From: John 6:22-29
The People Look for Jesus
The Discourse on the Bread of Life
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Commentary:
26. Our Lord begins by pointing out that their attitudes are wrong: if they have the
right attitude they will be able to understand His teaching in the eucharistic dis-
course. “You seek me”, St. Augustine comments, “for the flesh, not for the spi-
rit. How many seek Jesus for no other purpose than that He may do them good in
this present life! [...] Scarcely ever is Jesus sought for Jesus’ sake” (”In Ioann.
Evang.”, 25, 10).
This verse marks the beginning of the discourse on the bread of life which goes
up to verse 59. It opens with an introduction in the form of a dialogue between Je-
sus and the Jews (verses 26-34), in which our Lord reveals Himself as the bringer
of the messianic gifts. Then comes the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47),
in which Jesus presents Himself as the Bread of Life, in the sense that faith in
Him is food for eternal life. In the second part (verses 48-59) Christ reveals the
mystery of the Eucharist: He is the Bread of Life who gives Himself sacramental-
ly as genuine food.
27. Bodily food helps keep us alive in this world; spiritual food sustains and deve-
lops supernatural life, which will last forever in Heaven. This food, which only God
can give us, consists mainly in the gift of faith and sanctifying grace. Through
God’s infinite love we are given, in the Blessed Eucharist, the very author of these
gifts, Jesus Christ, as nourishment for our souls.
“On Him has God the Father set His seal”: our Lord here refers to the authority
by virtue of which He can give men the gifts He has referred to: for, being God
and man, Jesus’ human nature is the instrument by means of which the Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity acts. St. Thomas Aquinas comments on this sen-
tence as follows: “What the Son of Man will give He possesses through His supe-
riority over all other men in His singular and outstanding fullness of grace. When
a seal is impressed on wax, the wax receives the complete form of the seal. So
it is that the Son received the entire form of the Father. This occurred in two ways;
eternally (eternal generation), which is not referred to here because the seal and
the sealed are different in nature from one another; what is referred to here is the
other manner, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation, whereby God the Father im-
pressed on human nature the Word, who is the reflection and the very stamp of
God’s nature, as Hebrews 1:3 says” (”Commentary on St. John, in loc.”).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading | Acts 6:8-15 © |
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Psalm | Psalm 118:23-24,26-27,29-30 © |
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Gospel Acclamation | Jn20:29 |
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Or | Mt4:4 |
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Gospel | John 6:22-29 © |
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