I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE!!!

Dear Parishioners

On this eighteenth Sunday in ordinary time, Jesus the Son of God teaches that he is the bread of life, the bread that offers eternal life. After feeding 500 people in last Sunday’s gospel, they set all out looking for him. Eventually they found him in Capernaum with his disciples. They did not hesitate to ask him, “Rabbi, when did you get here”? (John 6:25). For Jesus this question exposes their inability to understand the message of the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish. 

They were looking for Jesus because of the loaves of bread they ate the previous evening. Our Lord called them out for their misguided motivation, they ought to have been looking for him for his ability to give them eternal life. You will recall that last Sunday, Jesus fed the crowd by miraculously multiplying food that nourishes the body. The scriptures tell us that Jesus knew that they wanted to make him king so he escaped from them. They were so much overwhelmed by the satisfaction the food gave them that they came out the next day to look for him.

A good teacher will always go from the known to the unknown. Jesus actually aimed at getting them to understand the difference between food for the body and food for the soul. The difference between ordinary food and spiritual food . Jesus intended to use this means to advance his teaching on the Eucharistic meal. At some point in their dialogue, it appeared the crowd was open to understand his teaching. They enquired about what they could do to accomplish God’s work. But upon realizing that by accomplishing God’s work Jesus meant believing in the one God sent, they sought for further clarifications.

As they discussed further, they made reference to the manna eaten by their ancestors in the desert which they erroneously believed was given to them by Moses. Jesus clarifies this by getting them to understand that it was his heavenly Father who provided them with manna from heaven. And as God provided manna for their ancestors in the desert so is he providing them with food for eternal life. Jesus later reveals to them, that he was the bread from heaven, the bread of life which he gives us in the Holy Eucharist. May we hunger for Jesus who gives us eternal life in the Holy Eucharist and may we continue to enjoy his company every day.

Fr Vincent Nnatuanya, CSSp