Sunday Meditation: The Bread of Life, Do You Want to Leave?

So last week Jesus completed Hid Bread of Life Discourse, and now will respond to their reaction.  Let’s summarize first.  On the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we had the “sign” of Jesus’ divinity, the supernatural power to feed the multitudes, a precursor of sorts.  On the Eighteenth Sunday, we had the first part of the Discourse on the Bread of life, connecting Jesus with the Manna from heaven.  On the Nineteenth Sunday we have Jesus saying that He is the living Bread.  On the Twentieth Sunday, Jesus concludes His discourse telling us His flesh is the Bread of heaven, and that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life.  Today there is a conclusion, or an epilogue if you will.  On the Twenty-First Sunday, Jesus makes clear it is not a metaphor and does not stop the listeners from leaving Him.

 

Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said,

"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"

Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,

he said to them, "Does this shock you?

What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending

to where he was before?

It is the spirit that gives life,

while the flesh is of no avail.

The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.

But there are some of you who do not believe."

Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe

and the one who would betray him.

And he said,

"For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me

unless it is granted him by my Father."

 

As a result of this,

many of his disciples returned to their former way of life

and no longer accompanied him.

Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"

Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

We have come to believe

and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

~Jn 6:60-69

 

Oh, again, Bishop Barron gives the best exegesis of this passage.    

Bishop Barron I think is the only one I have come across that touches on the Ascension in Verse 62.  If Jesus were to rise to heaven right in front of you, would you not believe?  But He doesn’t.  He will save that for later.

One verse that Bishop Barron does not touch on is on verse 63: “It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.  The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.”  Some critics take this as proving Jesus is indeed speaking as His body and blood being a metaphor or symbol.  When Jesus says the “flesh is of no avail” and it is “the spirit that gives life” He is not referring to His flesh and spirit.  He is referring to your (or the apostles’ there) flesh and spirit.  What He is saying is that His body and blood will give your flesh life by infusing your spirit.

 

Sunday Meditation: "Do you also want to leave?"

 

But it always has struck me as Jesus putting them to the test in a way that doesn't fully reveal the full understanding of the Eucharist.  What if Jesus explained that they will be eating His body and blood under the accidents of bread and wine?  What if He explained it's only the substance of His body and blood they will be eating, not the accidents?  The accidents will remain something non-revolting?  Would everyone have left?  Maybe, maybe not.  It's only at the Last Supper that the full understanding of this passage will make sense.

Since Bishop Barron mentioned the Bob Dylan song, “Gotta Serve Somebody,"” this will be our hymn for the day.

Sunday Meditation: The Bread of Life, Continued, Part III

Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse is so important that the Church spreads the readings across four weeks, not including the precursor which was the feeding of the multitudes.  So let’s take stock of where we are.  In the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we had the “sign” of Jesus’ divinity, the supernatural power to feed the multitudes.  On the Eighteenth Sunday, we had the first part of the Discourse on the Bread of life, connecting Jesus with the Manna from heaven.  On the Nineteenth Sunday we have Jesus saying that He is the living Bread.  Today, the Twentieth Sunday, Jesus tells us His flesh is the Bread of heaven, and that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life.

 

Jesus said to the crowds:

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give

is my flesh for the life of the world."

 

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus said to them,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you do not have life within you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day.

For my flesh is true food,

and my blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me

and I have life because of the Father,

so also the one who feeds on me

will have life because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven.

Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,

whoever eats this bread will live forever."

~Jn 6:51-58

This time, Bishop Barron gives the comprehensive exegesis of this passage.   

Now, how does the body and blood of Jesus become what He says in the Eucharist?  Here you will need someone from the Order of Preachers to fully explain it.  Let Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. from The Thomistic Institute explain the Presence of Jesus’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist.

 

The concepts of substance and accidents can be tricky to understand. I think Fr. Dominic in that video does about as good a job as I have ever seen.  I recommend all The Thomistic Institute videos on explaining the faith.

Sunday Meditation: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day."

Let’s return to John Michael Talbot for an appropriate hymn, “Gift of Finest Wheat.”

 

This is not an original JMT composition.  It was composed by Robert E. Kreutz.   It is such a beautiful hymn, and I love John Michael’s rendition.

Sunday Meditation: The Bread of Life, Continued

Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse didn’t finish with last week’s Gospel reading.  Jesus continues after the Jews were murmuring in incredulity.  But Jesus doubles down that He is the Bread of Life, more substantial than the manna which had come down from heaven.  He too has come down from heaven.

 

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,

"I am the bread that came down from heaven, "

and they said,

"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?

Do we not know his father and mother?

Then how can he say,

'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus answered and said to them,

"Stop murmuring among yourselves.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,

and I will raise him on the last day.

It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

Not that anyone has seen the Father

except the one who is from God;

he has seen the Father.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life.

Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;

this is the bread that comes down from heaven

so that one may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

~Jn 6:41-51

This week we return to Fr. Geoffrey Plant, who is so marvelous at detailing the full context of a passage.    

 

Did you get all those “I am” statements?  I think the totality of all those “I am” statements constitute the core of John’s Gospel. 

Sometimes what I think gets missed in the Bread f Life Discourse is the foundational element of faith that is required.  It’s not just that Jesus says He is the bread of life, but that he adds, “whoever believes has eternal life.”  This is the second time in this passage He used the word "believe."  Check last week’s reading, verse Jn 6:35.  It’s not just receiving communion that provides eternal life.  Anyone can do that, but it is in believing that you are taking in Jesus that gives you eternal life. 

 

Sunday Meditation: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

 

The perfect hymn to complement today’s Gospel reading is “Eat this Bread (Drink this Cup),” performed here by Taize Music. 

 

Sunday Meditation: The Bread of Life

Last week, the Gospel reading had Jesus feeding the multitude.  After giving them this incredible sign, some dodo this week asks him, “What sign can you?” 

 

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,

they themselves got into boats

and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

And when they found him across the sea they said to him,

"Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus answered them and said,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

you are looking for me not because you saw signs

but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Do not work for food that perishes

but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."

So they said to him,

"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"

Jesus answered and said to them,

"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."

So they said to him,

"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

What can you do?

Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

He gave them bread from heaven to eat."

So Jesus said to them,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;

my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world."

 

So they said to him,

"Sir, give us this bread always."

Jesus said to them,

"I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

~Jn 6:24-35

Bishop Barron gives one of the great sermons on this passage. 

Everything disappears.  Nothing endures.  The Fourth of July fireworks – poof!  Gone.  Baseball game, as much as I hate to say it, the game ends, the season ends.  The players I grew up with, I will always remember, but they are gone now, most of them to their eternal reward. 

 

Sunday Meditation: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

 

Of course, today’s hymn has to be John Michael Talbot “I Am the Bread of Life.”

 

So lovely.  This is another song I had thought original with Talbot, but it was actually composed by Sr. Suzanne Toolan for the Sisters of Mercy back in 1964.  I found this lovely video on Sr. Suzanne’s life.

 

Thank you Sister Suzanne.