought not to be subject to God on account of fear of punishment, but on account of the love of justice, as is stated: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons of God” (Rom. 8, 15).[5]

I think of St. John Paul II’s constant refrain: “Be not afraid!”

“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch…. I plead with you—never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

I also think of another Pope, the first one, Peter. On the night Jesus was arrested, it was fear of arrest and torture that partly drove his denial of Jesus that night. He is transformed on the day of Pentecost and his fear of physical evil was diminished. His will was united with Christ’s will. He would not only face opposition, but be moved to speak against the authorities that had imprisoned him. Jesus said “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Peter denied him, but would go on to acknowledge him before men. Our failures and our brokenness are not a permanent state when we repent before Jesus, who knows are value.

St. Hilary of Poitiers. For it is an unworthy task to number things that are to perish. Therefore that we should know that nothing of us should perish, we are told that our very hairs are numbered. No accident then that can befal our bodies is to be feared; thus He adds, Fear not, ye are better than many sparrows.[6]

Sources

• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Catena Aurea Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1 St. Matthew – Verbum
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

---

1. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time  ↩
2. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
3. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, Year A, 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time  ↩
4. ibid  ↩
5. St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
6. St. Thomas Aquinas. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew, St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, A.D. 354.  ↩

Matthew 9:36–10:8

³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

¹⁰ And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. ² The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

Matthew 9:36–10:8 ESV – Bible Gateway

---

This passage appears in a section of Matthew that detailed nine miracle stories involving physical healings. When Jesus saw the crowd, he felt compassion for them before the feeding of the 5,000. He sees us in both are physical and spiritual suffering and when there are physical healings; they are often joined with the more important spiritual ones. God can use us in his plan to affect these healings on others. Usually, by healing us to some degree, we look beyond self to see those around us. Here, Jesus is calling us to pray for an increase in those entering the mission field.

Peter Kreeft, in his commentary, on the start of this passage:

Jesus looks on the crowds, in today’s Gospel, as sheep without a shepherd: confused, alone, and troubled. Sheep are very stupid. Without help, without a shepherd, they will always wander away and get lost and die and be the easy prey for wolves or other wild animals. Who are these sheep? Look in the mirror.

But Jesus doesn’t scorn or sneer at these stupid sheep, this ship of fools. But neither is he satisfied with them. Instead, his heart is moved with pity toward them, a pity that doesn’t just passively feel something but that actively does something for them. And what he does about it is to make his disciples into the shepherds that the sheep need. He turns twelve of his sheep into shepherds.[1]

Brant Pitre amplifies the image of the need for workers:

A second image is this image of the harvest being plentiful, but the laborers being few. So here the image shifts. Now it’s not a flock of sheep in need of shepherds. It’s a harvest in need of laborers, in need of harvesters, in need of reapers to go out and harvest the fruits of the field, harvest the grain of the wheat. And so in that context, the need for the harvest to take place, Jesus calls the Twelve to him and he sets them apart from his other followers and gives them authority. The Greek word here is exousia, and it can also be translated as power. It’s the same word that is used to describe Jesus’ teaching earlier in the Gospel of Matthew at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, when the people say, “He taught as one having authority.” Or he taught with power, there was a power in his words, an authority in his words. Well, the very authority that Jesus himself possesses when he speaks the Sermon on the Mount, he then gives to Matthew and Thomas and Andrew and James and John and Judas, the Twelve, who are chosen to be his emissaries, chosen to act as shepherds on behalf of him as the messianic shepherd of God in leading the people into the kingdom of God. So the Twelve Apostles are not just Jesus’s closest friends, they’re not just the followers that were particularly intimate with him and close to him amongst the multitudes. No, no, no. He gives them exousia. They have a share in his own authority and it’s through that exousia, through that authority that they are able not just to proclaim the kingdom of God, but to shepherd people into it, to go out and harvest, so to speak, to participate in the harvest of souls that Jesus is calling for with the coming of the kingdom.[2]

There are so many familiar Old Testament images being invoked here regarding shepherds and the selecting of 12 leaders. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and all true authority flows from him.

