The Bread of Life Discourse

Today's Reflections

The Bread of Life Discourse 

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Jn 6:51-58

[Jesus said to the Jews,] ⁵¹“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.”

⁵²The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” ⁵³Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Reflection:

My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The Jews wonder how Jesus can give his flesh to eat. This is for them a form of cannibalism. Besides, in Gn 9:4, God prohibits them from eating “flesh with its lifeblood still in it.” Because of this, the Jews have the greatest reverence for blood as the source of life. To come in contact with blood is immediately to become ritually unclean. Thus, they cannot understand what Jesus is telling them.

But here Jesus is pointing to the mystery of the Eucharist. His life will be a sacrificial offering on the altar of the cross. Anyone who will partake in the communion of his body and blood will remain in Jesus and will have eternal life.

To eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood is to assimilate totally into our being the very Person of Jesus, his whole way of thinking and acting. In our diet-conscious age, we say, “You are what you eat.” This is exactly what Jesus wants for us, to become a part of him. Our bonding with him, especially by sharing the Eucharist, will give us the grace, the strength, and the energy to grow into his goodness. Receiving holy Communion should make us think like Jesus, speak like Jesus, and act like Jesus.

“We come then to this wonderful sacrament to be fed at your table

and grow into the likeness of the risen Christ”

(Preface, Holy Eucharist II).