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Connections&
August 20, 2000
20th Sunday of the Year
"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."
John 6:51:58
Blood lines
During World War II, the Red Cross made blood available to all who needed it -- ally or enemy. The Red Cross would also provide the soldier with the name of the donor so that, if he wanted, he could write a letter or note of thanks.
A custom developed among medics in the European theater that if a Nazi officer needed blood, they would find a Jewish donor. The medic would then tell the officer, "The bad news is: If left to your own strength and resources, you will die. The good news is: We have blood that will save your life--from a Jewish donor. All you have to do is accept it."
A few refused the blood, saying they would rather die than accept the blood of a hated Jew. But most wanted to live and gladly accepted the blood from a fellow human being--who happened to be a Jew. To accept life demanded, on their part, a new view of and attitude toward this group of fellow human beings.
{John Ortberg, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Illinois.]
CONNECTION: In inviting us to feed on his "flesh" and drink of his "blood," Jesus invites us to embrace the life of his Father: the life that finds joy in humble servanthood to others, the life that is centered in unconditional, total, sacrificial love; the life that seeks fulfillment not in the conventional wisdom of this world but in the holiness of the next. In the "bread" he gives us to eat, we become the body of Christ with and for one another; in his "blood" of the new covenant, his life of compassion, justice and selflessness flows within us, and we become what we have received: the sacrament of unite, peace and reconciliation. <
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