All three scripture readings today point to Jesus. In the first reading from Exodus 16, it talks about God giving the Israelite community, Bread from Heaven. In the Gospel from John 6, Jesus had just fed 5000 people and now the people were searching for Him for more food. Jesus tells them…
“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
Of course hearing that, the people wanted this special food that Jesus would give them that would endure forever. I am pretty sure they might have thought that they would never need any food again. But Jesus tells them…
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
St. Paul in His letter to the Ephesians 4 does not specifically mention bread but he does mention the importance of following Jesus, the Bread of Life when he tells them…
“that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”
I think that the best way for me to follow St. Paul’s advice as a Catholic is to eat the Bread of Life as often as I can. That would be the Eucharist which we believe to be the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus which if I am in a state of grace, I can receive daily at every Mass. When I hear the words of Jesus that He is the Bread of Life, I think of the Eucharist. Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ that are not Catholic may think differently. I also know that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament reading today from Exodus that He is the true Bread from Heaven. May the “Bread of Life” have mercy on us all, Amen.
Seeking To Reflect Jesus 