The five Sundays in the Ordinary Time, from the 17th Sunday through the 21st, reflect on the Book of John Chapter 6, which is about Jesus, the bread of life. When the Israelites grumbled in the desert because they had nothing to eat, God sent them bread in the form of manna. But even though they had sufficient bread and food, that food did not sustain them. Jesus, in reference to his body as the bread of life, says, “this is the bread that came down from Heaven.” Jesus continued by saying, “Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” This statement would be difficult for the crowds to hear and understand. Everyone dies. How can we eat Jesus as the bread of life and “not die”?
When Jesus speaks of life, He is not limiting life to this world. Life begins in this world, but it is not all there is. What is life? Right now, the life we experience is life in this world. It ends with earthly death. It comes with tremendous joy. It can also come with challenges. We need to work to make a living and care for our families. We experience illness. We experience sadness. We have challenges, and we have uncertainties. Amid all life’s circumstances, where do we go? In our celebrations, we go to God to seek their meanings and depth. In times of struggle, we go to Jesus to ask for hope, strength, and Divine assistance.
Without question, God acknowledges and provides for our worldly needs. But when Jesus speaks about the bread of life, he refers to the bread that does not fill the stomach but to the bread that fills our hearts and souls. The reality is that spiritual hunger is harder to fill. True to what Mother Teresa had said, “When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread. But a person who is shut out feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, and has been thrown out of society – that spiritual hunger is much harder to overcome.”
I just visited a patient in the hospital with pancreatic cancer last week. I witnessed how the Lord Jesus sustained her hope and strength. She told us that whatever happens, she could endure the pain because she is with Jesus. She found healing and peace through her faith, believing that whatever happens to her,
whatever the direction of healing may be, God walks with her and her family in that difficult time. Her faith brought comfort to all of us, especially her close family members present in that room.
Jesus helps us not to be consumed by sadness, hopelessness, anger, and resentment. He also fills our hearts with joy and contentment. When we have Jesus, the bread of life, we realize life is not all about ourselves. It is not about what we can get or take in life but also what we can share and give. This is the greatest satisfaction in life.
In the Eucharist, we celebrate that Jesus offers us life. It is his gift to us. The more we receive the Holy Eucharist and the more we are mindful of Jesus’ presence in our life, the more we see the beauty of Heaven, which fills our life with joy and contentment even though life does not happen the way we want it to be.
~Fr. Dennis Gonzales