"Bread of Life; Bread for the World"

Today's Mass Readings

Today’s reading from the Gospel of John is a great example of how God provides for us. The crowd following Jesus is hungry, so He multiplies bread and fish. Everyone is satisfied, and what’s more, there’s a surplus of food. This text clearly points us toward the Eucharist. John lets us know that the time of the Passover is near. At the Passover meal in the Last Supper, Jesus takes bread and wine and identifies the bread and wine with His body and blood. As the Lamb of God, Jesus’ body would have to be eaten, just as the Passover lamb’s flesh was to be eaten. Right after this passage in John’s Gospel concerning the multiplication of bread, we find the Bread of Life Discourse, where Jesus explains that He is the Bread of Life that has come down from heaven, and that His flesh must be eaten and His blood must be drunk. Moreover, the multiplication of bread also reminds us of the manna which God rained down from heaven when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt.

Later, in this same chapter, at the beginning of the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus explicitly compares Himself to the manna, the bread from heaven. At Mass, Jesus’ body and blood is multiplied for us, is made present for us, under the appearance of bread and wine. It is the Eucharist which nourishes us spiritually. What better way to celebrate the Easter season than to receive Christ in the Eucharist? The Eucharist unites us to Jesus’ incarnation, life of service and thanksgiving (Eucharist means thanksgiving), Jesus’ death, and His resurrection, all in one. Furthermore, the Eucharist prepares us to live out the gospel in our own lives.

However, the Eucharist would be incomplete it we, like the disciples in today’s Gospel passage, do not feed the hungry. Starvation is a real problem in today’s world. By our participation in the Eucharist, it becomes our obligation to fulfill both the spiritual and physical hunger in the world. Only our generosity can multiply bread today for a hungry world.