Time Speeds And Stretches

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven," Jesus said. "The bread that I give you is myself, and if you eat it, you'll live forever." The people got angry. "How can He give us Himself to eat?" they asked. Jesus answered: "If you don't eat my body and drink my blood, you will have no life in you."

How did the summer pass so quickly? It seems like school just let out, but every store has been full of back-to-school stuff for weeks! 

Some things are just mysteries - and one good example is the way time seems to change. Summer speeds by, but a day doing something boring feels like it drags on forever. 

In this week's Gospel (John 6:51-58), Jesus talks about another example, a mystery as confusing as time: the fact that, at communion, people eat and drink His body and blood.

Just like it's hard to understand why fun time passes quickly while boring time seems to stretch, it was hard for people to understand what Jesus taught about the Eucharist. To Jesus' listeners, it sounded like He wanted them to really eat a human being!

Time doesn't really change; just the way you think about it changes. When you're bored, you pay more attention to every passing minute. When you're playing, you hardly look at the clock.

Jesus wanted people to change, too - to bring God into their hearts, to make God a part of every day. To remind people, Jesus started the sacrament of the Eucharist: bread and wine becoming His body and blood to eat (though they still taste like food).

Jesus also promised that, by believing in Him and taking communion, people would experience time in a different way: They'd live in heaven with God someday. Time on earth only seems to stretch, but with Jesus, it really can!

(08/13/09)