May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy mother pray for us.
Last week we began our journey through the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. In these weeks we are invited in a particular way to focus our attention on the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Last week we heard of the miracle of great abundance when the Lord Jesus fed the crowd of five thousand men with only five loaves and two fishes. This miracle began with a sacrifice, when a young boy shared his lunch with Jesus. In each celebration of the Eucharist each of us are called to offer ourselves completely to the Lord Jesus and united to him we are made into an everlasting gift for the Father. Last week we were invited to focus on the Eucharist as a sacrifice. This week we are invited to focus our attention on the Eucharist as our food.
In both our reading from the book of Exodus and in the gospel, we see the people expressing their hunger for food. The Israelites in the book of Exodus had fled Egypt and the oppression of Pharaoh. The people were complaining against Moses and were longing to return to the food of their slavery. The Lord, in response to their complaints, provided manna each day for the people. They were fed the bread from heaven. In the gospel the crowd that had been fed continued to follow Jesus because they were seeking to be fed again. The crowd was seeking Jesus because they wanted to be fed by the bread of earth. The Lord Jesus, however, would invite them to seek the bread of heaven.
“Do not work for food that perishes” says the Lord Jesus, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” The people respond with a question. “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” The people are, in a certain way, asking how they can earn the bread of God. They want to buy that which can only be a gift. And so the Lord Jesus responds that the bread of heaven is a gift of the Father and this bread brings life to the world. And then, finally, the Lord Jesus reveals that He is the bread from heaven. Jesus Christ himself is the gift of the Father and the bread of Life and those who come to him will never hunger and those who believe in him will never thirst. Jesus Christ is our sacrifice and invites us to be part of his offering. Jesus Christ is our food for the journey and offers to feed us.
My dear brothers and sisters, in every celebration of the Holy Eucharist we are invited to the sacrifice and to the banquet. Just as the people in the gospel could not buy the bread of God, neither can we earn our place at the table of the Lord. Our invitation to a life of faith and love was given to us as an undeserved gift from all eternity. Our invitation is free. It is our response to that invitation, however, that is costly.
The Israelites and the people who followed Jesus in the gospel freely admitted their hunger. They freely admitted that they were in need. Pride would not restrain them. Fear would not restrain them. Relying on themselves would not restrain them. With the trust of children they expressed their desire and they expressed their need to the Lord. Our response to the invitation of the Lord will cost us our pride and our fear because we must recognize and we must admit our need for his goodness and his grace. We come to the banquet of the Savior admitting our hunger for the bread of life. We come to the sacred moment of Holy Communion speaking the humble confession of faith of the centurion and making his words our own. And we come to the celebration of this Eucharist mindful that Jesus Christ himself is the food that brings life to our souls.
