The Fountain Of Truth
20th Sunday In Ordinary Time, B
2009-08-16
John 6:51-58In the early 16th Century, Spanish explorer and conqueror Ponce de Leon looked out upon his expansive wealth and felt NOT satisfaction, but emptiness. He wanted more.
It wasn’t enough that he had plundered so many nations, gathered so many treasures, taken so many slaves, and even built the glorious city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a place in which any man would be happy to retire.
No, he was restless. Ponce de Leon was nearing fifty years old and he felt that there was still so much to do, so much to see and so much to conquer in the name of His Majesty King Ferdinand of Spain.
Popular legend tells us that one day in his palace at San Juan, Ponce de Leon overheard one of his Indian slaves say, “If one drinks the water at Bimini, he will not die.”
“Bimini,” he asked, “Where is this Bimini?”
The Indian only shrugged and pointed north. Ponce de Leon scurried about the palace asking every Indian he encountered for the location of this Bimini with its miraculous water. Each of them in turn, pointed north.
Ponce de Leon again felt the fire of purpose and meaning. He again felt that passion that had driven him to seek, find and take all the treasures he had amassed thus far. If only he could find Bimini and drink of that water, he would find his lost youth: he would live forever.
With the King’s permission, legend tells us, Ponce de Leon mounted a great expedition in search of Bimini and the Fountain of Youth.
Now, this quest for eternal youth is not isolated to a few old stories from the past like that of Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth. It’s a theme that has been with mankind for a very, very long time, and is alive and well even today.
No one wants to grow old. Just watch television a few minutes or flip through any magazine and you’ll see ad after ad guaranteeing no more wrinkles, the elimination of crow’s feet, younger-feeling skin with a healthier glow.
The average bathroom or vanity table is now filled with an abundance of potions, salves, ointments, lotions, creams, pills, pastes and unctions, all designed to bring back our younger days, and allow us recapture that which time has eroded away.
People are using plastic surgery in record numbers trying to eliminate what gravity has dragged down.
Dental “whitening” systems are flying off the shelves, and hair-loss treatment is now a billion-dollar business.
Oh, to be young again!
But, does any of this stuff actually work? Can we cheat death? Is there anyone alive on earth today that will live in the prime of his or her youth…forever?
Deep down, we all know that answer. We may not want to admit it, but we are ALL growing old, and with age, comes the eventuality of death.
But, there is hope. We CAN live forever. We just have to look in the right place.
It’s funny, isn’t it? We can spend so much time seeking, searching, and pursuing something, when the answer is staring us right in the face. The key to eternal life, the REAL Fountain of Youth, was offered to us some 2000 years ago.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
God DOES promise us eternal life, but not through any ointment or cream, salve or potion, paste or pill. No, God offers us this gift of life through the simple gesture of extending our hands, or our tongue, at the end of the Communion line. When we receive the Eucharist, we are receiving JESUS – Body Blood, Soul and Divinity – and we are sharing in His Divine Nature.
We share in God’s love, we share in God’s mercy and we share in God’s promise of Eternal Salvation. That’s right, we’ll live FOREVER!
It’s that simple. Jesus said He would remain with us until the end of time, and this is how He does it: through His Real Presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood, what the Catholic Church calls the Source and Summit of our Faith.
So, why is it that we’re still searching? Why is it that so many Catholics today don’t understand what the Eucharist is? Why have so many Tabernacles been moved out of the plain sight of worshippers? Why do so many Catholics ignore the 1-hour fast before reception of the Eucharist, or refuse to genuflect in adoration of the Real Presence as they pass before the Tabernacle? Why have so many lost that sense of awe…and the need for reverence when it comes to the Eucharist? Why are we still searching for the Truth, when God has so generously offered us the Truth here in this holy place?
You know, even Ponce de Leon should have known better. He was a Catholic. He took Catholic priests with him on his expeditions to evangelize the various peoples and cultures he encountered. Yet, even HE was not satisfied with the Eternal Promise of the Eucharist. He still felt something was missing, because he must not have understood what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Or else, he wouldn’t have wasted so much time searching for a Fountain of Youth.
And, by the way, we know he never found it…because he’d still be with us today. In actuality, he was struck in the shoulder by a poisoned arrow flung from the bow of an Indian in Florida. He died on his ship as he returned home to San Juan, still restless, still plagued with the feeling of emptiness.
Let us not be like Ponce de Leon, or anyone else who puts their faith in magical potions and fountains of youth.
Instead, let us put our faith in the “Fountain of Truth.”
Let us put our faith in Christ Jesus, in His Holy Catholic Church and most especially in His Eucharist.
“For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
Only in Jesus can we truly live forever.