OT XIX [B] I Kgs 19:4-8, Eph 4:30–5:2, Jn 6:41-51

In today’s First Reading Elijah is dejected and ready to give up when it seems his mission has failed and his life is in danger. Forty days and nights before reaching Horeb Elijah had worked a great sign showing the Lord was God, had overthrown a veritable army of false prophets, and witnessed the end of a long, punitive drought that was imposed on the unfaithful Israelites. Despite this, his life was in danger, and it seemed the evil and infidelity in Israel was as strong and powerful as ever, spearheaded by queen Jezebel, who pledged to kill him after he’d humiliated her prophets and pagan religion. The Lord takes the initiative and encourages him, sending him food and drink, persisting when Elijah was not ready to get up and continue to Mount Horeb to consult the Lord.

That nourishment and encouragement sustained him for a long journey, just as Our Lord, through the Eucharist, nourishes us and encourages us in the journey of life.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord tells the incredulous crowd that the Father called and prepared them even before he was sent so that they would believe that he indeed is the Bread of Life.

It’s difficult for the crowds to understand this teaching: they know Jesus, where he is from, who his parents are, so it’s hard for them to believe he has come down from Heaven.

 

Jesus packs three momentous lessons into this discourse on the Eucharist in today's Gospel passage.

First, he points out the mystery of faith, that no one can believe in him "unless he is drawn by the Father."

If they open their hearts to the Father, the Father leads them to take the next step. They must believe in his Son, not just as a sure guide in their pilgrimage to eternal life, but as their nourishment to be able to undertake the journey. Faith in Christ is God's gift, no one can conjure it up on their own, in a chemistry lab.

When we look at the small white Host, no scientific test can prove that Jesus Christ is truly present there, body, blood, soul, and divinity. And yet, we know that he is; we have been given the gift of faith. This is why the priest says, after the consecration at each Mass: "Let us proclaim the mystery of faith."

Second, this faith in Christ leads to "eternal life."

Later in the Gospel, Jesus tells us that eternal life consists in knowing "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom [God has] sent" (John 17:3). In Biblical language, "knowing" implies deep interpersonal intimacy, the kind of relationship we all yearn for.

Third, Jesus himself is the "bread" of this eternal life, its source and sustenance. Without bread, without food, physical life perishes. Without Jesus, without his "flesh for the life of the world" in the Eucharist, our life of intimate communion with God will perish. It's that simple - and it's that crucial. Eleven times in this discourse Jesus speaks of himself as the bread of life; he's really hoping that we'll get the message.  The gift of faith gives us access to eternal life, and the Eucharist makes that life grow within us

 

We accept and believe this on faith, but it is not a blind faith. God supports our faith in many ways. He knows that the culture of this fallen world is constantly trying to erode our faith. And so, in his wisdom and according to his providence, he sends us miracles, sometimes dramatic, to give our tired faith a turbo boost.

The history of the Church is full of Eucharistic miracles. Recorded miracles include hosts that survived fires, hosts that started to bleed during Mass, hosts that lost their appearance of bread and transformed into flesh... But some of the most remarkable signs God has given us regarding the Eucharist has to do with Holy Communion. Through the centuries, there have been many saints, both men and women, who have lived for entire periods of their lives just on the Eucharist. They took no food or drink, but only received Holy Communion every day.

Christ is the fullness of life and meaning that we all hunger for, and the Eucharist is Christ's real presence. This is what our faith teaches us.

Faith is connected to the Eucharist because it reveals Christ's presence to us, but it is also connected in another way. Physical food nourishes our bodies simply by the act of eating. Our digestive processes take over as soon as we swallow our food. We don't have to think about it; our attitude doesn't help or hinder it.

Not so with the spiritual food of the Eucharist. If we receive the Eucharist out of routine, in a distracted frame of mind, then we will not receive all the grace that God wants to give us.

But if, on the other hand, we receive the Eucharist with the right dispositions, God's grace will have more room to act, strengthening our souls and making our spirits grow.

As we pray before the tabernacle, for example, or as we come forward to receive Holy Communion, we should activate our faith, consciously stir it up. We should focus our attention as completely as possible on Jesus Christ, the living bread who has come down from heaven to be our spiritual food.

This week, let's take some time to reflect on the relevance of the Eucharist for our personal spiritual life and seek to know Christ and to share that personal knowledge of him who died to make himself present in the Eucharist, with others.