well every third summer of the church
gives us the privilege of hearing from
John chapter six at Mass John chapter
six is a kind of masterpiece within the
masterpiece it's John the Evangelist
great presentation of his Eucharistic
theology you know it's a peculiarities
of John's Gospel that there's an account
of the Last Supper but in that account
there's no institution narrative to use
the technical term just means no
narrative of what Jesus did with the
bread and the cup which you'll find in
the other Gospels so you have the
washing the feet but not the institution
of the Eucharist well it should not lead
us to the conclusion that there's no
Eucharistic theology John because in
some ways it runs all the way through
the gospel but reaches a full expression
in Chapter six
Kyah age everybody watching this video
to take other bibles and read through
the entire sixth chapter of john it
begins with the his version of the
multiplication of loaves and fishes but
then moves into a discourse Jesus gives
in the synagogue at Capernaum and it's a
magnificent work now what I want to
focus on is not so much the issue of the
real presence I've talked about that in
other videos and writings I talk just
more generally about spiritual
nourishment
because that's really what John 6 is all
about what feeds the soul let me start
with the classical analogy which is the
body and bodily eating and drinking as
you know a few months ago I was in the
hospital I had a epidemic so I was in
the hospital for about a week and for
about three days of that week I couldn't
eat anything solid and it was amazing to
me how quickly my body just sort of
atrophy I you know we're so used to
eating all the time we have three meals
we know the next ones coming from we
never think about it but your body goes
for just a few days without food it is
radically compromised
I remember just getting out of bed and
sitting in a chair for a few minutes was
exhausting
how fragile we are and how dependent we
are upon proper nourishment also about
20 years ago a friend of mine and I took
a bite trip from Paris to Rome and we
really pushed it we covered about 70
miles a day I was doing fine until one
day in the South of France
we've been pedaling for about five hours
maybe that day and suddenly I hit the
wall now I had read about hitting the
wall you know extreme athletes and all
this talk about it but I never
experienced it hitting the wall is not
like gradually slowing down or boy am I
getting tired I better stop it's like a
car running out of gas it's just you
can't go on I remember I just I said to
my friend I I'm stopping I can't go on
and I sort of rested by the side of the
road and we always carried these big
buckets the French you know loaves of
bread and I one of those and drank water
and maybe a half hour later was able to
go on my point is the same one I just
made with the other example that we are
so dependent upon food that when our
nourishment just runs out my tank just
ran out I was not able to go on well I
was just there's a very exact analogy
between bodily nourishment and spiritual
nourishment though material is of all
stripes want to deny it and of course
they're thick on the ground today we all
know that there's a spiritual dimension
to our humanity that's to say a
dimension of our being that stretches
beyond the merely physical it's what
connects us to eternal things to the
things of God given its classical
language again a classical term it's the
soul well the soul needs to be fed as
surely as the body needs to be fed and
if the soul is not properly nourished it
to atrophies it dries up you know I've
spoken often about the great substitutes
for God wealth pleasure honor and power
you know those are their junk food for
the Soul so I know the world says that's
the most important thing that'll make
you happy just get those four things
you see the soul is hungry for grace for
the divine life and the soul into its
that these worldly things will not
satisfy it in fact if you were to your
doctor and said well you know my diet is
exclusively milkshakes and Big Macs and
marshmallows and your your body would
just react so negatively your body would
would die from that diet well in a
similar way the soul
dries up eventually dies from a steady
diet of worldly goods what it wants is
God it wants the divine life so how do
we nourish the soul I've set a couple
things
the first one is prayer prayer is the
raising of the mind and soul to God the
mind and heart to God prayer is a
communion with God we say at the mass
you lift up your hearts where we lift
them up to the Lord
that's prayer without prayer the soul
dries up how do you pray the rosary
prayer I think is a great form of Prayer
it's contemplative it slows you down it
forces you to dwell on spiritual things
the soul by the way likes to go slow
it's one of the marks of the soul
it likes to savor well the Rosary is a
savoring prayer compelling you to spend
time with the great mysteries I've urged
many times before the Jesus Prayer which
is so prominent in the Eastern Christian
traditions Lord Jesus Christ son of God
have mercy on me a sinner that's the
whole prayer but now recite that over
and over again in the manner of the
Rosary where your sight the Hail Mary
over and over again but recite that
prayer in such a way that it becomes
just part of your breathing part of the
rhythm of your life that's the Jesus
Prayer you can practice it for a minute
for five minutes for a half hour for a
day if you're a monk in the Eastern
traditions you might make it part of
your entire day the Rosary the Jesus
Prayer I'm a great devotee of the
Blessed Sacrament adoration simply
spending time
with the blood sacrament as the curé of
ARs of course famously said when someone
asked him what goes on when you do that
prayer and he said he looks at me and I
look at him so it's the way that two
friends can sit in easy silence with
each other simply being in each other's
presence
that's the Blessed Sacrament prayer you
know I recommend if you want to feed the
soul good spiritual reading we fill our
minds with so much junk think especially
with all the means of communication now
we fill our minds with a lot of junk
food or watching TV all day the soul
doesn't saber that soul wants the deep
things of God get a good spiritual book
get a good theological book you know
maybe one that really challenges you
that's difficult that we read difficult
things and our professions of law and
medicine and business and finance why
wouldn't you read something serious in
the area of religion the soul feeds on
that kind of spiritual reading a third
recommendation I have the Corporal and
spiritual works of mercy look them up I
won't go through each one in the course
of this video but look them up the
concrete expressions of mercy see again
the world will tell you get wealth
pleasure power and honor into you and
you'll be happy
hey that's false and be it actually it
actually attacks the soul like junk food
that attacks the body what the soul
wants is the divine life what is the
divine life it's mercy that's who God is
therefore when you engage in the
simplest act of mercy you're feeding the
soul so feed the hungry give drink to
the thirsty clothe the naked visit the
imprisoned visit the sick pray for the
living in dead counsel the doubtful
encourage those who are discouraged
etcetera you know I say anyone listen to
me now you know someone right now in
your circle of friends or your family
someone you know who's in need of mercy
they need encouragement in a visit they
need whatever it is food and drink maybe
do something
right now and you'll find that your soul
is fed lastly and it brings you back to
John chapter six the Eucharist Jesus
says I myself and the Living bread come
down from heaven so your ancestors ate
man on the desert but they died I want
to give you food that will last to
eternal life and that's me it's my body
is the Living bread Thomas Aquinas said
that in all the sacraments the virtuous
Christi is available that means the
power of Christ but in the Eucharist
alone he says if say Christos is present
Christ himself he's what the soul wants
ultimately he wants eternal life he
wants the things of God he wants Grace
and so the soul wants Jesus where do you
find him we find him a lot of different
ways but par excellence you find him in
the Eucharist again what a tragedy that
75% of our own Catholic brothers and
sisters don't come to Mass they don't
come to get the bread of life people
wonder why they're starving spiritually
well they're not eating right what's the
matter of my body well what are you
eating how often are you eating what's
the quality of the food you're taking in
the very same questions apply in the
spiritual order and so I mean if you
find yourself kind of drifting you find
yourself lost you find yourself
undernourished well read John chapter 6
and then learn to eat right spiritually