In the Breaking of the Bread

I like to watch Animal’s Planet and Food Network, especially the Iron Chef. That’s because I like animals and I like to cook. There’s an interesting thing that I see in both channels, that is, the reality of eating. When we see animal’s planet, we’ll see that the animals are quarrelling for food. They eat their food raw, bloody food. They don’t want to be disturbed when they are eating. Sometimes they don’t want to share the food. They even could kill each other if the food that they are eating is trying to be stolen by the other.

But the thing is different when we see Food Network. There we’ll see that raw food should be cooked, or even if you serve it raw, you should add some spices and decorate it. And the way human beings eating their food are totally different with those of animal’s. Human beings share the food, they’re talking around the table, they comments on the food, their appetite, their life.

Eating for human beings and for animal is totally different!

John’s gospel today is on eating (John 6:25-59), eating the bread of life, that is, Christ’s body. This is interesting. People easily connect this gospel with Eucharist. It can be connected, but not just with the devotional aspect of the Eucharist. Why?

If we read the gospel carefully, this Fourth Gospel doesn’t put the discourse on Eucharist in the context of the passion and death of Jesus. It’s different with the synoptic gospels that place the Eucharist in the context of Jesus’ death. This gospel put the Eucharist in the Jesus’ life, in the middle of his life and ministry.

The other thing that we can recognize from this gospel is that this gospel talks that Eucharist is not just for the elite group of the twelve. On the contrary, this gospel is talking about Eucharist as Jesus’ direct gift to the ones who BELIEVE. And this gospel is not talking whether Jesus institutionalized the Eucharist or not.

These two things are really interesting!

This gospel wants to say to us that Eucharist is not merely a devotional act that can be a place of escape for the people who don’t want to deal with the world or who are afraid to deal with the world. Eucharist is not the place for escape. The Eucharist is the celebration of the life itself, a celebration of the life with all its nuances. Eucharist is a supper, that’s why we say, “Happy are those who are called to His supper.” In the Eucharist we share our life as the Savior shared his life. So, the logic is this: if our life is messed up, our celebration of life is also messed up. Eucharist is not a place for pretending to be holy with superficial appearances. Eucharist is an authentic sharing of the life. So it’s funny if we say, “Man, the mass was incredible, I’m really satisfied.” But after that we slap our brother’s face with our hands or our words. If the Eucharist is like that, then what’s the difference between Eucharist and a drama or theater?

The other aspect of Eucharist is that it is not a matter of whether you do something precise enough according to the rubric or not. Eucharist is not a set of rules that forbids or obligates people to do something. Eucharist is not a matter that you are allowed or not to go down from the sanctuary to give sign of peace to the people. Eucharist is a life; Eucharist is for the believer, and it is not restricted to certain qualified people. Eucharist is a share of Christ’s life. In the gospel Jesus does not differ the act of eating and the act of believe. So Eucharist is so rich that can touch every field and part of our life. Eucharist is the celebration of life itself in Jesus Christ. No wonder if Mother Teresa of Calcutta really strict in emphasizing the importance of the Eucharist before starting the ministry to the poorest of the poor.

So how should the Eucharist become a center of our life? I only see it in the Emmaus experience, it is simple yet profound. There, in the Emmaus experience we see that:

First, we are burned and moved by the power of the Word of God.

Second, burned by the power of the Word, we come to the deep worship, and when the bread is broken WE SEE THE LORD.

Third, in the communion we become one with the Lord whom WE HAVE SEEN.

At last, we can’t help running to the world and proclaiming with all the aspects of our life that:

JESUS IS ALIVE!

Kebangkitan Yesus Kristus

Makam kosong
- A sign but not a proof
- Not a proof: krn bisa saja sebagai akibat dicurinya jenazah oleh para murid.
- A sign: krn makam kosong bisa berarti bahwa Yesus bangkit dan meninggalkan makam dalam keadaan kosong. Kita lebih baik menerima hal ini karena siapa dapat membuktikan peristiwa kebangkitan itu sendiri?

