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Breakfast with The Word Thursday Third Week of Easter.
John 6:44-51
In today’s gospel, Jesus now comes to the climax of his discourse. He discusses today the great mystery of the Eucharist. He refers to Himself as the bread that gives life.
In today’s discussion, Jesus elucidates further the real meaning of the multiplication of the loaves. He says to His hearers “I am the bread of Life”.
This has a very theological undertone. The use of the word “I am” means that He is referring to Himself as the food that gives life. Jesus gives us Himself as our food and drink that we may have eternal life.
The Gospel.
In the gospel, Jesus gradually invites His hearers to understand what He means by saying that He is the bread of life. First, He opens them up to the awareness of their needs. Then He presents Himself as the true bread of heaven that can satisfy their deepest hunger. Hence, anyone who eats this bread will not die but live. In this discussion, Jesus sees Himself as the source of eternal life.
Jesus uses the manna to elucidate what he means. Hence, the manna in the wilderness sustained the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land but could not produce eternal life for the Israelites.
The bread which Jesus offers hence sustains us not only on our journey to the heavenly paradise but the source of the abundant supernatural life of God.
I am the Bread of Life.
Today, Jesus says “I am the Bread of life Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world”.
“I am” denotes self-identification. It shows He is that Bread that gives life. But guess what? The life that comes from this bread is not limited nor temporary.
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The life that comes from this bread is eternal. Through this living bread, we derive manifold blessings and spiritual gifts. When we eat this bread, we receive life for our souls. The Eucharist is the food of the soul.
The problem is that we run away from this heavenly food. Sometimes, some people who receive the body of Jesus treat it with disrespect.
The Eucharist is spiritual food. It is the body of Jesus. The statement “I am the bread of life” means that Jesus is referring to Himself as the bread that gives life. Hence we should not say no to this food.
Jesus says “I am the bread of life, if you eat me, you eat life, you eat healing, you eat peace for your souls, you tap the blessings that come from me, “I am Jesus, come and eat me”. Yet, we bluntly refused. Many said, “We should enjoy the world now and live in sin than to eat “You”.
When was the Last Time You Received Jesus?
Do we hunger for this “bread of life”? When was the last time you received him? We need blessings from God but yet we reject a direct source of divine and heavenly blessings.
We need healing, but yet we reject a direct source of healing. Even, we are praying for eternal life but yet we reject the source of eternal life. To reject the Holy Eucharist is to reject these.
Today, a direct source of blessings is presented to us, we rejected it to look for that same blessing elsewhere. Therefore, to refuse Jesus is to refuse eternal life, unending life with the Heavenly Father.
To accept Jesus as the bread of heaven is not only life and spiritual nourishment for this world but glory in the world to come.
When you approach the Table of the Lord, what do you expect to receive? Healing, pardon, comfort, and rest for your soul? The Lord has much more for us, more than we can ask or imagine.
When you receive the Eucharist, we create an intimate union with Christ, we receive life, we receive power, the forgiveness of sins, peace, blessings, eternal life etc. Yet we reject this gracious opportunity. The soul that receives Jesus every day is blessed.
As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist gives us heavenly strength and makes us deeply rooted in the love of Christ. Let us go back to the Eucharist. There is no saint that did not take the Holy Eucharist serious. So let us do the same.
May God bless you dearest and give us the grace to love Jesus with all your heart. May nothing stop us from intimate Union with God. Amen. God bless you.
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