Bread of Life
There is a phrase in Te Reo Māori: He mahi kai parāoa. It means that something is so easy, it is like eating bread.
Bread is such a familiar food, and for many a comfort food. Leave me alone in a room with a crusty white loaf and some butter, and it will soon be gone, and I’ll be a kilo heavier. Easy as.
Today is the third Sunday in a row of Gospel readings related to bread. This means that all the images of manna from heaven, Passover meals, and miraculous food multiplication should be percolating in our minds. On this Sunday, Jesus really spells it out: “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.”
I wonder how people reacted to this statement?
We can presume that his followers would be keen to eat of the bread that Jesus was referring to, whether they were confused by what he meant or not.
Yet we see in the reading that there were many who were skeptical of what Jesus says.
“Surely this is the son of Joseph”, they said. “We know his father and mother. How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven?”
We could imagine them asking, “Why is this guy saying he is a piece of bread and rambling about immortality? Who does he think he is?” Perhaps they think he's crazy, as we might if we pass someone on the street saying they are a fish or a casserole.
But Jesus meant it.
Early church writers like Justin Martyr found themselves defending the Church from rumours that the Christians were a cult of cannibals. These rumours were probably started by people who did not understand what Jesus meant, and it is difficult to understand.
Jesus wants to be taken literally; a few verses later he affirms “My body is true food. My blood is true drink”. He is setting up his new covenant in which all people are welcomed into life with the Father, by receiving the Son, the bread of life. Jesus becomes a new covenant and a new meal for the whole of the human family.
Partaking in that meal is easy: go to Mass. The bread we find at Mass is the ultimate comfort food, as this is the bread that leads to salvation.
Today's Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8 Psalm 33 Ephesians 4:30-5:2 John 6:41-51
Photo Credit: Zatletic Adobe Stock
Source: Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
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