Penolakan tentang kebangkitan dalam konteks “historis”
- Bultman: Pada dasarnya Yesus tidak bangkit in se, tapi iman yang hidup dari para murid dan exist dalam kerygma Paskah: “Tuhan telah bangkit!” (faith vs. historical proof?)
- Teori tentang dicurinya jenazah Yesus oleh para murid yang sungguh-sungguh mengharapkan kebangkitan Yesus, dan kemudian mereka mengaku bahwa Yesus telah bangkit.
- Kesadaran yang sangat kuat dari para murid akan ajaran Yesus akan kebangkitan sehingga awareness ini menular kepada orang lain (chain reaction) karena kerygma mereka.

Untuk mengerti agungnya kebangkitan Kristus kita perlu melihat iman para murid dalam konteks Yahudi pada waktu itu.
- Para murid seperti layaknya orang Yahudi, berdasarkan Kitab Makabe, percaya akan kebangkitan badan dan jiwa (cf. Pandangan holistik orang Yahudi >< dualistik Yunani), akan tetapi pengertiannya adalah kebangkitan kolektif pada akhir zaman untuk masuk dalam kehiudpan yang penuh dan definitif.
- Dalam konteks ini mereka berkali-kali tidak mengerti akan sabda Yesus bahwa: “Anak manusia harus menderita sengsara, disalibkan, wafat dan bangkit pada hari ke tiga.”
- Peristiwa Salib menggoncangkan iman dan harapan mereka sehingga yang terjadi adalah mereka: melarikan diri, terpencar-pencar, sembunyi dari orang Yahudi, mereka sedih dan terpukul berat, berkumpul secara rahasia dan takut-takut dalam ruangan-ruangan tertutup. Harapan mereka akan Mesianis politik telah hancur dan mereka akan dan sudah kembali ke profesi masing-masing sebelum dipanggil oleh Yesus.
- Kesimpulan: para murid tidak “ngeh” dengan ajaran kebangkitan Yesus dan dengan demikian tidak mengharapkan kebangkitan Yesus.

“Bukti” kebangkitan
- Satu-satunya hal yang bisa menjadi “bukti” kebangkitan adalah penampakan.
- Penampakan harus dimengerti dengan baik. Ini bukan mimpi, day dream, atau halusinasi (vision), tapi lebih merupakan suatu RE-VELATIO (tindakan Allah untuk membuat diriNya visible).
- Apa bedanya penampakan yang sejati (appearance) dengan penampakan palsu? Penampakan palsu bisa merupakan suatu halusinasi (bukan melulu karena tidak sadar), dalam hal ini orang sungguh-sungguh “melihat” sesuatu. Tapi asal dari sesuatu ini adalah dari kreasi pribadinya sendiri. Misalnya: orang penakut dengan jailangkung, lalu malam2 jalan di kuburan, kemudian melihat boneka bayi di sana. Orang itu langsung lari terbirit-birit karena baginya boneka itu hidup. Dalam kasus penampakan palsu religius keadaannya jauh lebih halus meskipun palsu. Seorang suster mengaku mendapat penampakan Bunda Maria karena dia benar-benar rindu ditampaki Maria dan ingin menjadi orang terkenal seperti Bernadette. Ini appearance/vision palsu.
- Apa yang terjadi dalam peristiwa kebangkitan adalah bahwa Allah sungguh-sungguh menguak misteri kemuliaanNya sehingga membuat diri PutraNya yang sudah mulia NAMPAK dan NYATA. Kebangkitan Yesus adalah kebangkitan yang menyeluruh (badan-jiwa) dan seluruhnya sama sekali baru dan mulia, maka perlu inisiatif Allah untuk membuat apa yang mulia ini dapat dicerna oleh indera manusia (para murid). Ini PRA-KARSA Allah, bukan kerinduan para murid. Buktinya apa? Buktinya bahwa ketika para murid melihat Yesus yang muncul tiba-tiba di depan mereka, mereka: takut, sangat terkejut, tidak percaya, ragu-ragu, dan mengira Yesus hantu. Jadi penampkan Yesus bukan kerinduan para murid, tapi inisiatif Allah sendiri yang telah bangkit dari maut, masuk dalam kemuliaan kehidupan.
- Kebangkitan hendaknya dimengerti sebagai historis dalam konsteks ini.

