RBWords

 

     It is not easy to place oneself in an ancient scene with the words and actions that take place.  I recommend it often but I know that the feelings and context for us are "anachronistic" and we can only do this for our own faith and not for the faith of those who were originally present!  Nevertheless, we are alerted to the importance of what Jesus is about to say by that "Amen, amen, I say to you...."  The "spiraling" path of the "bread of life" discourse is about to take a startling turn.  Up till now, "bread of life" has primarily referred to Jesus' teaching.  He is the "word of God" personified.  Scripture scholars refer to this as "sapiential" - meaning "wisdom" personified.  But now, Jesus speaks of another way in which he gives himself as the "bread of life."  He speaks of giving us his "Flesh!"  One can only imagine how startling that must have sounded then, and really how startling it is in our own time.

 

     By the time the Gospel of John was put into writing, the Christian community had been celebrating "the Lord's supper" and reflecting on Jesus' words, "This is my body......this is the cup of my blood" for more than fifty years.  This teaching brought them into conflict with their Jewish brothers and sisters who found that teaching unacceptable.  To the non-Jewish audiences, it could seem like a fable.  It is a matter of faith to us who are Catholic Christians that Christ gave the community the power to invoke the Holy Spirit to transform bread and wine into the person of Jesus Christ.  This form of Christ's presence we call "Eucharistic."  In the "bread of life" discourse, Jesus links his teaching with the experience of the Israelites in the desert with manna.  He "replaces" this with a "bread" that gives eternal life.  The next couple of days will bring us deeper and deeper into this "mystery."  Stay tuned!   AMEN