It’s already been four Sundays since we began reflecting on the Gospel of John’s Bread of Life discourses. Next weekend’s Gospel is the last of these discourses. The next time we will hear them again in the liturgical cycle is in three years. These Bread of Life discourses are really meant to reinvigorate and deepen our understanding and faith in the Eucharist. These discourses were the “straw” that broke the camels back for those early disciples who regarded Jesus simply as a miracle worker. The disciples who were passionate and gung ho in following him around when he was performing miracles were the same disciples who abandoned him when Jesus started to reveal who he truly is. These disciples became uneasy and troubled when they started hearing from Jesus his “ I am the bread of life” statements. They eventually deserted and disowned Jesus based on this revelation.
Only the twelve apostles remained.
It should not be surprising then that our belief in the Eucharist is the most central piece of Catholic faith, being the source and summit of Christian life. The Eucharist for us is not just one of the things that we do as a community. Rather, it is the most important single act of faith that makes the Church as she is because in the Eucharist contains the greatest treasure that our faith could possibly possess or hope for: Christ himself. So when Christ reveals himself as the “bread of life”, he is basically telling us that it is in the Eucharist where we truly enter, in the deepest way possible, in our communion with God and with another. There is no greater union with God in the earthly realm than to receive him in the Eucharist.
It’s easy to fall into the same disbelief of the “pseudo disciples” of Jesus’ days when one is not really convinced of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The real test for this is by asking oneself: Do I truly believe that the Eucharist is the most important gift that I can possibly receive? Is Mass a priority for me? Is my spiritual disposition important for me in my preparation to receive Jesus in the Eucharist? How excited are you in partaking in the Eucharist? For those who are convinced of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ is worth dying for, but for someone who doesn’t understand what it truly is, it is simply a piece of bread, or a symbol that can be skipped depending on our own schedule or convenience.
Having the disposition of the latter is to have the same attitude of those early disciples who walked away from Christ when he revealed himself as the “bread of life.” – Fr. Cary