November 20, 2022
Gospel – 4/30/20 – John 6:44-51
Jesus said to the crowds:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
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.”
Today is one of those days where my mind goes where not everyone who reads will follow.
As I read this today, I am drawn to the Blessed Sacrament – the Eucharist. As a Catholic, it is such a part of who I am, I sometimes forget my brothers and sisters who don’t understand this scripture as I do.
Today, I hear Jesus telling me that bread made by hands, or even by nature – manna in the desert – aren’t going to sustain us but a short moment. We are going to need more very soon or we’ll be hungry again.
But Jesus is a different kind of sustenance. His words are God’s words. His lessons are God’s lessons. If we listen and believe, we will receive food that will not need to be given over and over. The food isn’t for our corporal self but for our spiritual self. If we hear and believe our souls will live forever.
And as a reminder – he dies for us. But, before that death on the cross he left us the opportunity to celebrate his sacrifice for us – in his last supper.
Luke 22:19
Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”
The Eucharist – from the Greek eucharistia, meaning Thanksgiving – is what he’s talking about when he says,
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.”
I believe, anytime I receive the Eucharist, that I am receiving him, literally.
Why? Because He said so.
At least that’s what I heard Him say…
What I Heard Him Say 