In the July 16 issue we focused on how the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd, thus they follow him. Here we continue the thread of the Good Shepherd, turning now to the most basic need of life … food. Food for the body; food for the soul; food for eternal life. God provides. Abundantly. The Gospel readings of the 18th and 19th Sundays in Ordinary Time are taken from the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 6, the Bread of Life Discourse.
Lord, we are hungry (Ex 16: 2-4, 12-15)
Old Testament grumbling. The Israelites are grumbling. They are hungry, facing famine after two months of release from captivity in slavery in Egypt and being led by Moses, an exile himself from the palace of Egypt, turned shepherd. The Lord hears their cry, “we are hungry.” He abundantly “rains down” bread from heaven … manna in the morning and quail in the evening. Food is provided 24/7 to satisfy hunger and sustain life. Food for the body. The power of God is glorious. His deeds are merciful, wonderous. The Israelites ate the manna and were “filled with abundance.” When I am hungry, how does God “feed me?”
The Good Shepherd feeds (Jn 6: 24-51)
New Testament murmuring. The Jews are murmuring. Jesus and his apostles are in Capernaum. After the miracle of the loaves and the fish, the crowds are looking for Jesus, not because of the “signs” (the deeper significance of the miracle), but the fact they had eaten “the loaves and were filled.” Jesus teaches them to look for food that will not perish; food that endures for eternal life given by the son of man. They ask, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” And Jesus responds, “Believe in the one he sent.” Then they ask for a sign, something they can physically see as proof that Jesus is the one sent by God. But has not God already allowed this? Did they not just witness the miracles?
This is significant. Stop for a minute to reflect on the question of belief in the one sent by God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches “for a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the one he sent, his ‘beloved son,’ in whom the father is ‘well pleased.’ God tells us to listen to him” (CCC 151). Our belief is united with listening to Jesus, the one who is sent by God. Not only do we hear the voice of our shepherd as he feeds us, we also are called to listen, to act, to respond in faith.
Living bread (Jn 6:31-41)
The crowd continues to press Jesus, comparing his actions to Moses’ actions in the desert, as previously referred. Jesus reminds them it was not Moses who gave the Israelites bread but God who “gives true bread from heaven, that gives life to the world.” Of course, the crowd wants this bread. We do too.
Jesus takes them into the intimate space of his mission. He says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The Jews murmured to one another, recalling his lineage and how it does not align with their expectations. How can he say this about himself? Yet, Jesus continues, stating the relationship between he and the father (God). The father draws them to Jesus. To learn of the father they need only listen to Jesus. When one believes, one will have eternal life. Belief with ACTION. Belief in the one who is sent is lived out by doing what Jesus asks: “Eat this bread.” Unlike the Israelites who ate the manna and died, 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.”
Body of Christ
And what is the flesh for the life of the world? The Catechism teaches, “The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (Catechism 1384).
Holy Communion
“What material food produces in our bodily life, holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh ‘given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,’ preserves, increases and renews the life of grace received at baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum” (CCC 1392).
During a homily on the solemnity of Corpus Christi, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (May 26, 2005) said, “On the night of the Last Supper (Holy Thursday), Jesus goes out and hands himself over to the betrayer, overcomes the night, overcomes the darkness of evil. Only in this way is the gift of the Eucharist, instituted in the Upper Room, fulfilled: Jesus truly gives his body and his blood. Crossing over the threshold of death, he becomes living bread, true manna, endless nourishment for eternity. The flesh becomes the bread of life.”
The sacrifice of the Mass
From the beginning, Eucharist has been celebrated as Jesus commanded to “Do this in memory of me.” During Mass we offer the fruits of the earth (bread and wine). By the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ words, these gifts become the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he is truly and substantially present; the miracle that takes place in every Mass. Mass is where we eat the flesh of Jesus Christ, the bread of life.
We arise each day filled with hope in Jesus Christ; hope anchored by faith; belief that he is truly the one sent by God to lead us home to eternal life. This is our anchor filled with joy and anticipation of life eternal. God rains down bread from heaven to feed his sheep.
Year of St. Joseph
Gracious St. Joseph, we ask your intercession as we share in the source and summit of our faith, the Eucharist, the precious body and blood of Christ. Guide us in our belief in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Dow is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.