Sunday, Aug. 1
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35
The crowd had followed Jesus from Tiberius across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. With five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus had fed five thousand men not counting women and children. Their bellies were filled. They were amazed. They wanted more.
They could not help but recall another time the people were fed. The Lord had taken the people out of Egypt. Between Egypt and the Promised Land, between slavery and freedom, there was desert. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink, only death in the desert sands.
Each morning they awoke to find manna, bread from heaven, on the ground. Each morning for forty years without fail the Lord fed them until they reached the Promised Land. Just as the Lord had fed the people in the desert on the way to the Promised Land, Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish. Jesus eyed the crowd’s hunger for more. He set them straight. “I am the bread of life.”
An article on the history of bread on history.com explains that bread is the most widely consumed food in the world. Bread is an important source of carbohydrates. Portable and compact, it has been an integral part of the human diet for thousands of years. Bread was central to the formation of early human societies. From the western half of Asia, where wheat was domesticated, cultivation spread north and west to Europe and North Africa. Nomadic tribes gave way to permanent communities made possible by wheat baked into bread. Villages became towns, trade grew, and modern civilization was established. Similar developments occurred in eastern Asia with rice and in the Americas with maize.
I had dinner at an Italian restaurant. While we waited for our order, the waiter brought out slices of toasted sourdough bread drizzled with butter. The slices of bread disappeared in minutes. Bread is not only necessary to civilization. It is delicious.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35). Jesus is the true bread come down from heaven. In word and sacrament, he gives us life. He satisfies our hunger and thirst.
During the pandemic, many who could not come to Mass took part in spiritual communion. They viewed Mass online and said their prayers. They would be the first to say that spiritual communion was not even the proverbial half-a-loaf. More than a few coming back to Mass have told me, “Father, I so missed Communion.” The Body of Christ is the true spiritual nourishment that our souls must have to live.
By the way, Christ said, “I am THE bread of life.” He did not say, “I am A bread of life. You can choose rye, wheat, or white. The important thing is that you choose.” No. Christ is not one bread among many. “I am THE bread of life.” There is no other.
To take to prayer: Read Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John while spending a holy hour in front of the tabernacle.
Father David Scotchie is pastor of Nativity Parish in Longwood.
"bread" - Google News
July 29, 2021 at 02:05AM
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'I am the bread of life' | Sunday Word | thefloridacatholic.org - Florida Catholic
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