"The man who feeds on this Bread shall live forever."

        
Liturgical readings


Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58

"The man who feeds on this Bread shall live forever."


At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, He called the people to believe in the gospel and reform their lives. His promise of eternal life has a condition: we believe in His word, reform our lives and follow Him. The work of reforming our lives and amending it, according to Christian values, also needs food. This is why Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is here that we receive God's Word, and the Bread that nourishes our soul. It is the Word of God in the Mass and the Sacrament of the Eucharist that lightens up our path to God once more, so that our steps are clearly directed toward living the Christian life where we live and work.


The Word and the Bread in the Eucharist gives that strength and quality of faith need to make life truly worth living. For in the spiritual journey, this faith can get tested and tried with so many situations our human condition can give. Maybe one's faith may not be tested and tried as great as that of biblical character Job, but it can nevertheless feel like being "crushed to the ground". Even with such experiences, we always have access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Despite the struggles we all have to go through, Jesus in the Word and the Sacraments, in the priest and our community, is always there for us. It is us who oftentimes sometimes forget that these resources are always there for us. We only need to take that effort to go to Confession and to go to Mass regularly again.


Life is fleeting. And times flies fast. Those who experienced death in its many forms and had time to reflect on the One thing necessary are fortunate. When the days of adversity arrive again, they know the best Person to run to: Jesus in His Presence in the Sacraments and in the Catholic community. We only have to look to the example of Christ. Though He was God, his humanity had to undergo the pain of the Cross and the mortality humanity has to experience: death. But He showed us the way of faith in God. And because of His faith and obedience, the Father brought Him back to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is this quality of faith that we are called to have. We can have this same quality of faith if we remember to be humble, call to God in prayer and in the Mass, and do something about our situation in life. The Bread that we receive in the Mass gives us that faith to "live forever" in God.