Karakteristik tubuh kebangkitan
Yesus yang bangkit adalah Yesus yang sama dengan Yesus yang di salib dan seklaigus berbeda dengan Yesus yang di salib. Dia sama karena dalam tubuhNya setelah kebangkitan terdapat luka-luka salib, tapi tubuh yang mulia ini tidak dapat dihalangi oleh apa-apa lagi. Dia dapat appear and disappear. Jadi Yesus bukan zombie atau mayat hidup. Dia bangkit dengan mulia dengan tubuh kebangkitan yang baru. Tidak ada persamaan yang bisa diambil dari manusia lain, karena Yesus adalah Putra Sulung Kebangkitan, belum ada manusia yang wafat dan bangkit dengan tubuh mulia seperti Kristus. Kelak sebagai hasil kebangkitan Kristus manusia akan mengalami hal yang serupa, maka dari itu Gereja tetap dengan setia mengakui bahwa aku percaya akan “kebangkitan badan, kehidupan kekal.” Amin.

Lao Tzu & The Holy Week

When Lao Tzu is asked which one is the stronger: the hard or the soft things, he gives these examples: "Consider the strong big tree and the soft grass, it seems that the grass is weaker than the strong big tree, but when the hurricane comes, the strong big tree will be uprooted and fall down, while the grass is still there. Consider teeth and tongue. It seems that teeth are stronger since it is much harder than tongue and it can crush tough meat. But when the man is growing older, his teeth will fall apart and he could become toothless, but his tongue will still be there and strong." This wisdom is a great one, a gate to understand better the mystery of the Cross, the central point of the Holy Week.

The Holy Week is coming, and we are anticipating it. In this week we will learn from the passion of Jesus that when he surrenders his power as the Son of God, the powers of the world build up and show their arrogance as the stronger ones. On one hand, we can learn from the passion of Christ that when he surrenders and rejects power, he experiences betrayal from his close friend, hatred and false accusation from the Jew authority, insult from the ungraceful people, rejection by his own people, extremely painful torture and even death. On the other hand, we can see that the powers of the world prove themselves as the ones who are taking control of everything. That is why Caiaphas, the high priest says, “It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” He wants to prove to the people that he has power over Jesus. We also see from Pilate, that to safe his position and power sacrificing the innocent one is much better than to maintain justice for him.

It is easy to preach on this struggle against worldly powers. It is nice to talk about it. However, when we are actually in the middle of the struggle between self surrender to God’s plan, and the building up of the arrogant powers of the world, then, and only then, we will know how hard it is. Perhaps then we will know that to pray “Thy will be done” needs tears and even shedding of blood. And only then we will also know the dark night of the Gethsemane of our life.

This is the way of the cross. It is a painful one, but we need to know that this is the greatest secret of the Gospel: the weak becomes the strong and the strong becomes the weak. The way of the cross is a weak way, but this mysterium crucis (the mystery of corss) is the only strongest power to defeat the mysterium iniquitatis (the mystery of evil). Since the way of the cross does not lead us to the eternal destruction, but to the resurrection, the eternal victory of love, joy and life. The dark night is the blessed night, since only through the dark night we are genuinely united with God.

Let us prepare ourselves to enter the Holy Week liturgically, but also let us prepare ourselves to enter the passion of our life, whenever the Lord will it for us. Remember his word: “If you want to follow Me, take up your cross and follow Me everyday.”

On Fasting

Fasting is the champion of every virtue,
the beginning of the struggle,
the crown of the abstinent,
the beauty of virginity and sanctity,
the resplendence of chastity,
the commencement of the path of Christianity,
the mother of prayer,
the wellspring of sobriety and prudence,
the teacher of stillness,
and the precursor of good works.
Just as the enjoyment of light
is couples with healthy eyes,
so desire of prayer accompanies fasting
that is practiced with discernment.

St. Isaac the Syrian