Flesh Amp; Blood Movie

[Armonia Bunda]

Surprisinglyenough, it was in the process of staying faithful to my spiritual journey that I first began to face my profound ambivalence about life in a body. At the ripe old age of thirty, I could no longer ignore the fact that I was tired, lethargic and somewhat depressed. Thinking that my lethargy and lack of enthusiasm for life were psychological or spiritual in nature, I went to a psychologist who was also a spiritual director. To my surprise, some of our initial conversations had to do with my physical condition: eating patterns, water intake, how much sleep I was getting, whether I was getting any exercise, and general attention to health issues. Even though I had been paying attention to the condition of my spiritual life for years, no one had ever called any serious attention to the connection between my physical well-being and my life in Christ. This was something of a revelation!

My early lessons in flesh and blood spirituality began with growing in my understanding that the physical and the spiritual were not as opposed to each other as I had thought. I am not merely a soul and spirit; I am an embodied human being, and my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In some unexplainable way God inhabits our bodies, making them a place where we can meet and know him. The Scriptures also seemed to indicate that it is possible to glorify God in our bodies rather than merely glorifying the body (the focus of the surrounding culture) or ignoring the body (the focus of the religious subculture). As I grew more and more curious about what it might look like to glorify God in my body, I was pretty sure that walking around tired, overweight and stimulated by sugar and caffeine was not it!

Paying attention to your breathing is one of the simplest ways of getting in touch with your existence as a body. Settle into a comfortable position, either in a chair or on the floor, and pay attention to your breathing. Notice if your breathing is shallow, and take time to breathe deeply. Allow your breathing to release any tension you are holding in your back, your shoulders, your arms. Adjust your body for greater comfort, and allow yourself to relax into your chair or cushion as a physical expression of your trust in God.

Gently turn your attention to your body and invite God to speak to you through your body. First of all, just notice how you feel about life in your body. Are you embarrassed about it? Do you enjoy it? What happens inside you when you consider the idea of honoring your body or meeting God in your body?

Tomorrow marks the thirty-third anniversary of my first Holy Communion, a day that I remember vividly and with great fondness. My firstborn son, Joshua, is preparing for his first Communion, and over the last few months we have been engaged in some wonderful conversations as he explores the mystery of the Eucharist.

For years now, our family bedtime ritual has included time for Scripture reading, followed by some basic theological reflection and prayer. I have always marveled at how engaged my children are during our bedtime faith sharing. Their many questions, although simple, have been among the most profound ever posed to me.

Although Scripture does not state that Jesus received his own body and blood at the Last Supper, we can nevertheless find plausible evidence in the synoptic Gospels that indicates he did. Let us consider the following examples:

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, takes up this question in his magnum opus, The Summa Theologica (ST Q. 81.1). It is a lengthy quote, but one that is well worth the read. In it he lays out three reasonable arguments against the idea of Jesus having received his own flesh and blood and refutes each of these objections with great clarity and theological depth.

Objection 2. Further, nothing can be within itself except perchance by reason of its parts, for instance. as one part is in another, as is stated in Phys. iv. But what is eaten and drunk is in the eater and drinker. Therefore, since the entire Christ is under each species of the sacrament, it seems impossible for Him to have received this sacrament.

Objection 3. Further, the receiving of this sacrament is twofold, namely, spiritual and sacramental. But the spiritual was unsuitable for Christ, as He derived no benefit from the sacrament. and in consequence so was the sacramental, since it is imperfect without the spiritual, as was observed above (Question 80, Article 1). Consequently, in no way did Christ partake of this sacrament.

Reply to Objection 2. As was said above (Question 76, Article 5), Christ as contained under this sacrament stands in relation to place, not according to His own dimensions, but according to the dimensions of the sacramental species; so that Christ is Himself in every place where those species are. And because the species were able to be both in the hands and the mouth of Christ, the entire Christ could be in both His hands and mouth. Now this could not come to pass were His relation to place to be according to His proper dimensions.

They say the best way to become comfortable in your own skin is to spend more time naked. So this is me making us all a little more naked and a little more beautiful. Admittedly this goal is a little lofty, but I am passionate about accustoming people to the idea that their bodies are not just points of sale, not just casings. Spirit gone, man is not garbage. We are not garbage. We are flesh and blood.

The workers of Fiat have returned to their jobs. Betrayal? Denial of revolutionary ideals? The workers of Fiat are men of flesh and blood. They resisted for a month. They knew how to fight and resist, not only for themselves, not only for the rest of the working masses of Turin, but for the entire Italian working class.

They resisted for a month. They were physically worn out because, for many weeks and months, their salaries were reduced and were no longer sufficient to sustain their families, and yet they resisted for a month. They were completely isolated from the nation, immersed in a general atmosphere of weariness, indifference, hostility, and yet they resisted for a month.

Especially we Communists, who live side by side with the workers, who know their needs, who have a realistic idea of the situation, should understand the reasons for this conclusion to the Turinese struggle.

Our revolutionary optimism has always been sustained by this crudely pessimistic vision of human reality, which must inexorably be taken into account. A year ago we already foresaw what the Italian situation would result in if the responsible leaders were to continue in their tactic of revolutionary squalls and opportunist practice. And we desperately fought to recall these responsible individuals to a more realistic, more practical vision, one more congruous and in accordance with the development of events.

Today we are paying for the ineptitude and the blindness of the others. Even today the Turinese proletariat must support the blows of the adversary, strengthened by the non-resistance of the others. There is no shame in the surrender of the workers of Fiat. That which had to happen implacably did happen. The Italian working class has been flattened beneath the steamroller of capitalist reaction. For how long? Nothing is lost if belief and consciousness remain intact, if bodies surrenders, but not souls.

The workers of Fiat fought for years strenuously, have bathed the streets in their blood, have suffered from hunger and cold. Thanks to their glorious past they remain in the vanguard of the Italian proletariat, they remain militants faithful and devoted to the revolution. They have done what is given men of flesh and blood to do. We should take off our hats before their humiliation, because even in this there is something grand that inspires the sincere and the honest.

Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them (Jn 6:53-56).

If Peter is right and Jesus indeed has the words of eternal life, then we need to be able to articulate what it means that we are supposed to feed on Jesus and why. When people are confused and even disgusted by the notion of eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ, what do we say in response?

They are absolutely necessary for survival. Food and drink are the essential means by which our cells are powered and our lives sustained. Also, eating and drinking are generally pleasurable and satisfying experiences because they arise from and fulfill bodily desires. As a result, they have become practices crucial to social connection.

The link between bodies, food, life, and intimacy is seen quite vividly in the relationship of a mother and her nursing baby. In the mother-child bond, we see the goodness and life-giving nature of bodies, as well as the fundamental connection between desire, nourishment, and communion.

We see it in the food Yahweh provided for Israel during their wilderness wanderings. Despite their rebellion, God sent manna, quail, and water from rocks, nourishing his people through food and drink even as he invited them to faithful fellowship with him.

This new Passover of the new covenant, which Jesus completes in his death and resurrection, initiates an intimate, bodily fellowship between God and humanity. And as we are drawn into communion with Christ through his body and blood, he will write the Law upon our hearts (Jer. 31:33).

We must remember that Jesus is the one in the Gospels who declares the bread and wine are his body and blood. And, in John 6, Jesus is the one who insists that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink.

Emily Hunter McGowin is a teacher and scholar of religious studies and a theologian in the Anglican tradition. She is also a priest and Canon Theologian in the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others.

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