8-11-21 - Flesh-Eating

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

We generally associate the words "flesh-eating" with bacteria and zombies. Maybe the vogue for vampire and zombie books, movies and television shows offers the Church a major crossover opportunity. For here, right in the fourth Gospel, Jesus himself is quoted, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them..”

It’s not surprising that some early Christians faced charges of cannibalism, with rhetoric like that floating around. And there’s no way to make these words palatable – especially to a Jewish audience, rooted in laws proscribing above all the ingestion of blood, which is life. And that is the point. The impulse toward cannibalism in communities that practice it (or so I’ve read…) is to take into oneself the enemy's power. Jesus’ invitation is to take in the very life of the Friend.

He invites those who follow him to receive his life at the most basic atomic level, into our bodies, minds and spirits. He says he came from Life and gives Life –
“Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.”

So much in this world can sap life and celebrate death (like zombie and vampire entertainments..). Our culture does not lean life-ward or promote hopefulness and love. If we are to be seen as people of life, we need the Life of the Living Father to be filling us, renewed in us, every day. That happens through prayer and study, through inviting the Spirit to work through us in ministry – and it happens in this ritual many Christians celebrate at weekly worship, taking in the body and blood of Christ. (It will be interesting to study the impact of moving to virtual worship during the pandemic on the lives and faith of eucharistically oriented Christians.)

What are the sources of life in your life? And how do you best access the Life of God? And how do you go about sharing it with others? You might ask God in prayer, "Who needs to see / feel / receive your LIfe today? Show me how..."

There are many ways to invite people. If you know fans of True Blood, tell them we do a little blood-sipping every Sunday. If your friends are partial to The Walking Dead, you can tell them we do a little flesh-eating too. And if their tastes run more to the mundane, just tell them they can find life, life and more life in the body and blood of Christ, however they receive it.

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