From the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for Matthew:[3]

Those needing spiritual and physical healing lie close to Jesus’ heart (14:14; 15:32; 20:34). like sheep without a shepherd: A familiar OT simile.
– Sheep often represent the people of Israel (1 Kings 22:17; Jud 11:19; Jer 23:1–3; Zech 10:2). Shepherd imagery is used for Israel’s spiritual leaders.
– (1) Joshua was Moses’ successor and the “shepherd” of Israel (Num 27:17).
– (2) David was elected to “shepherd” Israel as its king (2 Sam 5:2–3).
– (3) In Ezek 34, God himself promised to set “one shepherd” (Ezek 34:23) over his people to feed and protect them as a new Davidic king (Ezek 34:23–24; cf. Jer 23:1–6). Jesus draws on these to illustrate his own role as the Shepherd and King of the restored Israel, the Church (25:31–34; Jn 10:16; 1 Pet 2:25).

Jesus invests the 12 disciples with his authority to heal both physical and spiritual afflictions. To spread the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is also a reminder to them and to use that we can do nothing on our own without him. None of the tasks that Jesus gives them is anything they could do of their own talent or merit. They are all in submission to him “so that no man can boost.” Any good in the world where we have been used as an instrument for God’s will should place it on our knees in gratitude. To do the “mightier works” that Jesus prophesied is to be met with a commiserate humility. The free gift of grace given to us, we should rejoice when we see the same for others. “You received without paying; give without pay.”

Jesus initially focuses their mission field on their fellow Israelites. While the true scope of the mission field is the entire world, we also have to start with those around us. Starting with our own conversions, our scope should fan out to our family members, co-workers, and those we interact with. St. Paul would start in the synagogues and then move on to the gentiles everywhere he went. We can either be a witness or a counter-witness to the faith that is within us. Most of all, let God direct us where we are. This might mean a call to a wider missionary field. I think of St. Therese of Lisieux’s wanting to be a missionary and God granting this desire despite being cloistered. I also think of the missionary zeal of St. Francis Xavier, SJ and all the countries he travelled to and all those he baptized.

Sources

• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

Luke 14:25–33 ESV – Bible Gateway

---

When it comes to reflecting on scripture, we can but skim the surface and rely on saints who have dived more deeply in scripture to our advantage. To look at the mystery revealed in the Bread of Life discourse, even lightly skimming the surface, reveals much.

John Bergsma looks at one aspect of the Eucharist, invoking both joy and sorrow:

Our reflection on these Scripture passages for Corpus Christi should cause us great joy, first of all, for God’s tremendous provision for our needs, both physical and spiritual, the greatest sign of which is his daily gift of the Eucharist, the Flesh of his own Son, for us.

At the same time, we should feel sorrow because the Eucharist is a call for the unity of all Christians (see the Second Reading) as well as call for our own unity with the Son and the Father (see the Gospel). The Eucharist represents and causes our unity with the Holy Trinity (celebrated last week), which it signifies. Yet so often we do not live or act in a way that would inspire our family members or co-workers to think, He lives in Christ, and Christ lives in him. May we use the opportunity provided by the Masses this weekend to pray that our thoughts, words, and behavior in this coming week and the rest of our lives may make more visible our union with Christ through this Sacrament.[1]

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus references the divisive nature of truth and that there will be divisions even within our own households. This discourse in John later references that some of his disciples would leave him over this teaching. The Eucharist continues to divide. There are those who accept Jesus’ teaching and his promise and those who diminish it as just a symbol or something lesser than the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. It is a strange reversal to see the Eucharist as less miraculous than the manna given during the Exodus. Nobody saw the manna as just a symbol, they were nourished and thrived on it.

Brant Pitre on the Catholic emphasis on the Eucharist:

Again, notice here this line where he says “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. This is a very important verse. Sometimes nonCatholic Christians, our separated brothers and sisters, say “why do you Catholics make so much out of the Eucharist” or “why do you insist on receiving the Eucharist frequently, like daily even with daily Mass.” The answer is simple, because Jesus himself said that “if you eat his flesh and drink his blood, he will abide in you and you will abide in him.” So if you want to abide in Christ you need to receive his body and his blood in the Eucharist. And if you want Christ to abide in you—and I can’t think of any Christian who would say “I don’t want Jesus to abide in me”—then we need to receive his body and blood, we need to eat his flesh and drink his blood under the form of food and drink, which is of course the Eucharist.[2]

As Jesus continues on, not only does he not back down on the implication of Eucharistic realism, he effectively doubles down on it as Steve Ray shows:

