The Bread that Satisfies

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time; August 5, 2018

Ex 16:2-4,12-15 Ps 78     Eph 4:17,20-24    Jn 6:24-35

Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison

 

            This Sunday we continue our reflection of Chapter Six of the Gospel according to John. After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the people went in search of Jesus. The crowd seems to be following Jesus from one side of the lake to the other; wherever he is, they are there as well. As we reflected last Sunday, the presence of the crowd symbolizes our deep desire for wanting genuine Life—one of purpose, meaning, and joy.

In the initial stage of encounter with Jesus, our Lord was well aware of the motive of their great enthusiasm in seeking him and he made clear their intention. They were following him because they have seen him do a miracle and they wanted more bread: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled” (Jn 6:26). Similarly, we can oftentimes come to church to feel good, to get our healing, and to get our needs met. The worst form of this attitude is the Prosperity Gospel in which Faith becomes an avenue to material enhancement.

Such an attitude runs counter to John’s Gospel, which is directed against a me-centered religion, which is really one of cheap grace. Well run parishes and homilies that are easy to listen to may appeal to us at first, but they do not satisfy our deep spiritual hunger. Jesus knew that people wanted a quick fix and easy answers instead of entering into the mystery with heart and soul open to receiving the new life that discipleship would bring.

When the crowd witnessed the multiplication of the loaves, they did not comprehend that the bread, before it was distributed, was first broken for so many. In other words, the breaking of the bread or the fracturing rite during Mass, is the expression of the love of Jesus himself for us! Before He can give Himself to us, He has to be broken, to be poured forth, so that we can receive the bread that really satisfies. All the crowd saw was the gift of the bread and they lost sight of the donor. Before this spiritual blindness, Jesus challenges them of going beyond the gift, to discover, come to know the donor. God himself is both the gift and the giver. Thus from that bread, from that gesture, the people can find the One who gives it, who is God in the Flesh. So, Jesus challenges them and us: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (v. 35). Jesus challenges us to move beyond having our needs met, being taken care of, or being healed. Jesus tells us that “the bread of God…gives LIFE to the world”. And, to fully receive the Bread of Life, we must do what Jesus faithfully does: to do the will of the Father—to see with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to trust the Father, and to live in the Holy Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is inviting us to open up our perspective on life, which goes beyond having our daily needs met: what we’re going to eat, where we’re going to live, what we’re going to wear, how we’re going to attain success, to build a career. To be sure, these are important and they must be attended to. But, they’re not ultimate because we hunger for another “food.”

Jesus speaks of a food that is incorruptible, that is not transitory, or ephemeral. This is the food which should be our Number One focus—we should seek it, gather it, and be willing to “sell” everything we have in order to obtain it. Jesus exhorts us: “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” (v. 27). That is to say, seek salvation, the encounter with God that endures for eternity.

With these words, Jesus seeks to make us understand that in addition to our physical hunger and psychological yearnings, we have another hunger that goes to the very core of our being, which can’t be satisfied with ordinary food. It is a hunger for Life, a hunger for eternity which the goods of the world can’t satisfy because they are short-term, exclusive, scarce, and ephemeral. Jesus alone can satisfy this fundamental, primordial hunger because he is “the bread of life” (v. 35). Notice that Jesus does not eliminate the concern and search for daily food. No, he does not remove the concern for all that can make life more humane and enjoyable.   Jesus is not trying to make our lives difficult, but he is striving to address our most basic desire. Being made in the image of God, which is the source of our human dignity, we are hard-wired to be in intimate communion with God, Who is Three in One; that is, we are made in the image of a communion God who’s very nature is Love. That means that God is all about the giving and receiving of Life and we are most human when we do the same.

What Jesus is reminding us is to integrate our unique story with our ultimate purpose and end, which is to participate in eternal Life. That end is only realized in our encounter with Jesus because He is the sole and universal Savior of the world.

Jesus reminds us that in our relationship with Him, nothing is lost—that human history with its suffering, trials, and joys must be seen from the perspective of the horizon of eternity and that horizon is the definitive encounter with Jesus. And, this encounter which is most perfectly realized in the Eucharist, illuminates every single day of our human existence. If we think of this intimate encounter with Jesus, of this great gift of the Bread of Life, then all the small gifts of life, even the suffering, even the worries will be illuminated by the hope and engagement with our Lord. Nothing will be lost, everything can be integrated because (again) “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (v. 35).

This, of course, refers to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that satisfies the soul and the body. Meeting Jesus, welcoming Him within our lives, within our families, within our parish, within our place of work, gives hope and meaning to our journey that is often winding and full of surprises.

This Bread of Life is given to us with a challenge: as members of His mystical Body, the Church, we in turn satisfy the spiritual and material hunger of our brothers and sisters throughout the world because we are members of the Catholic, that is, universal Church. As brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus, we give witness to our brotherly solidarity with our neighbor, we render Christ and his love present amid humankind.

People of God, Jesus is the radical measure of what it means to be a human being. As Yahweh is enfleshed in Jesus (the Incarnation), we are raised to a unique relationship with Christ through the reception of the Eucharist. The meaning of human life is incredibly transformed by our capacity to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Such a reception does not mean that we are morally superior to other Christians, but it does mean that there is an intimate bond between Jesus and those who receive him in the consecrated bread and wine. We become what we eat. We become more fully the Body of Christ, the Church. And, as we receive the Bread of Life, we become the Bread of Life to the world. Amen.