The power of the Living Bread

Aug 09, 2024

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8;
Ephesians 4:30 — 5:2;
Gospel: John 6:41-51

Have we ever felt tired in life? I’m not talking about physical or emotional tiredness but the kind of tiredness that makes us feel like just giving up. For those who serve in ministry, whether priests, religious or lay persons, there will come a point in time where we will just give up because we become fed up with everything that we are doing and we just say, “Forget it...I’m not doing this anymore.” This happens even to the best of us. Maybe not everyone will go through this experience but this is quite a common experience for many in the Church.

This is a normal human condition. If machines can break down, so can the human body. But sometimes, it’s not about the body breaking down but rather, the spirit starts to break down. We are made up of body, mind and soul. What happens to one affects the other. Very often, we take care of our body and mind but rarely think of our soul. It is easier to take care of our body and mind. When we are tired, we rest and take a holiday. But how do we take care of our souls?

The first reading and the Gospel give us a clue on how to do this. In the first reading, the prophet Elijah tells God that he has had enough, asking God to take his life, after which he goes to sleep. He is woken up twice by the angel of the Lord, asking him to eat. All that is provided by the angel are scones and water.
This is no ordinary food because, after two meals, Elijah can make the journey to Horeb, the mountain of God. No mortal food can sustain someone for forty days and forty nights. This food brought by the angel gave his spirit a new burst of energy, helping the body and mind to put aside the thought of giving up.

In the Gospel, Jesus proclaims Himself to be the living bread which has come down from heaven. The people were not able to comprehend this proclamation because they were not able to think beyond what is physical. They failed to realise that, even with just manna and meat raining down once a day, they were able to sustain themselves throughout their journey until they reached the Promised Land. This itself should have told them that the food that they were given was more than mortal food.

When Jesus said that only those who eat the living bread will never hunger or thirst, the crowd could only think of eating and drinking physical food. What Jesus meant was for them to eat His words and His teachings. This is the source of eternal life. Jesus was trying to tell them that this life on earth is only temporary. The people need to concentrate on what is eternal and only those who believe in Him will have that life.

For us today, whether or not we are serving in ministry, we need to realise the importance of the living bread that comes down from heaven. How many of us really hunger for the Eucharist? How many of us come to Mass eagerly wanting to receive both the Word and the Body of Christ? The challenge is this – when we have attended Mass for the span of life that each of us have lived, some have grown apathetic towards the Sacraments. Receiving the Sacraments has become mechanical and routine.

Until and unless we realise the importance of the Word of God and the Body of Christ in our lives, we will slowly descend along this apathetic path and one day become numb to its effects. It is these two elements that will sustain us in our journey - we need to rekindle our love for the Word and Body of Christ. When this love is rekindled, our hearts and our souls will be receptive to the spirit of God and this will help us to refresh our body and mind.

When we have the spirit of God in us, then we can transform ourselves to what St Paul tells us in the second reading – to imitate God and to follow Christ, to love as Christ loved us and to offer ourselves as a fragrant offering and to live as God wants us to live. We are called to be friends to one another, to be kind and to readily forgive as God readily forgives us. This can only be possible if we continue to consume the Word and Body of Christ because, on our own, we will not be able to sustain this call to love. God’s grace is sufficient for us and that is all we need.