SUNDAY AUGUST 11, 2024
SUNDAY OF THE NINETEENTH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME B
1 Kings 19:4-8
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
John 6:41-51
JESUS: THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN, OUR FOOD FOR SUSTENANCE AND STRENGTH
For those who trust in divine providence, especially those who repose their trust in Christ, the psalmist tells us, “Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed. This lowly one called; the Lord heard, and rescued him from all his distress.”
Trusting on God assures our sustenance, our good life and our wellbeing. And we responded to the psalms saying, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!”
Brothers and sisters, in our world, we find lack, discomforts, inconveniences, misery and suffering. But we are offered succor and hope in Christ today. Jesus tells us that he is the bread of life.
Continuing our discourse therefore on Jesus the bread of life, the church presents for our reflection today Jesus who is the bread from heaven.
In the book of Exodus, we find out that the Jews on their sojourn from Egypt were fed from the bread that was provided them by God. That was the manna which they ate and which sustained them for forty years of their sojourn from Egypt. God did not abandon them, nor forsake them. Rather, when they had nothing to eat, God rained bread and meat for them and that satisfied them for forty years.
In today’s situation, Jesus offers to us the bread of himself for our Journey. Jesus ascribes to himself this bread and even went ahead to discredit the bread that the people ate during their sojourn from Egypt. For he stated that all the people that ate that bread are dead now. But for him, he is the real bread that brings life eternal to those who will accept it. So Jesus offers himself as the bread of life offered for our journey through life.
Going further, Jesus says that this bread is his flesh that will give life to the world. That is the bread that whoever eats it will never die. “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 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.”
How have we reacted to this saying of Jesus? Did we accept this saying or just overlook the saying of Jesus? Now, the reaction of the scribes, the Jews and people of that time is one that we must look at intently. They could not accept this teaching. They were terrified to hear such teaching. Ascribing to himself as having come from heaven was very strange to the people because they knew the father who was not even influential, as well as the mother Mary whom the people know very well. So the people could not fathom this teaching.
Was Jesus claiming what he was not? Was it because miraculous powers are seen in him that made him to boast of his capabilities? That is, is Jesus saying something that is true? These and other questions could have arisen in the mind of the people. So they murmured against him. First, they could not understand this saying, “I am the bread from heaven.” What does it signify. “And to anyone who eats of the bread will not die.” All these were difficult for them to understand and fathom. So they murmured, complained and accused Jesus of trying to take the place of God.
But the theology of the bread from heaven can become clear for us when we look at the first reading. That God provided his prophet Elijah food for the journey. Elijah ate the bread God gave him to be able to ascend to the mountain of God. It is a bread that brings strength, sustains our energy and gives us vitality to be able to meet with God.
Jesus the bread of heaven is one that gives us energy, vitality and sustains our strength in the spiritual warfare and battle of life to be able to please God, to live humbly, to love tenderly and to win the battle of life for all eternity. Jesus offers his body and blood as our food for all eternity.
The church wants us to understand that communion with Jesus builds our faith, enhances our trust and grants us the disposition to walk along with Jesus in this journey of life to eternity. We cannot walk alone. Jesus as communion must be our companion either physically, or sacramentally. With Jesus we walk to eternity.
As bread of life therefore, Jesus supplies the strength, the enablement, the power and the companionship for us to trust and live with. As bread of life, he directs us, guides us in our moral life and our life of sacrifice as we imitate him in his sacrificial nature to attain the glory of heaven.
Saint Paul in the Letter to the Ephesians reminds us of the obligations that we must fulfil in our sojourn as Christians. We must never grieve the Holy Spirit, but rather work in and for him. We must love tenderly, forgive hurts and live humbly. So we must be imitators of Christ in his sacrificial nature to be able to reach the place of rest. As bread from heaven or bread of life, Jesus tells us to be like him too and imitate him. No wonder, Saint Agatha when being martyred prays that the lions and wild breast should eat her like the bread of life.
Jesus the bread of life therefore directs us to be like him in our journey through life, imitating his virtues and being sacrificial in attitude.
Heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ, the bread of life teaches us the value of communion with him and sacrifice in life. Help us to receive him who is life, walk with him, live in him, imitate his virtues, grow in grace and be strengthened to attain purity of life and at last the blessed glory of eternity through the same Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
