Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor.
“Looking Ahead” is a our continuing series of reflections on the Sunday readings, curated by Father Perry.
By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor
The imagery that Jesus uses when he says, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” completely confounds the Jews. They don’t get it. They are thinking his physical flesh is food and they have been invited to eat that.
They don’t understand when he says, “I have come down from heaven.”
They are quick to respond, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we now know his father and mother?”
From beginning to end, they don’t get it. They don’t hear the invitation he is offering. They don’t hear the words of “everlasting life”; and “eating” this “bread from heaven” who Jesus is, listening to his word, hearing God’s voice in him, and recognizing the relationship of Jesus and the Father.
Jesus reiterates what the prophets have said —
“They shall all be taught by God.”
What Jesus is proclaiming — and this really is new — is that God is teaching, especially through him. He corrects their misunderstandings —
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him.”
We, as believers, have no problem hearing these words and accepting them. We believe that eternal life comes to us through Jesus. We live each day with that expectation. However, the spiritual truth that Jesus speaks is still so profound it is easily missed, even by believers.
It is not simply “in the eating” of ordinary (even healthy) food that the life of our bodies is prolonged and becomes more healthy. It is “after the eating,” after the food enters our mouth and is chewed and swallowed, that the real process begins. As food is digested, absorbed into the body, broken down, and the nutrients are separated out and passed through the body, that’s when we get the “life” that is in that food.
Simply hearing God’s word, simply eating the host, or simply drinking from the cup — all the ways in which we receive Jesus Christ — is not what gives life.
Mere listening, eating and drinking are not enough. It is, in a sense, the digesting of it as it enters our minds and hearts — where the real presence of Jesus Christ and everlasting life becomes ours.
It is in the receiving and digesting of this real presence that our deepest hungers and thirsts are satisfied. It is in this spiritual communion with Christ that the words of the prophets are fulfilled —
“They shall all be taught by God.”
Again, in today’s scriptures, we are loved by God through his Son, and in this love we find life — life eternal. Our response is not to murmur, but rather to praise our God for his everlasting love!
Quote of the week |
“A saint is not someone who never sins, but someone who sins less and less frequently and gets up more and more quickly.” — St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153).
