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JESUS CHRIST, THE BREAD OF LIFE [1]

God has made His presence and power available to us in many different ways. At baptism, God comes to dwell in our hearts through His Holy Spirit. As we grow and learn to yield to the Spirit, our experience of God and His presence grows and deepens as well. We begin to hear Him speak to us in scripture. We taste His presence when we gather with other Christians. We meet Him as we care for the poor and needy around us.

In addition to these ways, scripture speaks of yet another avenue, and extraordinary way in which Jesus can transform us with His presence – His body and blood in the Eucharist. In our present notes, we look at the life that is available to us in the Eucharist and reflect on the attitude of heart that can open us up to all the blessings God wants to pour out through this sacrament.

Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist is prefigured in the story of God feeding the Israelites with manna in the desert (Exodus 16-20). As they traveled day after day through the Sinai desert on their way to the promised land, many of the Israelites began to feel that their journey was a curse from God. They blamed Moses for leading them into such desolation: “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3 RSV). How quickly they forgot that they had been slaves in Egypt, robbed of dignity and oppressed with hard labor. They even lost sight of the fact that Pharaoh had ordered the murder of their children in an effort to control their numbers (Exodus 1:11-16).

n the midst of these challenges, the journey in the desert was, in fact, a time of great blessing for the Israelites. God revealed His presence to them on Mount Sinai – something that no other nation had experienced (Exodus 19:16-25; Psalm 147:19-20). God was continually with them, guiding them with a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night (Exodus 40:36-38). Scripture tells us that even the smallest details were cared for: Their shoes and clothing did not wear out during their entire forty-year journey (Deuteronomy 29:5). When they cried out in thirst, God gave them water from a rock (Exodus 17:5-8). When they were hungry, He fed them with manna and quail (Exodus 16:13-15). God always heard their prayers and cared for them, even as He sought to form them as His covenanted people.

Of all these signs, the miracle of the manna especially showed God’s love for His people – His desire to provide for them every day of their lives. Every morning, God sent the Israelites only enough manna to last one day (Exodus 16:16-19). He did not want them to collect more than a day’s needs, and when some tried to store some away for the next day, it became wormy and spoiled (Exodus 16:20). God was displeased by this, because His people were trying to find a way to avoid having to depend on Him on a continuing basis. They did not trust Him to be faithful to His promise to care for their needs, but He wanted to be their sole support. [to be continued]

A Christian Pilgrim

JESUS CHRIST, THE BREAD OF LIFE [2]

This story of the manna in the desert provides the background for the section of John’s Gospel that describes Jesus as the bread of life (John 6:1-7). The day after Jesus had multiplied the loaves and fishes, that the same crowd that had witnessed this miracle went looking for Jesus (John 6:22-24). When they found Him, Jesus told them: “Do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you” (John 6:27 RSV). Knowing that the crowd was caught was caught up with the “perishable” – the bread and the miracles that Jesus was performing – Jesus sought to turn their eyes toward the “imperishable” – the mercy of God and His loving presence (see Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 547-549).

The people, struggling to understand Jesus’ words, asked Him: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28). Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29). Jesus was interested in something deeper than signs and wonders; He wanted their trust and faith. Faith seeks God’s presence. Those with faith place their lives in Jesus’ hands every day, expecting to experience something more than their eyes can see.

This is the kind of faith that can experience Jesus in the Eucharist. Both in the Eucharist and in everyday life, Jesus wants to be the source of our strength and wisdom, our hope and our courage. Every day, He wants to guide us and provide for us, just as He did for the Israelites in the desert.
Every day, He longs for us to turn to Him and receive Him – Jesus, the bread of life – into our hearts.

Jesus’ listeners began to murmur and grumble at His words, just as the Israelites did in the desert. His invitation to them to receive the bread of life distressed them and challenged their faith, to the point that most of them walked away (John 6:66; CCC, 1336). Yet the twelve – Jesus’ closest disciples – stayed with Him. Peter told Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Their hearts had been touched; they knew that only Jesus could provide for their needs. They recognized that Jesus was the true bread of life, and they wanted to be fed by Him every day. [to be continued]