The Bread of Life Discourse
http://graceandspace.org
Jn 6:52-59
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.” 59These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Whoever eats this bread will live forever. Jesus
declares that the bread he is giving for the life of the world is his
own flesh. The crowd’s reaction is immediate: “How can this man give us
[his] flesh to eat?” But Jesus does not backtrack.
we do not draw nourishment from him, Jesus declares, we will not live.
In the Eucharistic bread that we partake in and the cup that we share,
Jesus assures us of life in communion with him. If we just open our
hearts to receive this gift, we will share in the communion that he
enjoys with the Father. We will experience eternal life.
Jesus
tells us that the believer who partakes of his flesh and blood will
have perfect union with him. The believer will be incorporated into the
divine family, thus sharing divine life in the sacrament.
When
St. Peter Eymard, the apostle of the Eucharist, was at his deathbed,
his followers asked him for a last thought. “No, I have nothing to say,”
he replied. “You have the Holy Eucharist. Why do you want more?”
“As a person of faith, I see death as a friend,
as a transition from earthly life to life eternal”
(Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago).
No comments:
Post a Comment