Greetings to you on this Thursday of the Third Week of Easter! How are you doing today? I hope that you are well as a bell. If you’ve had a chance to follow the Readings for Mass over the last week you might have noticed that we’ve heard a lot from the Sixth Chapter of St. John’s Gospel. (That’s a very astute observation! Kudos to you, my Friend! :) ) In fact, we began hearing from this important chapter from the Fourth Gospel on Friday April 24th and we will continue to do so until this Saturday, May 2nd. If you’ve been reading each day or not all you might justifiably raise the question: Why are we focusing so much on one chapter of the Bible? That’s a terrific question and I will use the rest of this eNewsletter article to offer an explanation.
Within the Gospel for today we hear Jesus tell the crowds and his disciples that, “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” (John 6:51). Some of you participated in last year’s Eucharistic Study in June with reflections drawn from the video series of Presence (which can be found on FORMED.org). Within that study we learned that the words which Jesus spoke about being “The Living Bread” had incredible ramifications.
He was not merely speaking symbolically as he did at other moments in calling himself “The Light of the World” (John 8:12) or “The Good Shepherd” (John 10:11) or even “The Gate” (John 10:8). To be sure there are aspects of Jesus that exude the Light of Grace. And he does really care for us as a Good Shepherd cares for the sheep of his flock. And indeed Jesus is “The Gate” by which we enter into the realm of heavenly life. However, for him to describe himself as “The Bread of Life” is more than merely symbolic talk. He absolutely nourishes our hearts and souls with his Truth. Saint Peter recognized this as others walked away from Jesus in declaring, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
However, that declaration was also an affirmation of Peter’s faith in Jesus as “The Living” Bread whose very flesh and blood are true nourishment for the body and soul of believers. As Catholic Christians this is perhaps most poignant or significant in our belief in transubstantiation, or the complete transformation of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in the Eucharist. May Jesus the true bread come down from Heaven nourish us, strengthen us, and lead us into deeper communion with Him and one another.
