GOSPEL, John (6: 52-59)
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” 59 This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
The Gospel of the Lord
REFLECTION
We find in this passage three capital statements and they are; that one must eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, that if one does not commune, one cannot have life and that this life being eternal, becomes a condition for the resurrection. (John (6,53.58)
The Jewish crowd did not understand the spiritual dimension of Jesus’ words because their eyes were closed and their hearts hardened. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6.52)
By the use of metaphors, Jesus explains to the crowd, what they must do, how they must do it and the rewards of these actions, which for the most, is ignored. The ‘Eating of the Flesh and drinking of the Blood’ is to assimilate totally into our very fibre the teachings and the physical presence of our Lord Jesus Christ who is, the pathway leading to eternal life. The Eucharist is the sacramental celebration pointing to our total experience of meeting Jesus in our lives. To understand how great Gods love for us is, we must believe totally that our actual life is in God and without him; we have no real life at all.
In each Eucharistic celebration, we share the body, blood, soul and divinity. Our Lord comes through by invitation and this Communion is a holy mystery – a sign – through which Jesus Christ makes himself physically present to us and in us. In receiving this gift of celestial manna, it allows us to understand, that by meditating on his word, which is the love that Jesus has for us, that God will not make us lacking in anything, especially the love that unites us and leads us to salvation.
Is not the bread we break in communion the body of Christ? Since there is only one bread, we, although many, form one body, because we all share in the same bread “(1 Corinthians 10, 16-17). The Church makes the Eucharist, and the Eucharist makes the Church. “A testament of Christ’s love and understanding for the fulfilment of fraternal charity”
On meditating on his word there lies the strength for our lives.
PRAYER
Christ our Lord, give us hunger for the bread of life, so that You may satiate us abundantly with your sacrificed body and blood, which give eternal life and communion with you and our brothers and sisters.
Make us generous in serving the poorest and be willing to share everything we have with our most needy brothers, as you did.