20th Sunday in Ordinary Time- The bread of life gives eternal life
Ref. Prov 9:1-6, Jn 6:51-58 8-17/18-24 Dcn. Bill Kenney
We all know the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’ and that is, essentially, what repetition learning boils down to. Repeating the concepts you wish to convey several times allows your brain or body to retain the information or skills necessary. Students and athletes thrive on repetition. Repetition is seen as the key activity to really ensure that newly acquired knowledge sinks in and is remembered long term. Jesus is a great teacher. He knows this learning characteristic of human nature. He has an important, new, and life-giving message to get through to us. In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus repeats three times that he is the Bread of Life, giving eternal life to those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. Has it sunken in yet?
Today’s Gospel contains one of the most contested passages in Christianity. The question, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” was a stumbling block. Jesus’ teaching divided his early followers and has not ceased doing so among the generations of believers since. Many lack Wisdom’s spiritual understanding.
The flesh of Jesus we are commanded to eat is his resurrected
body, what he offered on the cross and raised from the dead.
It is his flesh but not in the earthly state it was when he spoke these words in the synagogue at Capernaum. Rather it is his flesh in the glorified state of his resurrected body, described by St. Paul as,
- “…sown corruptible, it is raised incorruptible;
- sown dishonorable, it is raised glorious;
- sown weak, it is raised powerful;
- sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
Because it is incorruptible and spiritual, Jesus can give his glorified flesh for us to eat without depleting or injuring himself. Jesus’ glorified flesh is “the living bread come down from heaven” not only because it gives life but because it is no longer subject to death or corruption. By eating his body and drinking his blood we have life because we share in Jesus’ very substance, so that we may live and remain in him, and he in us. That divine substance of Jesus is Life itself. He is the true food and true drink that fulfills all our needs- not for a fleeting moment of our lives but for all eternity.
As our Bread of Life discourse from St. John continues, we learn of the TRUE food and drink we receive for eternal life. Bsp. Robert Barron explains,(quote) “Ordinary bread satisfies only physical longing, and it does so in a transient way: one eats and one must eat soon again. But the heavenly bread, Jesus implies, satisfies the deepest longing of the heart, and does so by adapting the one who eats it to eternal life.” (unquote). Food we consume at daily meals nourish our bodies, satiate us, and give us the energy to do God’s holy will in our lives. The same with drinks- satisfying our thirst and giving the organs and cells of our bodies the molecules they need to function. We are most thankful for the daily bread and drink we receive, but like any material or worldly thing, it is fleeting, temporal. We need more of it. We plan and prepare for it. Food and drink requirements consume our minds and drive our life endeavors. These are physically needed foods. There are also spiritually needed foods. Wisdom, in our Proverbs reading, and in the words of Peter Kreeft, invites us to forsake foolishness and the false foods of pride, infidelity, despair, and hatred in favor of understanding the true foods of God’s Wisdom: humility, faith, hope, and love.
The Eucharist we share today at Mass is the life-giving body and blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the TRUE food that lasts forever, giving life to our bodies and nourishment to our souls. We are consumed in mind and spirit to repeatedly learn what it means to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. How do you prepare for the Bread of Life? Have you confessed grave sin to prepare and purify the palate of your soul? Do you fast one hour before receiving Jesus to give longing for his flesh within you? Do you solemnly pray in thanksgiving after receiving Jesus?
Wisdom indeed spreads out a lavish banquet for the simple, the rich and poor and believers and unbelievers alike. It is a type of the Mass- a divine banquet of true food and true drink- providing life and everlasting praise and fullness to the faithful. The Psalmist sings, “His praise shall be ever in my mouth”. May we repeatedly learn (making it sink in) to believe and worship the true presence and love of our Lord in the Eucharist, for the life of the world and for the glory of God.