His Flesh: The Bread For The Life of The World!

 (Homily 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     Man by nature is always craving for the preservation of life, and as such, he is always in search of food to nourish himself and to keep him going in the existential journey. And of all the ‘foods’, there is one par excellence, the one that nourishes him both physically and spiritually: The Eucharist. In the Old Testament God provided manna for the people of Israel in the desert, but the manna cannot give eternal life. In the Gospel narrative of today, Jesus tells us that his flesh is the true Food and nourishment that will strengthen us in this life but also give us life in the world to come. Little wonder, the message of the first reading and the Gospel can be articulated around the verb: to eat. The Old Testament reading is suggestive of the Eucharist as viaticum, the food of pilgrims on their way to the mountain of God. The Gospel instead stresses on the mystery of the Eucharistic presence under the signs of bread and wine. Above all, the epistle reading points to the existential and ethical implications of being nourished by the Bread of life.

     The first reading (1Kgs. 19:4-8) presents a great prophet Elijah, who was at the point of crisis in his prophetic ministry, for the opposition of King Ahab constrained him to flee, in an attempt to avoid the persecution by Queen Jezebel, who was dominating in Israel at that time. He went to the desert, and after a day walk, he rested under the broom tree and at a point he expressed discomfort and desolation, and out of despondency, he desired to die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life”. But it was not yet his time, for in God’s plan he has not finished his mission. At that point a mysterious figure sent by God “an angel” brought him food and drink (baked cake and a jar of water). He touched him and said: “Arise and eat”, and after eating he lay down. The angel came again the second time with food and drink, he touched him once again and said “Arise and eat”. Behold he ate and drank, and with the strength he got from the food, he walked for forty days and forty nights, up to the mountain of God, Horeb (v.8). Our God never abandons his people and those who put their trust in Him. He is indeed the Great Provider. In the context of the first reading, the Old Testament manna is linked to the Eucharistic Bread, and as such, the consideration of the later as Viaticum. Indeed, many a times in our existential experience and in our journey of faith, we face so many trials, to the extent that sometimes like him we tender our lamentations and sentiments of despair to God. However, this encounter and God’s intervention therein, is an assurance that God does not leave us alone; he doesn’t abandon us in time of trials and tribulations.

     The Gospel (Jn. 6:41-51) is the continuation of the passage of last Sunday. We are still in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, at the center of the long discourse of Jesus on the Bread of life, and indeed at the hit-track of the whole discourse, where Jesus declared “I am the living Bread from heaven”. In the evolution of this discourse, we see a progressive revelation of Jesus as the Bread from heaven: from the multiplication of Bread to the declaration of himself as the Bread of life, and finally at the heart of the discourse he says “I am the living Bread descended from heaven” and at the end of today’s passage he says that, that Bread is his flesh.

     The Jews reacted to the words of Jesus by murmuring as they were scandalized. The Jews in the fourth Gospel is a symbol of the unbelieving world, little wonder, their murmuring in the Gospel passage at the discourse on the Bread of life, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness. The purpose of their murmuring was that Jesus affirmed to be “the Bread from heaven” (v.41). As such, they were interrogating themselves: “How is this possible?” Probably deep within them they could have said, we know very well his origin, where he was born, his parents, etc. He is one of us and one like us. But they were unable to accept and recognize that He transcends them. Indeed, their fundamental challenge was how to reconcile his human origin with his acclaimed divine origin. They failed to recognize in the carpenter’s son, God and Redeemer. However, the miracle (signs) that he has performed (especially the multiplication of Bread and fish) ought to have helped them to open their eyes, at least to see in Jesus something beyond mere appearance. Certainly, he is one of them as they alleged, but he is different from them, he transcends them. And this indeed, is the bitter truth for them to grapple with.

