Month: April 2021

Can you imagine? In today’s First Reading, we hear of Peter traveling, performing miracles, changing people’s hearts, and people having conversions of faith.  After seeing these kinds of miracles, or hearing them from your friends and family, it would be so much easier to believe. All the proof, the first-hand witness, is right there in front of you. That seems simple enough, right? 

Well… maybe not. 

During the season of Easter, we get to spend quality time with the disciples and Christ Jesus. We get to relive exactly how they felt about Jesus’ resurrection, complete with the awe, the shock, the terror, the… total disbelief. We, again, are reminded that the things that we take for granted as biblical facts, were kind of crazy at the time. 

Today’s Gospel picks up right after Jesus tells his followers that they will need to literally eat him, Jesus, to attain eternal life. Ya know, like the best thing since sliced bread. 

The disciples are, unsurprisingly, concerned with the fact that NO ONE is going to accept this, especially as a core belief. I just imagine a man sitting behind Jesus spitting out his wine, the women in the crowd exchanging looks, and Saint John saying, “I’m sorry, we have to what??” 

John’s Gospel puts it mildly, saying that “many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’” to which Jesus replies, “Does this shock you?” (John 6:60,62). In reality, I’m sure there was a large uproar because I don’t know about you but, yeah, I definitely would have been shocked, even if I HAD already seen Jesus rise from the dead and perform miracles. 

Of course, Jesus recognizes that this sounds like a lot and knows that he will lose many followers, yet he does not change his stance. He does not say, “Oh, too weird? I was kidding. It was a test.” He then asks the twelve disciples, “Do you also want to leave?” 

Occasionally, we are asked this same question. Maybe it’s the loss of  a loved one, the loss of a job, or the loss of faith.  I know there have been times when I asked myself, “Do you want to leave?”

But when you remember, truly remember, everything that God has given us, all the hope, all the love, all the forgiveness… I can only hope that you, like myself in the past, answer in Simon Peter’s words: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). 

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How ironic, I am writing this reflection on the Bread of Life—the Bread that comes down from heaven, the Living Bread, and Flesh for the World—in Adoration with my belly rumbling from hunger. Although all I have to look forward to satisfying that hunger with is a gluten, dairy-free meal replacement bar, I sit eagerly awaiting my first opportunity to eat it. Even a little excited at the coming relief, knowing I will not have to suffer from these hunger pangs much longer. Anxious for this hunger to be taken away, clearly anything would suit me if I’m excited for my less than tasty meal replacement bar. I might even eat liver if that were my only option.

In John 6, also referred to as the Bread of Life Discourse, the Lord begins to reveal to us the beauty and mystery of His giving of Himself in the Eucharist. The words that come to mind as I meditate on John 6:44-51, may be brought on by my hunger, are those from the Lord’s prayer, “give to us our daily bread.” Acutely aware of God’s goodness, that He who created me would not only take care of my spiritual needs but my temporal as well. Daily, no day left, in which He does not think or desire to provide for me. And bread makes perfect sense, as it is a food we, even us gluten intolerant people like myself, find a way to incorporate into our diets. As the Catholic Church’s Catechism (2830) states, “The Father who gives us life cannot but give us the nourishment life requires—all appropriate goods and blessings, both material and spiritual.”

It is incredible how impatient I can be when hunger overtakes me, unwilling to postpone satisfaction until something more substantive comes along. Willing to settle for imitation food instead of holding out for the real thing, even if that meant I’d have to deal with my grumbly tummy and suffer a little longer. I do this in my spiritual life as well, when I become hungry for something to quelch my discomfort, willing to accept false gods of food, entertainment, or drink. Instead of trusting in the fulfillment of the One who truly satisfies. The scraps instead of the feast. The Bread of Life gives me abundant life and the hope of eternal life, though I may need to suffer and, yes, even hunger. 

Here I sit before the True Food, in the presence of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of my Lord, Jesus Christ, yet I am distracted by hunger. How many things in the world around me distract my attention from Jesus, with empty promises to pacify my discontent. However, for most, the consolation will have faded before the consumption has even been completed. My challenge is to remain eternity-minded, to look up and out for nourishment, knowing He who created me will never abandon nor forsake me and will always provide everything, material and spiritual, that I need.  

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