I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. (John 6:35)
I am the bread that came down from heaven. (John 6:41)
Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. (John 6:53-54)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
Can't you just imagine the people's murmurings? "Hold on, Jesus! We know who you are and where you came from. What do you mean, you came down from heaven? What do you mean you are the bread of life? How can we eat your flesh and drink your blood?" How sad that they had such a limited vision of him! This is probably what St. Paul meant when he cautioned the Ephesians against grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). Surely the Spirit was urging these people, "Don't minimize what you've seen Jesus do. He really is the bread of life. Believe, and you will be transformed and have eternal life."
How blessed we are to have Jesus Christ himself as our strength and nourishment for the daily battles we face. For us, the battles lie within-battles against fear, pride, ignorance, and even complacency in our quest to become pure in heart and clothed with Christ
On the night before he was crucified, he gave us his body and blood so that we could be filled with his strength and his divine grace. How privileged we are to receive it every time we receive the Eucharist! And how hard it can be to believe that we can experience transformation each time! God wants to work within each one of us at every Mass, filling us with courage, strength, and faith. With his very life at work within us, we now have an ability to love and forgive that goes beyond the limitations of our fallen human nature. But it can be so easy to "grieve" the Spirit by having much lower expectations of ourselves than God himself has.
When you approach the table of the Lord, what do you expect-healing, pardon, comfort, rest? These are all parts of the gift of the Eucharist, but God has a much higher and more powerful agenda-transformation and union with Christ. Just as bodily nourishment restores our lost energy, the Eucharist is meant to strengthen us in love and heal us of disordered attachments to created things.
Jesus wants to do more than sustain our earthly lives. He wants to transform our very hearts into his. In the Eucharist, he invites us to find life in his body and blood. As St. Thomas Aquinas once said, the Eucharist is a "security deposit for our coming glory" (O Sacrum Convivium). St. Ignatius of Antioch called the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (To the Ephesians 20,2).
Many disciples who heard Jesus' teaching on the bread of life could not accept it. Why would they need his flesh and blood to have life with God? They already had their Temple and the Law of Moses. But Peter summed up the answer: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Just as Yahweh was the Israelites' only hope in conquering the Promised Land, so too is Jesus our only hope in living a life of purity, love, and freedom. So when you receive him at Communion, know that you are receiving something far more powerful than meets the eye. Jesus wants to transform you from the inside out. He wants to empower you to walk in this world with the same confidence and authority that he had when he walked the earth. Today and every day, Jesus calls to you, "Raise your sights! Let my body and blood transform you! I have so much I want to do through you!" May we all be transformed into the One who offers himself to us so generously!
"Lord Jesus, I want to grow closer to you. Take my life – transform me and fill me with your presence and joy as I receive you in Holy Communion. Fill me with a new light, a deeper longing, and a clearer belief. Lord, I need your grace to walk in wisdom each day. Send your Holy Spirit to open my eyes to the nourishment you offer me in the Eucharist."
Many thanks to The Word Among Us for allowing us to adapt material from daily meditations in their monthly devotional magazine. Used with permission.
Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men
1. The Second Vatican Council called the Eucharist "the source and summit of the Christian life". The Greek word "Eucharist" itself means "thanksgiving". How thankful are you for this great gift of Christ.
2. In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, prior to Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, the Gospel relates the story of the multiplication of the loaves, which itself prefigures the Eucharist. The bread in this story sustains earthly life, while the Eucharist sustains us for eternity and is the full manifestation of Christ's boundless love for us. It is a meal we share together as Catholics, a sign and cause of unity. What steps can you take to deepen your experience of Christ, and his transforming love for you, when you receive the Eucharist?
3. Many of the followers of Jesus found his teachings on the Eucharist too difficult, and so left him to return to their former way of life. St. Peter speaks for all of us when he says there is no one else to whom we can go because only Jesus has the words of eternal life. In what ways do you as a Catholic man find yourself vacillating between your former way of life and following Jesus wholeheartedly?
4. In this session, we read these words: “Jesus wants to do more than sustain our earthly lives. He wants to transform our very hearts into his. In the Eucharist, he invites us to find life in his body and blood.” We are also told that “Just as bodily nourishment restores our lost energy, the Eucharist is meant to strengthen us in love and heal us of disordered attachments to created things . . . Jesus wants to transform you from the inside out. He wants to empower you to walk in this world with the same confidence and authority that he had when he walked the earth.” In what ways have you experienced this transforming work of the Lord through the Eucharist? In what ways can you allow the Lord to go deeper in this inner work of transformation? Share some specific examples of how you have been transformed by the Eucharist.
5. The session text ends with these words, “Just as Yahweh was the Israelites’ only hope in conquering the Promised Land, so too is Jesus our only hope in living a life of purity, love, and freedom. So when you receive him at Communion, know that you are receiving something far more powerful than meets the eye. May we all be transformed into the One who offers himself to us so generously!” Do you believe that there is power in the Eucharist to transform you into the image and likeness of Christ? Why or why not? What steps can you take to increase your expectancy when you receive the transforming power of the Eucharist?
6. If you are in a men’s group, end your meeting by praying for one another using the prayer at end of the session article as the starting point.
