Sermon 132A
SERMON 132
FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. ABOUT THE EUCHARIST
To eat Christ, what it is.
What kind of voice of the Lord did you hear inviting us? Who invited, whom did he invite, and what did he prepare? The Lord invited the servants and prepared food for them, himself. Who would dare to eat his Lord? And yet he says: "Whoever eats me will live because of me." When Christ is eaten, life is eaten. He is not killed to be eaten, but he gives life to the dead. When he is eaten, he refreshes, but he does not diminish. Therefore, brothers, let us not fear to eat this bread, lest we finish it, and afterwards we do not find what to eat. Let Christ be eaten: he lives being eaten because he has resurrected after being killed. Nor when we eat, do we make parts of him. And indeed in the sacrament it is so, and the faithful know how they eat the flesh of Christ; each one receives his part, whence even the grace itself is called parts. He is eaten in parts, and he remains whole; he is eaten in parts in the sacrament, and he remains whole in heaven, he remains whole in your heart. For he was entirely with the Father when he came into the virgin; he filled her, and did not depart from him. He was coming into flesh so that men might eat him; and he remained whole with the Father, to feed the angels. Because, brothers, you should know (and those who know, and those who do not know, ought to know), when Christ became man, man ate the bread of angels. How, from where, by what way, by what merits, with what dignity would man eat the bread of angels, unless the creator of angels became man? Therefore let us eat confidently: what we eat is not finished; and let us eat, lest we be finished. What does it mean to eat Christ? It is not only this, to receive his body in the sacrament; for many receive unworthily, of whom the Apostle says: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord."
How Christ is to be eaten.
But how is Christ to be eaten? As He Himself says: "He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me, and I in him." Therefore, if He abides in me, and I in Him, then he eats, then he drinks; but he who does not abide in me, nor I in him, even if he receives the sacrament, he acquires great torment. Therefore, He who abides in me, as He says elsewhere: "He who keeps my commandments abides in me, and I in him." Therefore, see, brothers, because if you, who are faithful, are separated from the body of the Lord, it must be feared that you may die of famine. For He Himself said: "He who does not eat my flesh, nor drink my blood, will not have life in him." Therefore, if you are separated, so that you do not eat the body and blood of the Lord, it must be feared that you may die; but if you receive unworthily and drink unworthily, it must be feared that you may eat and drink judgment. Great are your afflictions. Live well, and your afflictions will be alleviated. Do not promise life to yourselves while living badly: what God does not promise, man deceives himself when he promises it to himself. You promise yourself what the truth denies you. The truth says: "If you live badly, you will die forever;" and you say to yourself: "And I live badly, and I live forever with Christ?" How can it be that the truth lies, and you speak the truth? Every man is a liar. Therefore, you cannot live well unless He helps, unless He gives, unless He grants. Thus, pray and eat. Pray, and you will be freed from these afflictions. For He will fill you, both in doing good and in living well. Let your conscience be examined. Your mouth will be filled with the praise of God and exultation; and you will say to Him, freed from great afflictions: "You have freed my steps under me, and my footsteps have not faltered."