True Food

A number of years ago, I read the autobiography of Fr. Walter Ciszek. Do you know that name? I think Fr. Ciszek’s life is one of the more inspiring stories of 20th century Catholicism. The son of Polish immigrants to Pennsylvania, he joined the Jesuits as a young man because of his desire to be a missionary in Russia. After being ordained, he was sent to Poland and then to Russia to minister in secret to the Catholics there. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, he was arrested and convicted of spying for the Vatican. He spent five years in jail, and then another fifteen years doing hard labor in Siberia.

As you might imagine, Fr. Ciszek had to endure many sufferings both in the prison and the gulag. One of the worst of them was constant hunger. However, Fr. Ciszek and his fellow prisoners soon learned that hunger can sometimes lead one astray. He tells a story about how one day he and another prisoner each ate a whole bowl of egg soup, despite the fact that it looked and smelled suspicious. They regretted it — the soup had spoiled, and it soon made them very sick. As Fr. Ciszek says, “A man has to be careful what he eats, hunger or no.”

In the Gospel today, Jesus describes a meal that no doubt appeared unappetizing to the minds of his listeners. He says that his Flesh is true Food and his Blood is true Drink. We shouldn’t overly spiritualize his words – from the Greek words being used, it’s clear Jesus isn’t talking symbolically but rather about actual eating and drinking. Thus, the confusion from his listeners: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” And yet, as Jesus says, those who do not eat his Body and drink his Blood have no life within them.

Luca Giordano, The Communion of the Apostles (c. 1700)

As Catholics, we understand these words to be a clear reference to the Eucharist, the Living Bread because it is the Lord’s very Body and Blood made present at every Mass. Our passage through this world is often fraught with dangers and difficulties, and it is tempting at times to look for sustenance among the things of this life – pleasure, power, prestige, and possessions. But those things aren’t truly life-giving. As Fr. Ciszek learned about spoiled soup, our hunger can sometimes lead us astray. The things of this world – which at times can seem so tempting to feed upon – will lead only to sickness and, ultimately, spiritual death.

That’s why Jesus desires to feed us with himself – to give us spiritual sustenance for this life that can also lead us to eternal life. Just as God sustained the Israelites in the desert with manna, so too the Lord sustains us in our sojourn through this life with the Eucharist. Not only does he nourish us, but he strengthens us for the trials of our journey. The Eucharist is our participation in the Cross of Christ; as St. Paul says to the Corinthians: “as often as you eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, you proclaim the Lord’s Death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). The Eucharist helps us not to fall into the tempting traps of this world, but to place our hope in the Lord’s Death and Resurrection, enduring whatever trials of the present moment that we face.

Fr. Walter Ciszek, at the time he was sent to a Siberian gulag

Fr. Walter Ciszek learned that lesson too. During much of his imprisonment, he had no ability to celebrate the Mass, since bread and wine were unavailable to him. Instead, he prayed the prayers of the Mass by memory, and offered the Holy Rosary three times a day. When he was sent to the gulag, he was able to minister to the sick and the dying, hearing their confessions and speaking to them words of comfort. Although he could not offer the Mass, he remained united to it, finding strength in the Lord to endure his trials and sufferings. Finally, after many years, he met another priest among a group of Catholic prisoners who invited him to join them for Mass. He says, “They made the Mass wine out of raisins they had stolen on the docks, the altar breads from flour ‘appropriated’ in the kitchen. My chalice that morning was a whiskey glass, the paten to hold the host was a gold disc from a pocket watch. But my joy at being able to celebrate Mass again cannot be described.” Many years later, after he had been released and returned to the United States, Fr. Ciszek said, “Sometimes I think that those who have never been deprived of the opportunity to hear or say Mass do not really appreciate what a treasure the Mass is.”

Friends, may that never be said of us! Our experience of the last few months has hopefully taught all of us how much we should value the Mass and depend upon the Eucharist offered here. Because we know this gift can be taken away, we must be aware of our hunger and be careful of what we eat – not just physically, but spiritually. Let’s make sure we prefer to be sustained by the Lord’s Living Bread and not by the false attractions of this life. Whatever struggles or trials we face, the Eucharist strengthens us to endure them with faith and hope. May we always be worthy to participate in this Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and ever find there a preview of the joys of the life to come.