BREAD THAT MAKES US CHRIST-LIKE

 “SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER”

Daily Spiritual Reflections

22nd April 2021

------------------------------------------------

THURSDAY, THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

Reading 1: Acts 8: 26-40 God sends Philip to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch in whom he has planted the seed of faith.

Gospel: Jn 6: 44-51 In his ongoing instruction on the Eucharist, Jesus emphasizes the need for faith: “he who believes has eternal life.”

------------------------------------------------

BREAD THAT MAKES US CHRIST-LIKE

Jesus declares himself as the ‘living bread come down from heaven’. Why would the Son of God call himself bread? The bread that is tasteless, soft and easy to be broken? The bread that could go foul tomorrow? The bread that is the food of the poor and hungry? 

Jesus calling himself as the living bread presents his humility in his mission of reviving the lost love of the people for God, by allowing himself to be sacrificed as the food of restoration. In the Old Testament, God giving his people manna was the sign of his providential care. Though his providence was always generous and unending, itis humankind that could not become worthy beneficiaries due to ignorance and sin. Thus, the Lord had to give his only son, the living manna, the incorruptible and spotless bread which would sustain man throughout his life. One who receives Jesus receives the food that would make one’s life meaningful, loving and happy. 

The relation the Lord has with the bread is not just an accidental or metaphorical one. It is the real and essential relation of his flesh with the bread. In stating that he is “the living bread which has come down from heaven,” the Lord asserts what he does during every Eucharistic celebration. In the hands of the priest, the normal bread gets transformed into the living bread - the flesh and blood of Christ himself! More than 2000 years have gone by. Yet, unlike the daily bread which only metabolizes to provide us the energy to live, Jesus the Living Bread transforms us to be like him. In receiving Jesus, we are given that bread, that would never make us hungry again for sin and apathy, but would fill us with Christian charity! 

Therefore, just as the Ethiopian, touched by the good news of Jesus, exclaimed, “What prevents me from being baptized?”, let us partake in the living bread Jesus and proclaim, “What prevents me from being Christ-like?

Res. Psalm: Ps 66: 8-9, 16-17, 20 Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Copyright ©2013-2021 ©Springs of Living Water by ® http://springs.carmelmedia.in