Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 - 3rd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 8:1b-8 and John 6:35-40]"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.....And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day." [John]
The "bread of life" discourse begins with one of Jesus' "I AM" statements, which link us with the name of God revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Ex. 3:14). The meaning of this statement gradually unfolds after the assurance that Jesus wants to bring all of us to eternal life through faith in him. Eternal life begins not just after death but begins with faith in Jesus. He is the bread of LIFE. The challenge will come when Jesus tells the audience (which includes us) how he makes himself the bread of life. This is when the audience will get uneasy, because he will offer himself as flesh and blood.
For the moment (the challenging part will come at the end of tomorrow's gospel passage), the focus is on Jesus' wish that he not lose anyone who comes to him in faith. But no one is forced to do so. Faith is a response to an encounter with a love greater than any we could know. If, in Jesus, we do not find that kind of love, where will we ever find it? As Jesus says in the Last Supper discourse: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." It is this love that we celebrate in the Eucharist - the total self-giving of the Lord that challenges us to self-giving for others. How this will be expressed sacramentally will unfold for us over the next two days. Stay tuned! AMEN