     Interestingly, Jesus didn’t allow himself to be conditioned or influenced by the murmuring of the Jews, instead he profited from the occasion to make further revelations on himself. He not only affirmed “to be from heaven”, “to have come from God” and of “having seen the Father”, he equally affirmed to be “the Bread of life”, the Bread that gives eternal life, “I am the living Bread from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread he will live forever” (v.51). He maintained that he descended from heaven, such that those who eat of the Bread (Him) will not die (v.50). In this passage the great “I am” found in the Old Testament (cf. Ex. 3:13-15) is repeated twice: “I am the bread of life” (v.35) and “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (v.49). The phrase “I am” depicts a name. It is in line with this that the psalmist must have affirmed, “And those who know your name put their trust in you” (Ps. 9:10). And for seven good times (cf. 6:35,48,51; 8:12; 10:7,9; 10:11,14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1) in the Gospel of John Jesus used this self-revealing phrase.

     Behold, to this self-giving of Jesus in the form of Bread, what is required of man is to accomplish an act of faith, thereby welcoming and accepting Christ in His human and divine origins. And faith is a gift from God, and Jesus re-affirmed it thus: “Stop complaining to each other: No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me” (v.44). As such, man is expected to allow himself to be drawn by God. And without mincing words, it is as a result of this attraction, we have gathered today around the altar. Thus, we cannot but open up to his gift of grace, and not to close ourselves to our self-sufficiency, presumption, our mental schemes and prejudices. For us here, it is true that we believe that Jesus is the Bread of life, but we have to grow and mature in our consciousness of this and in our faith in him. May be like the apostles we have to ask Jesus daily: “Lord, increase our faith” (Lk. 17:5).

     Furthermore, at the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of life, Jesus makes a breathtaking revelatory affirmation thus: “The Bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world” (v.51). As a matter of fact, here Jesus makes his audience and us today to understand that, it is not only His word that is Bread of life, he takes the discourse to a personal level, and as such makes allusion to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, He will become our Bread in the Holy Eucharist. In the original text, the word used to designate “flesh” is “sarx” which indicates the whole person. And this stands to signify that in the Eucharist, Jesus gives us himself in totality (body, soul and divinity). This Eucharistic existence will reach its decisive point at the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Indeed, all his existence is “an existence-given-for”, given for the salvation of mankind. Truly, Jesus’ self-giving in the Eucharist is the continuation of his primordial self-giving at the Incarnation, where he assumed the human nature not in part but in its entirety, with the exception of sin. Thus, to say it with St. John the evangelist, ‘kai o logos sarx egheneto’ (Jn.1:12). And the self-giving that reached the climax at the Eucharistic table reached its decisive and definitive point on the Cross. In that bid, we may well affirm that these three events (Incarnation, the Eucharist and the Cross) point glaringly to the “pro nobis” (for us) of the life and existence of Jesus.

     The second reading (Eph. 4:30-5:2) situates us well into the context, when St. Paul exhorts us to “follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2). Concretely, St. Paul invites us to do away with “any bitterness or bad temper or anger or shouting or abuse” (4:31), all the negative aspects of our comportment before our fellow human beings, and in positive he encourages us to “be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ” (4:32). If truly we comport ourselves in that manner, our life no doubt will be a living witness that indeed, Jesus is the Bread of our life, and that we are nourished by Him.

     In all, no doubt, our readings today, especially the first reading and the Gospel passage reminds us of something essential in our faith sojourn, and that maybe well evidenced with the interrogation: where do you go when you cannot go on? Where do you go or who do you go to when you feel that the existential waters of human trials and challenges have engulfed you? Beloved in Christ, reflecting on those questions, we cannot but ask God to give us the enabling grace to be able to know where to go to and whom to go to when we are confronted trials and brokenness. Today, as Jesus revealed, in Him we see and discover the One who satisfies the deepest existential longings of man, who mends the human brokenness with and through the gift of Himself. I pray that God may give us grace to resemble more and more What/Who we receive in the Eucharist. May the Father continue to draw us to His Son, and may we see in the Eucharist the center of this drawing power and divine attraction. May Jesus mend our brokenness and satisfy our deepest longings and desires. Amen!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)