Readings: 1 Kgs 19:4-8; Eph 4:30-5:2; Jn 6:41-51
Jesus the bread of life that satisfies our spiritual
hunger on our journey to eternal life is the good news from the gospel this
Sunday. But, let me first tell you a true story about Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa
of Portugal who dies in 1955. She is one of
the great mystics of modern times. Alexandrina was paralyzed and bed-ridden
after jumping through the window of her home to escape from someone who wanted
to rape her. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. The amazing part
of her life is that for the last thirteen years of her life, she miraculously
lived on the Holy Eucharist alone, a medically confirmed fact. I tell this
story because the readings this Sunday speak about the Lord who
nourished the prophet Elijah with bread and water for his long journey of forty
days and forty nights to the holy mountain. Jesus promises to nourish us with
the bread of life that sustains to eternal life. The prophet Elijah in the
first reading challenges the king’s idolatry and then the queen threatens to kill
him. Elijah is afraid and flees to Mount Horeb to ask God for help. Along the
way, he gives up and prays for his death. Then God sends a messenger with bread
and water. This gives Elijah the strength to walk for forty days and forty
nights to the mountain. The bread given to Elijah seems to foreshadow the Holy
Eucharist and its power to sustain us not just for forty days but for eternity.
Just as the Lord drew Elijah to the holy Mount, we too are drawn to the
mountain of the Lord (the Church) where the Lord nourishes us with the living
bread from heaven, namely, the Body and Blood of Christ.
In the Gospel of last Sunday, the crowds asked for a
sign that would show that Jesus indeed came from God. Jesus replied by saying
that He is the sign and the bread of life sent by God from heaven. This
Sunday's Gospel begins by saying that the Jews complained about Jesus' claims
of having come from heaven. They knew his family: that he was born of Mary and
that he was the son of Joseph. How could he then have come down from heaven?
Jesus responds to their complaints by saying that those who listen to God will
recognize that He is the one sent from God. Those who believe in Him will have
eternal life. Jesus concludes with the central teaching on the Eucharist. He
promises that the bread of life will bring eternal life to those who partake of
it. Here Jesus teaches that the bread of life will be his own flesh, given for
the life of the world. In today's Gospel, we hear Jesus repeat the words of
last Sunday Gospel, that he is the bread of life. This time Jesus adds
that He is the living bread. Both these statements help us understand
better the gift that Jesus gives us in the Holy Eucharist. We celebrate this
gift of Jesus each time we gather for the Holy Mass – the Eucharist. We take
Jesus with us at the end of Mass when we are sent to live and proclaim what we
have eaten – Jesus Christ. So what message do we take home this Sunday? 1) Just
as the Lord nourished the prophet Elijah with bread for his journey to the holy
mountain, so too Jesus nourishes us with his Body and his Blood to sustain us
on out pilgrimage. 2) By being nourished with the Body of Christ like Blessed
Alexandrina, we get strength to walk to eternal life. 3) At the Eucharistic
gathering we are sent out at the end of Mass, to live and to proclaim what we
have received, Jesus Christ, who accompanies us always in our witness.
©2015 John S. Mbinda
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