I am the living bread that came down from heaven

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Kgs 19:4-8

Strengthened by that food, he walked to the mountain of God.

A reading from the first Book of Kings

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
   until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
   “This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
   but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
   and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
   but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
   touched him, and ordered,
   “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank;
   then strengthened by that food,
   he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

The word of the Lord.

Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. :

℟. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
   his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
   the lowly will hear me and be glad.

℟. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the LORD with me,
   let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
   and delivered me from all my fears.

℟. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
   and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
   and from all his distress he saved him.

℟. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

The angel of the LORD encamps
   around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
   blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

℟. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Walk in love, just like Christ.

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians

Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
   with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
   must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
   forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
   as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
   as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Jn 6:51

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jn 6:41-51

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
   “I am the bread that came down from heaven,”
   and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
   ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
   “Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
   and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
      They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
   except the one who is from God;
   he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
   whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
   this is the bread that comes down from heaven
   so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
   whoever eats this bread will live forever;
   and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection

Today’s Gospel reading presents us with two contrasts. It begins with some Jews who knew Jesus and began to grumble about him because he said: “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” The Jews were quick to say that Jesus was the son of Joseph. They knew his parents, and they could not understand how Jesus was saying such things. This shows how the crowd overcome by prejudice assumed that since they new his parents they also know everything about Jesus. This could be the reason why they did not take Jesus seriously. We can also see how our limited knowledge of Jesus can prevent us from becoming more familiar with Jesus. At this point we are also challenged: what does it mean if I know about Jesus, but I do not know Him?

The fact that Jesus declares that he is the living bread shows that Jesus’ identity is more than being the son of Joseph and Mary. Jesus is speaking about who he is. He is inviting us to a relationship of profound intimacy. Instead of his parents, whom the crowd were familiar with, Jesus speaks about his Father. It is the Father that leads us to his Son. Here Jesus is inviting us into a relationship with Him and the Father, and the Father is inviting us into loving union with Him. This relationship certainly goes beyond what we can imagine. The divine relationship that Jesus is inviting us to is more profound and transcends the image of Jesus we have.

Here we come to the second contrast. In the Old Testament, God sent manna to the Jews to eat in the desert. However, this bread did not give them eternal life. The Israelites rebelled and complained and fell into sin many times. They were searching for comfort and material happiness in this world instead of the hope and the joy which comes from being led by God to a new life. Jesus reveals that in Him there is the fullness of salvation. He is the bread that gives eternal life, an interpersonal life that never ends. The Father is inviting us to participate in the divine life of unmeasurable love, through Christ, who is one of us. Through the Eucharist, God feeds us with the Bread of Eternal life and leads us in our journey from this life to a completely new life in him. A life that gives our sufferings and difficulties meaning and hope. Through this relationship, our life in this world with our complexities is given meaning. It is the present that will lead us to a glorious future if in this present life we get to know and accept Christ, and through him the Father.

Prayer

Lord, help me to respond fully to your invitation, by going beyond what I can see and all that glistens. Help me to remember that a profound relationship with you is an invitation to an unmeasurable love, a love that restores dignity to each person.

Lord, I thank you for the Eucharist. Help me to appreciate more the total gift of yourself to me, a total gift that lovingly leads me back to the Father, my creator.

Lord, I ask you to fill me with your Spirit, to enable me to share your love with those I meet in my life, so that I can give them the hope of your profound love which goes beyond what the world offers. Amen.

 

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