The Bread Come Down from Heaven
Aug. 11, 2024
This Sunday we continue our reflection on the Bread of Life Discourse, in chapter six of the Gospel of St. John. Jesus’ listeners are offended that He calls Himself the bread that comes down from heaven. They claim that they know Him and have known Him since childhood. They know His mother and father. How can He claim to have come down from heaven. They are scandalized.
Jesus tells them to stop murmuring. “Murmuring” is the word used in the Scriptures to describe the Israelites when they complain against God and Moses in the desert. He goes on to say, “I am the bread that came down from heaven; Your ancestors at the manna, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and may not die…. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
We are now entering into the more Eucharistic part of the discourse, where Jesus is making it clear that they must eat His flesh if they are to live forever. They are horrified. Blood was considered sacred to the Jews. It represented life itself. For this reason, they must carefully drain the blood from any animal that they were to eat. And if they touched blood, that of others or their own, they were made unclean and must undergo purification rites before they can participate in the services at the synagogue. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus was unthinkable.
The Eucharistic Revival that the Church has celebrated over the past couple of years is intended to support the faith of the Catholic people, to help them to embrace the reality of Jesus’ Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. We must each continually ask the Lord to give the grace that we need to truly believe and honor Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
—Fr. Mike Comer
This Sunday we continue our reflection on the Bread of Life Discourse, in chapter six of the Gospel of St. John. Jesus’ listeners are offended that He calls Himself the bread that comes down from heaven. They claim that they know Him and have known Him since childhood. They know His mother and father. How can He claim to have come down from heaven. They are scandalized.
Jesus tells them to stop murmuring. “Murmuring” is the word used in the Scriptures to describe the Israelites when they complain against God and Moses in the desert. He goes on to say, “I am the bread that came down from heaven; Your ancestors at the manna, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and may not die…. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
We are now entering into the more Eucharistic part of the discourse, where Jesus is making it clear that they must eat His flesh if they are to live forever. They are horrified. Blood was considered sacred to the Jews. It represented life itself. For this reason, they must carefully drain the blood from any animal that they were to eat. And if they touched blood, that of others or their own, they were made unclean and must undergo purification rites before they can participate in the services at the synagogue. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus was unthinkable.
The Eucharistic Revival that the Church has celebrated over the past couple of years is intended to support the faith of the Catholic people, to help them to embrace the reality of Jesus’ Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. We must each continually ask the Lord to give the grace that we need to truly believe and honor Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
—Fr. Mike Comer
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