Gospel Jn 6:41-51
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.”
Homily
I am certain that all of us have heard of individuals who are sent to live with Australian aborigines so that they can learn how to survive in the Australian outback. The same thing happens in different ways in all societies. We have to be trained to survive in whichever environment we find ourselves. This is so because life is a journey which is normally long and fraught with difficulties. At times though there are persons who in their arrogance think that certain persons can teach them nothing and so resist the training offered. Such persons lose an opportunity to prepare themselves for the journey of life, in whatever field they may find themselves.
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The heart of Jesus was is and will be forever a heart overflowing with love for humanity and so in spite of the negative responses Jesus continues to teach. So he tells the crowd; “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.” This teaching of Jesus must have seemed to the crowd to be total madness and so Jesus emphasizes the necessity of faith without which it would be impossible to accept his teaching and arrive at the eternal life which Jesus, the Living bread gives to all who believe: “I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”
This is extremely important for us today. More and more, doctrine which the church teaches is questioned. Disciples of Jesus are called backward, are said to be out of touch with reality, and are considered enemies of progress. Faced with this reality many of us opt to keep quiet or agree with those voices which shower ridicule and disdain upon the church and religion, not out of any philosophical stance or after a profound search for the truth. So often the question is one of popularity, wanting to seem liberal or open-minded or simply running with the herd. Jesus was none of these things; he stood for the truth no matter how unpopular that truth was. Authentic disciples of Jesus Christ seek to imitate him, especially where truth is concerned. That is how the saints lived. Mons. Romero in El Salvador, gave his life for the truth. He defended the human dignity of the poorest in the land and fought for human rights. Mother Teresa did the same. You and I are called to the same stances. We will be able if we believe and if we accept that “Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven and who gives life to the world.”
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your Son, Jesus, always stood for the truth in spite of difficulties and danger to himself. Those who followed him closely also, under the inspiration of and with the power of the Spirit, followed his example and defended the truth always. Your truth is being attacked today. Help us, those whom you have entrusted with your Word to be harbingers of truth always. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and the same Jesus, your Son. Amen
