“Yet it seems that it is much easier for God to convince bread of what it really is than for God to convince us. We alone balk, rebel, and analyze. Let’s be honest and admit that “eat my body and drink my blood” is scandalous talk (John 6:64-66) that has stopped scandalizing us! And so we miss the point. Eucharist is intentionally shocking. It is cannibalistic, intimate, invasive, and sexual! Jesus did not say, “Think about this,” “Fight about this,” “Stare at this.” He just said “Eat this” and “Do this.” Eucharist is a dynamic, interactive event that makes one out of two, just as sexual union does when two lovers want to be inside each other.”
-Richard Rohr, Eucharist as Touchstone
The only real and receptively open response to this “Scandalous Talk” would be one with and the same as that of the Holy Virgin when the Angel Gabriel, a messenger of God, brought her the incredible news of God’s Intimate Invasion into humanity…a shocking, dynamic Passionate Love, where the truly humble and receptive Soul can say: “How can this be…”. Mary did not doubt or question, but simply desired to please God in all ways, to Know HIM and be Receptive to HIS Will Alone…her response was a perfect Interactive Response of Love: “Be it done unto me according to THY Word”.
I can’t help but think that Heaven would have opened if many of the Disciples, rather than mumble amongst themselves, walking away saying “who can accept such a hard saying”, would have instead responded with the same Interactive Love…instead to respond like Mary: “How can this be…”. Then, I like to believe that the Holy Spirit too would come upon them in Loving Intimacy, revealing to them HIS incomprehensible Divine Heart and opening up their minds to this Greatest of Mysteries…man consuming God, so that man may be ‘consumed by God”.
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