Jesus is Truly the Bread of Life that Strengthens Us

08-08-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Anthony Okolo, C.S.Sp

Elijah in the first reading of today presents a very despairing situation as a result of the challenges he faces in his ministry to the point that he prayed for death. However, instead of granting his request God sends him heavenly nourishment through the angels to keep him going. There are times we are confronted with life challenges that like Elijah we become so depressed that we may have prayed that God take our life. The good news is that the angels are never far from us when we face such life challenges. The angel of God comes as well to provide us the strength we need to embark on the journey of life but recognizing the angel depends on how open we are to see them in moments of trials and difficult situations. Paul in the second reading calls our attention to certain things we must get rid of in our life so as to enrich our relationship with God and one another. According to Paul. “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting and reviling must be removed …forgiving one another as God has forgiven us”. The truth is that resentment, bitterness and anger not only create a big barrier in our relationship with God but are capable of harming our physical health and even at times affect our internal organs. Anytime we allow bitterness, unforgiving spirit and anger to take hold of us we chain ourselves and refuse to unlock the chain to set ourselves free.

The Gospel presents us with the encounter between Jesus and the Jews. They had been fed the previous day and they return again hoping to be fed again but Jesus challenges them not to work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life. They immediately demanded to be given such food so that they would not need to be coming back again and again. At that time Jesus tells them “I am the Bread of life that came down from heaven. This became a surprising shock to them and they could not understand how Jesus could make such a statement. That is why they murmured and asked themselves, Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph. Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, “I am bread that have come down from heaven.”

The Jewish doubt at the time of Jesus has not changed with some of the doubt of our time. The problem of the Jews then was over familiarity with Jesus and they could not understand how this man they know very well would say that he came down from heaven. In the same way, a lot of people including Catholics still question if Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Some doubt the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This situation has equally led to the poor reception of the sacrament. The truth remains that Jesus is truly present in Eucharist and we can only see it with the eyes of faith.

Elijah was strengthened by the food sent to him by God for the journey so also the Eucharist strengthens us for our journey of life. Jesus is truly the bread of life that came down from heaven and only those who believe in it and eat it with faith will get the nourishment it gives. For us to benefit from this bread of life, we need to examine how we prepare ourselves to receive him. Preparing ourselves well to receive Jesus in the Communion with love and devotion makes a great difference to what Christ can do for us and in us. The first thing is to believe that it is Jesus full, whole and entirely that you receive in the Eucharist. If we receive him without preparing ourselves worthily, without giving Him a second thought, without using the occasion to talk with Him, thank Him, ask Him for what we need, it is no surprise if Holy Communion does not seem to bring much change in our lives, to give us this marvelous nourishment and strength to go through difficult times, to make us better and more loving persons. Let us begin afresh from today to receive Him with love, devotion and a strong belief that Jesus is present in the Eucharist.