November 20, 2022
Gospel – 5/1/20 – John 6:52-59
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Today is head vs heart. In formation we learned that to truly understand Christ we had to listen, not with our ears (which feeds our head) but with our heart (which feeds the Spirit within us). That’s a very difficult concept, which is why not everyone thrives in ministry.
Some, like the Jews arguing with Jesus in this Gospel, can’t get out of their heads. They can only hear with their ears.
So, Jesus tells them that he is the bread of life – not made by hands, but, by God. Jesus says in John 6:51 (the pericope just before today’s text) that “the bread I give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Two things: he gave his flesh in sacrifice for us on the cross, and he gives his flesh in the Eucharist. As I said before, I sometimes forget not everyone believes in the true presence in the Eucharist. But he’s there, in the blessing as he showed us at the Last Supper.
He invites us to hear him today, not with our ears, but with our hearts.
Then we understand.
At least that’s what I heard Him say…
What I Heard Him Say 