1 Kg 19:4-8
Ep 4:30 – 5:2
Jn 6:41-51
We should never get used to the Holy Eucharist. Rather we should always be surprised that we are invited to partake of such a mystery.
Those who discuss with Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum have all sorts of questions. Jesus does not give them easy answers. On the contrary, he pushes them always further from what they can cope with. His answers provoke new questions. What is this bread which comes from heaven, which is given by God Himself, which is far superior to the manna of old, which is somehow inexplicably identical with Jesus Himself? What is this divine bread which nourishes divine life in those who believe in Jesus and eat of it? What is this bread which transforms those who consume it and makes them partakers of the divine life? What is this bread which God gives, and which gives God? What is this sacred Host which is God on our altar, God on our tongues, God in our souls?
Just as the Hebrew in the wilderness wondered at the manna and asked, ‘Man hu? What is this?’, we, too, wonder at the reality of the Holy Eucharist and our mind asks: “What is this bread of life?” Our heart answers by giving its faith to the word of Jesus and to the teaching of the Church. We must listen to this word and this teaching, meditate and pray on them, and put them into practice which is what we do when we attend Mass.
“I am the bread of life”. When we hear “I am”, we remember the burning bush, and Moses who took off his shoes and who received the revelation of the Name of God: “I am who I am”. “I am”: these words draw us to adoration and awe.
“I am the bread of life”. We are reminded, too, of the manna which God gave to the people in the wilderness as a food to be received day after day. “The bread of life”: these words invite us to give thanks to the Father who gives the Bread, and to Jesus who gives Himself up in sacrifice so as to become our bread. The life which this bread gives is new, strong, and everlasting. It is the promise of future resurrection and the guarantee of a longed-for fullness of life in the One who is the life, the One who simply and absolutely “is”, the One who says: “I am”.
“The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” For me, this is the key. This bread is Jesus giving Himself for us and for the world – giving Himself totally, giving his Flesh. In other words, this bread gives us His love. The totality of Jesus’ love is present in the Holy Eucharist: in the Mass, which is a celebration of love; in Holy Communion, which is an encounter of love; in the Tabernacle, which shelters the presence of the Beloved. The Eucharist is Jesus loving the world, loving the Church, and loving each and all of us this morning. It is all the love of the Passion and the Cross shared with as many as consent to believe, to hope and to love in return, and to convert, take their cross and follow Jesus to the Father.
Back to question-time.
How is it that what seems like bread really is the body, the soul and the divinity of Jesus Christ our Saviour? This is a great question for our limited minds.
How is it that we are so much loved? This is an even greater question, but our heart has the answer. It is to this love that we say, with all our heart, our ‘Amen’ to Jesus who loved us.
“The Bread of life. The Body of Christ”. – “Amen.”