20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B 2024

Over the past few weeks, the Church has presented us with passages from the 6th Chapter of John’s Gospel.  In these readings, Jesus boldly declares that He is the bread that has come down from Heaven and that whoever eats this bread will never die.  His listeners, however, struggle to understand what He means by claiming to be the bread of life.  This confusion reaches its peak in today’s Gospel when they ask, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

Rather than easing their doubts, Jesus intensifies His teaching.  He says even more explicitly that unless they eat His flesh and drink His blood, they will not have life within them.  A more literal translation is even stronger—Jesus is essentially saying, “Unless you gnaw on my flesh and drink my blood, you will have no life in you.”  Instead of softening His message, Jesus doubles down.

As Catholics, we believe that the Eucharist is truly and fully the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.  It may look and taste like ordinary bread and wine, but in reality, it is His very body and blood.  And how grateful we should be that our Lord instituted the Eucharist in this way!  After all, the Eucharist would be much harder to receive if it didn’t retain the appearance of bread and wine.  It is a mercy that we are able to receive the body and blood of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine.

Yet, throughout history, God has chosen at times to reveal the reality of the Eucharist in even more astonishing ways.  In certain Eucharistic miracles, not only has the substance changed, but the appearance as well.  These miracles, well-documented and scientifically studied, are God’s way of reinforcing the faith of those who struggle to believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  Today, I’d like to share a few of these miracles to strengthen our own faith.

In the 8th Century, in Lanciano, Italy, a priest who doubted the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist experienced an extraordinary event.  During Mass, as he finished saying the words of consecration, the bread and wine visibly transformed into real flesh and blood.  An investigation was conducted, and the miracle was declared authentic.  Astonishingly, the flesh and blood have been preserved to this day.  In 1971, a scientific study revealed that the flesh was cardiac tissue and the blood was fresh and without preservatives—despite being over 1,200 years old.

Another miracle occurred in Santarém, Portugal, in the 13th Century.  A desperate woman, seeking the help of a sorceress, was instructed to bring a consecrated host as payment.  After receiving the Eucharist at Mass, she removed the host from her mouth and wrapped it in her veil.  As she left the church, the host began to bleed.  Terrified, she placed the host in a trunk at home, only to see it emit a radiant light that night.  The next morning, she confessed to a priest, who retrieved the bloody host.  After an investigation, this miracle was also deemed credible, and the host is still on display today.

More recently, in 2008, a priest in Poland accidentally dropped a host during Communion.  The host was placed in water to dissolve, but after a week, it developed a red stain.  When examined, it appeared to be bleeding.  Further scientific analysis revealed that the host contained heart tissue, specifically from a person in distress and near death.

In Mexico, in 2006, during Mass, a religious sister noticed that a host she was handling began to emit a reddish substance.  A scientific investigation confirmed that this substance was blood, containing human hemoglobin and DNA.  Remarkably, the blood type was AB, the same as found in the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano and the Shroud of Turin.

I could continue with countless stories of Eucharistic miracles throughout the centuries.  These extraordinary events, where the Lord alters not only the substance but the appearance of the Eucharist, are powerful reminders of His real presence.  Yet, every time we attend Mass, we witness a miracle just as profound.  Each time the priest says, “This is my body… This is my blood,” the Body and Blood of Christ become present on the altar.

It takes faith to see what our senses cannot.  If our faith or fervor for this tremendous gift has waned and grown cold, let’s strive to renew our devotion and pray for an increase in faith.  Whether we believe or not, Christ is present in the Eucharist.  But we need faith to grasp the miracle at hand.  As the hymn beautifully expresses, “Faith will tell us Christ is present when our human senses fail.”  Jesus, I believe.  Help my unbelief.