For the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
So they said to him,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life…”
John 6:32-35
I always “wake up” to words of Jesus that reference his Father. His Gospel, and especially as recorded by St. John, is full of such references of the unity of the Father and Jesus, the Son.
Here Jesus is giving his listeners, and readers like us, a little history lesson. The people are asking for a sign, like Moses performed. But Jesus reminds them that Moses had not the power in himself, it was always God’s power that provided the manna in the desert years ago. It was physical food to nourish the body. And it was all a foreshadowing for God the Father’s bigger plan in sending Jesus—who came from heaven to give life to the world.
Christ is now talking about his very self as food, the “bread of life.”
Are we taking this in? As we will see, there are many listeners who missed the point.
Thank you, Father in Heaven, for preparing my heart and mind to receive the gift of the Eucharist, the gift of your Son.