In this discourse it seem as if Jesus is being overly difficult and desires to scare off his disciples unnecessarily. At this point, he speaks extremely hard words to them, seemingly asking them to become cannibals, and, as a result, most of them turn away in disgust and leave him. The word translated “eat” (trōgein) is not a dignified word used to describe fine dining, but is the Greek verb for “gnaw” and “munch” and could be translated “masticating the flesh”. The use of trōgein certainly emphasizes “the realism of the eucharistic flesh and blood.” “This offense”, according to Cullmann, “belongs now to the Sacrament just as the ❲offense of the❳ human body belongs to the ❲divine❳ Logos.”[3]

This language invoked an even stronger reaction from some of his followers. From the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for this Gospel:

The Jews react more strongly than before. They quarreled (literally, “fought”) among themselves over Jesus’ statement about eating his flesh. Jesus’ command to eat his flesh, and later to drink his blood, is appalling to his hearers. The Torah expressly forbade the eating of blood or of flesh with any blood left in it (Lev 17:14; 19:26; Deut 12:23); eating human flesh would be unthinkable.[4]

It is easy to sit back with the distance of time and think of the foolishness of the disciples who rejected this teaching and walked away. Many of them had seen Jesus perform miracles and had seen him teach with authority as no person had done before. It seems their cultural biases kept them from considering that his teaching could be a great mystery and a great truth. Let he who has never made a hot take, cast the first stone. I like to think that some of those disciples who walked away later returned.

I find it amazing how much Jesus trusts us with the truth. He reveals the Trinity to us, knowing how it would become the source of so many heresies to those wanting to amplify one aspect that they accept. The simplifiers approach a mystery and reject all they can’t quickly understand. Jesus gives himself in the Eucharist, knowing how many will reject him in the Sacrament.

We sometimes hear of surveys regarding Catholic belief in the Eucharist and the low percentage of people who accept this teaching. While it is true, as I have found, that the survey questions on this subject are not well crafted, there is a more accurate survey result we can look at. How many Catholics go to Mass on Sunday and Holy Days of obligation? Depending of country and region, this is shockingly low. Can you say you believe in the Eucharist and then don’t make it to Mass for some trivial reason, other than valid reasons such as sickness or caring for others? When we look at this obligation and wish it fitted in with our schedule better. Or Mass becomes a rote obligation and not a desire to worship the Lord and receive him in the sacrament? Do we look for opportunities to go to Daily Mass if possible?

Just judging from my experience, it is easy to fall into this even if we fully accept and have some understanding of the source and summit of our faith. I reflected on some of this during the Covid lockdown as they prevented us from going to Mass. I promised myself I would never again complain about the time and access to Mass once the lockdown was lifted. I have not kept that promise perfectly, but when those thoughts come to mind, I am much quicker to shut them down and smother them in gratitude to being able to go to Mass daily.

In the United States, we have an ongoing program of Eucharistic Revival that takes into consideration some of this. The critic in me has a thousand suggestions for why they are doing it wrong or that no revival ever came from a bureaucracy, especially an ecclesial bureaucracy. Instead, I asked myself what I could do to increase my own Eucharistic piety, no matter how small. Constant reminders to myself of the thankfulness I should hold in awe and wonder. It is a constant project not to receive the Eucharist perfunctory. God keeps lifting us up to try again.

Peter Kreeft looks at the works for “life” used here:

There are two Greek words for “life.” One, bios, means natural, mortal life. The other, zoe, means supernatural, eternal life. That’s the word Christ uses here. When we receive Christ in the Eucharist, our bios changes into zoe, just as in the Eucharist the bread and wine miraculously change into Christ’s Body and Blood. It is as miraculous as a frog changing into a prince in the fairy tales. It is like Pinocchio changing from a wooden puppet to a living boy. At the very heart and essence of Christianity is this astonishing miracle.[5]

Sometimes I will look at St. Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea, where he links up scriptural passages with the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers. The quotes for this passage from John are overwhelming in regards Eucharistic realism.

Last year I read Erick Ybarra’s “Melchizedek and the Last Supper: Biblical and Patristic Evidence for the Sacrifice of the Mass” which had a plethora of quotes involving Eucharistic realism, and I am not using “plethora” lightly here. The collection of quotes is amazing.

Sources

• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• St. John’s Gospel: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary for Individuals and Groups: Ray, Stephen K.
• The Gospel of John (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 4: St. John – Verbum
• Melchizedek and the Last Supper
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

---

1. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, Corpus Christi  ↩
2. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, Year A, Corpus Christi  ↩
3. St. John’s Gospel: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary for Individuals and Groups. Steve Ray, 2002  ↩
4. Francis Martin, William M. Wright IV, The Gospel of John (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)  ↩
5. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, Corpus Christi  ↩