"I am the bread of life"
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John 6: 24 - 35
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080121.cfm
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Draw near to your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that for those who glory in you
as their Creator and guide,
you may restore what you have created
and keep safe what you have restored.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
(Collect of Mass)
Work, love, and food. Those three words pretty much cover the human experience. The word love could easily be expanded to include our faith life since our faith should color and form how we love one another in many human expressions from common curtesy and respect for others to the intimacy found in marriage.
But looking at these three basic expressions
of human existence, it’s surprising to consider how much of our lives revolve
around food. Consider how at every gathering
of friends and family you have food. Everything from a few snacks to an entire
buffet are commonly available. We have
our noted potluck dinners which always have left overs, our summer time barbeques
and more formal settings. Although we’ve come through a very challenging year
in regards to coming together, we well food and friends are in inseparable
combination.
There is no doubt, however, that the
distribution of food in the world is uneven and deeply unjust in many cases.
While many consider overeating a problem many others just barely get by. Much
of Jesus’ ministry centered on a meal, feeding hungry crowds as we heard last
Sunday, Jesus dining in homes of Pharisees, requesting to share a meal with Zacchaeus
the tax collector, and ultimately how we remember Jesus best is through a
sacred meal where he himself becomes food for us.
This Sunday is the second Gospel in a series
from the Gospel according to John. It
offers a deeper understanding from Jesus, treasured by the earliest of
Christians, on the significance of the Holy Eucharist that “bread from heaven”
and “bread of life” that he so beautifully speaks of today. Perhaps the most
crucial line in the Gospel, however, comes from those who followed Jesus to the
other side of the lake: “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Although our Gospel may not refer to the Eucharist
specifically as such, John leads us to tune our hearing to the implication
Jesus now makes to his real presence in the Eucharist. The crowd still hungers for more than they
realize – feed us always with this bread – and Jesus invites them to embrace
him as the source of this forever food. That longing is satisfied in what Jesus
can only give. Not the bread multiplied
again, or the manna appearing in the desert we hear of in our first reading but
a greater food that will always satisfy more than our physical desire. For we are not just animals who eat, we have
a deep spiritual appetite that is satisfied only by God’s food.
Like the woman at the well who engaged in
conversation with Jesus who pomised a water that will always quench, the crowd
now hears the same from him. A greater
good in the bread Jesus will provide to eternal life. If there is no faith in
who Jesus is, there would be no faith in the Eucharist.
In the celebration of the Mass so common to
those who regularly attend we find this bread Jesus promised to give. In the readings we hear his word and as
common bread and wine are brought forward, the people’s gift, the Spirit
transforms them to be Christ present who then feeds us as Holy Communion is
distributed. Our Catholic Mass is a
memorial of how far Christ’s love has gone to save us and to feed us along this
journey we call life.
How do we see this as gift in our liturgy?
Note, that the congregation doesn’t just all come to the altar and grab what’s
on it. Like going to a buffet where
people try to wiggle around each other, reaching over arms and backs looking
for the next salad or cut of beef.
This food is gift that is given. So we come to receive from the one who offers
it to us. Eucharistic ministers, for
example, gather around to receive from the priest. They don’t just grab the hosts or chalices on
the altar, they wait to receive them then with the priests and deacon if there
is one, they go down to the general people to give this bread of life.
We extend our hands or open our mouth to
receive. We don’t grab it from the
priest or minister, we receive it after a reverent bow to the presence of
Christ – his body and blood which is our food for the journey.
So, the key is how we receive that gift which
is not a “thing” but a person – the risen Lord of our life. What are we thinking as we come forward to
receive? What do we say and what do we
mean when we proclaim “Amen?” When we
return to the pew, not out to our car, do we give thanks for this mysterious
and life giving presence? How grateful
are we for the food, the person we receive?
Is it for us just routine or a living encounter with Christ Jesus?
Like all the sacraments, this is not
magic. The difference it makes in our
life will depend on how disposed we are and how much faith we muster.
As we journey through this life let us do
more “thank you” than grumbling. For the God who came to save us has offered us
not only an example but the gift of his mercy.
WE are not alone for he is with us here and always.
Bread of life; Food for the journey is Christ
himself.
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