Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 4, 2024 - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Exod 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35]"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." [John]
Last week, we were on the mountain eating bread and fish that Jesus multiplied and gave to us. He had to get away because the crowd misunderstood the significance of the sign and thought he might be the reincarnation of Elisha or a Messiah-king. So the scene shifts now back to Jesus' headquarters at Capernaum where we hear the "Bread of Life" discourse in which the significance of the sign is developed in two ways. The first way is given in today's gospel and the second in next Sunday's gospel.
In the first way, Jesus speaks of himself as the Bread of Life in a figurative way. He speaks of himself as food and drink in an analogical sense through faith: i.e. faith in me is like food and drink. Next week he will speak in a far more literal way. I AM food and drink!!! The second way is what makes Catholic faith unique and, for some folks, unbelievable. Indeed, some of the disciples left Jesus, saying: This saying is hard; who can accept it?......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." Catholic faith takes Jesus at his word here and at the Last Supper. The bread and drink that he gives us IS his flesh and blood. It is not a form of "pretending" or mere analogy. The transformed bread and wine at the celebration of the Eucharist are not OBJECTS of adoration, which would be idolatry. They are a PERSON in whom we believe and love and with whom we can have a relationship. AMEN