Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time
These past few weekends have you heard a lot of the same songs sung at Mass? Maybe you’ve heard a few of them too…. “I am the Bread of Life”, “One Bread, One Body”, “Take and Eat” or “Taste and See.” Maybe you heard all of these songs, or some of them multiple times in a row even. That is because these past 5 weeks we have been reading from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6. This is called the Bread of Life Discourse and this Sunday we hear the very end of it.
The Bread of Life Discourse is the single greatest teaching about the Eucharist that we have as Catholics, and it’s from the lips of Jesus himself. There is a lot that we can learn from this account that we have read of the past several weeks. Here are just a few lessons to take away.
Lesson One: God Provides
The first lesson from Christ on the Eucharist is that, even if all we have is a small offering, like the boy with just a few loaves and fish, Jesus will make it more than enough by His mercy, love, and compassion. The Eucharist involves Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, but also calls forth some form of sacrifice from us.
After He multiplied the loaves and fish, the crowds began to hail Jesus as a prophet; they were convinced that He was going to be their king. Christ noticed the demeanor of the crowd and He recognized that their praise toward Him revolved around human power and strength, not the wisdom of God. He disappeared, ascending up the mountain by Himself to pray (John 6:15). While He was on the mountain, the disciples climbed into a boat and headed out on the Sea of Galilee. While they were at sea, a strong storm hit and the boat was in danger of sinking.
Lesson Two: Trust in God
Few note the fact that the landscape of the Sea of Galilee is surrounded by mountains in certain locations. While the storm is sending waves crashing overboard onto the disciples’ boat, Christ is on the mountain and is overlooking the sea. He knew they were in danger, so He made his way toward them: “They saw Jesus walking on the sea” (John 6:19). Before they can speak, Christ tells them not to be afraid. “Be not afraid” is a common way for God to greet people in Scripture, and it implies they are in God’s presence and in awe of the power they are witnessing.
Thus, the second lesson from Christ on the Eucharist is that when we are in need we must trust in God’s never-failing presence and power that will calm every storm in our lives, even when it appears like God is absent. The Eucharist is the source of all grace and the place where we come face-to-face with the one whose love burns away all fear.
Lesson Three: No Eucharist, No Life
Once they return to shore, they are met by more crowds who desire to ask Jesus the all-important question regarding accomplishing God’s work. Jesus responds with a reference to bread (the manna in the desert) and claims that He is the Bread of Life; that the true accomplishment of God’s work is to receive his Flesh and Blood (John 6:31, 35). Receiving the Bread of Life brings life without end, and unites us to the one who has no beginning or end: “This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die” (John 6:50). The third lesson from Christ on the Eucharist is that—if we are to follow Christ—not receiving Him is not an option, and our reception of the one that came down from Heaven brings us into direct contact with the eternal life offered to us.
Lesson Four: The Eucharist Will Cause Division
This Sunday we come to the next lesson we can learn. The people surrounding Jesus during His lecture on the Eucharist continue to ask several questions because they cannot understand how he can be speaking literally. And yet, He refers to Himself as the Bread of Life several times while clearly stating: “my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:55). The inner circle of disciples even speak up to Jesus, and exclaim the difficulty of this teaching, but He stands firm. If Jesus did not want His followers to take His words literally, this was the perfect opportunity to clarify that He was only speaking figuratively. However, He sticks to the truth, and “as a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” (John 6:66).
The fourth and final lesson from the Eucharist is that Jesus clearly stated we receive His living Flesh and Blood, and from the beginning, this is a cause for division among the ranks. The Eucharist may be a difficult teaching and reality to understand, but its foundation from the lips of Christ is unquestionable. God’s proximity to His people has been doubted from the start, but His true presence endures at the Mass and in our tabernacles waiting for us to not run away, but run toward Him in the Eucharist.