Last week the Feeding of the 5,000. A miracle, a sign. The enthusiasm of the crowds. Their desire to make Jesus king. His escape.
This week they come to find Him. He begins to teach them not to long for food that will satisfy only briefly, like the bread they ate, however miraculously given. They see it as a sign of the Messiah, following Moses ‘who gave them bread from heaven.’ This is what we heard in the first reading, how Moses prayed God to provide food for the hungry people in the desert. They received this truly miraculous bread, not knowing what it was. Man hu? They asked, meaning ‘what is that?’ Man hu is the origin of the name ‘Manna’.
Jesus encourages His audience to look deeper and further. For the true bread which the Father sends from heaven gives life to the world, not merely taking away their hunger for food here and now.
As our Lord said to Satan at the end of the Temptations in the Wilderness: ‘Man does not live on bread alone’. Here He teaches that truth to His own followers, those who had been impressed by the miracle of the Feeding of the 5.000.
Then they show that they are ready to learn what Jesus has to say: ‘Lord, give us that bread always!’
He replies: ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.’
He has not yet given them this bread which is Himself. That miraculous feeding was only a preparatory sign, that they could trust in Him. If He could do that miracle, then He could give them the bread of life, and moreover, He tells them that He is that bread from heaven. That bread He will give on the night before He dies on the cross, when He took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to the Apostles, saying: ‘Take this and eat it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.’
Note that Jesus speaks about the ‘Bread of life’ in this Gospel. He does not mention His presence in the other mode of the Blessed Sacrament, under the form of wine.
We talk about ‘the Real Presence’, but what does that mean? Christ does not make Himself into bread, but makes Bread into Himself. Communion is not something, but someone.
We must remember that He is completely present under the form of bread, not that He has turned into bread, or that He has given us bread as a mere ‘sign’ of Himself. So when we receive the Bread of Life, we are receiving Christ Himself. It is not as though there is bread here which has become in some way ‘holy’, or ‘blessed’. There was once a custom, common in France, in which the priest at the end of Mass would give everyone leaving the Church a piece of ‘blessed bread’. That is exactly what it was, a small piece of bread which he had blessed earlier in the Mass. It was simply a sign of fraternal union, that much and no more. It was not the Blessed Sacrament, it was not the Body of Christ.
Holy Communion is not like the manna we heard about in the first reading, which was a miraculous bread from heaven. Holy Communion is Jesus Himself under the form of bread. But what does that mean? This can easily be misunderstood. For instance, there are popular religious songs you may know, one of which says: ‘I am with you for all time, I am with you in this bread and wine’ and another which speaks of ‘the Bread of life, truth eternal, Broken now to set us free. The risen Christ, his saving power, Is here in Bread and Wine for me.’ This can easily lead to a misunderstanding. Because Jesus is not present in bread and wine: He is present in His own Body and Blood into which He has transformed what began as bread and wine. This is the meaning of those words our Lord says at the end of today’s Gospel: ‘I am the bread of life’. He does not give us what is just miraculous bread like the manna in the wilderness, but rather He gives us Himself.
For the Blessed Sacrament is the true Body of Christ not somehow present in bread; but rather by our Lord’s own words which the priest pronounces at the consecration, that bread which very soon will be brought up at the Offertory and placed on the Altar, will then be changed completely so that although it will continue to look and taste like bread, it is no longer that in reality, only in form or appearance.
The Real Presence and Devotion.
As the Communion antiphon says: ‘You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.’ How can we come to experience the ‘sweetness and delight’ of this wonderful gift? We must shape ourselves to receive that experience. How? The need to express and foster devotion.
For Devotion is something that grows with doing it. You cannot expect devotion to come from nowhere. We need to foster it within us. We need to deepen our awareness that we are receiving not something, but someone, and that someone is Jesus – God made man. All that He is He gives us in that small but complete presence, the host.
Silence in His presence outside of Mass time, especially immediately before and immediately after Mass. No place or time to chat! Receiving Communion with great care and recollection, if possible not in a hurry to move on. If you do have to move quickly, then when you return to your place, try hard to keep still and fan your devotion into a flame.
There is another way we can increase our devotion to our Lord truly present in the Blessed Sacrament: Adoration. We will appreciate this wonderful gift of the Body and Blood of Christ if we adore Him more often outside Mass time. When did you last spend time before the Blessed Sacrament in silent prayer of adoration?
And Benediction? When did you last come to adore Him as a preparation for receiving His blessing, and so learn more of the wonderful consolation of his presence in our midst? That, too, makes the experience of receiving Him so much more powerful and enriching.
Make A Comment
Comments (0)