A popular story is that Juan Ponce de Leon (?-1521) was searching for Bimini and a legendary fountain of youth, a spring that gave people eternal life and health, when he bumped into Florida in 1513. Although this is a good story, it probably isn’t true. The fountain of youth is not associated with Ponce de Leon until forty years after his death. In all likelihood, Ponce de Leon was looking for Bimini and searching for gold and land to enrich himself and Spain. He died one of the wealthiest people in the New World.
The notion of a fountain of youth did not originate with Ponce de Leon’s quest. People have been seeking an antidote for aging and death since ancient times. In Western Civilization the legend goes back to the ancient Greeks. In China a similar story goes back to about 220 BC. Even today people are searching for some sort of magical remedy for old age and death. Some people have their bodies cryonically frozen hoping to reverse their death in the future. Some view genetic engineering as a means to eliminate “undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as disease and aging.”
In today’s Gospel, John 6:51-58, Jesus gives us a totally different perspective on eternal life, an eternal life that is attainable to each of us through the mystery of the Eucharist. Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Ecclesia De Eucharistia, “Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the Eucharist we also receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of the world: ‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day’” (John 6:54). Saint Ignatius of Antioch defined the Eucharist as “a medicine of immortality, an antidote to death.” We do not have to go on a quest to find the secret of eternal life. It is right here at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City Georgia.
Our living God,
you let us taste and see how good you are
by giving us your Son Jesus Christ
as the bread and drink of life.
Give him to us today as our daily bread,
that with him we may pass from death to life.
Let his life flow in us and overflow
on our brothers and sisters,
that we may become his body to the world.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
