At the end of the bread discourse in John’s gospel [chapter 6] many of Jesus’ disciples
found his sayings hard to believe or accept; they doubt and reject his invitation to feed
on his ‘flesh and blood’. Jesus asked the twelve, ‘do you also wish to leave’? God
respects our freedom to believe in him or not; he does not force himself on us but
persuades us in love. Faith is a free ascent of one’s self to God, an opening of the heart
to the mystery of God. John’s gospel invites us to encounter Christ [like Nicodemus, the
woman at the well and the blind man who received sight-John 3; 4; 9] to come to
understand and believe that Jesus is the source of life, light that enlightens all. People
who saw the miraculous feeding of five thousand remained on the level of mere material
food for which one hungers all the time; they did not move toward faith to believe that
Jesus is true bread of life, the wellbeing of the whole person, moving us to live a life in
loving union with God and others. ‘Eat my flesh and drink my blood’ is to accept the
whole person of Christ, his self-gift to us to live a gospel inspired life. In receiving the
eucharist, Christ’s presence in us helps us to personalize his teachings, and we are
already on the road to life with God.
Choosing love is to choose life! During Second World war certain Nazis killed some
Jews and buried them in a mass grave. One twelve year old boy was still alive. He dug
his way out of the shallow dirt and went around the neighborhood knocking at doors
seeking shelter. People knew what had happened and when they saw the boy caked
with dirt, they hurriedly shut the door in his face. One woman was about to do the same
when the boy said: ‘lady, don’t you recognize me? I am the Jesus you Christians say
you love’. The woman broke into tears and received the boy into her home. She had
made her decision for Jesus. A Celtic poem about bread: ‘Be gentle when you touch
bread. Let it not lie, uncared for, unwanted. So often bread is taken for granted. There is
such beauty in bread, beauty of surf and soil, beauty of patient toil. Wind and rain have
caressed it, Christ often blessed it. Be gentle when you touch bread’. This bread
represents, Jesus in the Eucharist and our fellow beings. If we care for Jesus we need
to be gentle toward others. Just as how we appreciate the beauty of bread and how it
nourishes us, be nourished by Jesus in the Eucharist and see Jesus in others who need
our care, healing touch!
Many abandon faith, leave the church confused by scandals, doubts and conflicts in
church. Paul’s reflections on husband and wife relationship must be model for our
relationship with Christ and church. It is not about domination but mutual love, respect
commitment to each other in good times and bad. In the Eucharist we let the divine take
possession of our life; our fear and doubt are transformed into an inner joy; we confess
we remain in Christ’s love in good times and bad. In our Eucharistic communion, we are
aware of what is happening within us: our run down batteries of life are recharged by
the eucharist, by the life giving presence of Jesus. If we accept Jesus’ invitation to
understanding and believing, our sharing in the eucharist unleashes God’s spiritual
force within us to embrace our world in love!