'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' - John 6:41
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41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' 42 They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven"?' 43 Jesus answered them, 'Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught by God." Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.'
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' 53 So Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.' 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?' 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, 'Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, 'For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.'
66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, 'Do you also wish to go away?' 68 Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.' 70 Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.' 71 He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him
Reflecting on the Gospel. Moments after He had performed the miracle of feeding thousands of hungry, women and children, with only 5 barley loaves and 2 fish to the amazement of the crowd who proclaimed Him to be a prophet who came into the world, Jesus openly declared to His closest friends that He was the Bread from Heaven and whoever eats of His Body would live forever. It was a bold revelation of His Divinity and plans to bring the Father's Salvation plan to fruition, through His Sacrifice, Death & Resurrection. And the true form of worship that would take place in every Holy Mass in every parish around the world, where Jesus' Body (in the form of bread) would be broken in the Eucharistic celebrations.
Reflecting on my own conversion experience from Buddhism to Christianity when as a young Christian, a Catholic friend brought me to my first encounter with the Blessed Sacrament in an Adoration Rm. I had never encountered anything as beautiful as being in the Holy Presence of Jesus (in the Eucharist). As a result of that first encounter, I began to make regular visits to the Adoration Rm, just to sit quietly in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. That ultimately led me to take the step of faith to enroll in an RCIA program in the Church of St. Vincent de Paul (a parish near my home) and was finally embraced into the Catholic faith in 2014. It was a day of great joy as I sat with my godparents and the Catholic friend who had brought me to my first Adoration Rm experience.
I will close my short sharing with this great teaching from St. Paul about our attitudes towards Holy Communion: 2 Cor 11:27-32: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world."
As a closing prayer and worship, I offer this beautiful hymn Behold the Lamb. It is a song that reminds us of Christ's most holy and perfect sacrifice each time we step up to the Table of the King. Amen
Behold The Lamb
Verse 1
Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us: and we remember:
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
Chorus
So we share in this Bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice,
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.
Verse 2
The body of our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Torn for you: eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life,
Paid the price to make us one.
Repeat Chorus
Verse 3
The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you: drink and remember
He drained death's cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God
Repeat Chorus
Verse 4
And so with thankfulness and faith
We rise to respond: and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth
Repeat Chorus
Singer: Stuart Townend
Reflection on John 6: 41-71 by Chris Tan
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