St. Anthony & Our Lady of Fatima

Once again, we are listening to the discourse at Capernaum on the Bread from heaven. By now, the disciples knew that they had to make a choice, one that proved far from easy. “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” They took Jesus literally, following their own frames of reference. How do we cope with our own human nature, our own limitations? How do we manage our own emotional immaturity? Because what is at stake here is not so much Eucharist as sacrament, but us confronted by Jesus as heavenly Wisdom incarnate, God’s true revelation. That is one reason why this passage ends with many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. That is one reason why this passage ends with a confession from Peter on behalf of the Twelve: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Here is the stark choice. Do we stay with Jesus intentionally as Peter did and the Twelve, or do we go our own way as many are doing in our own days? Do we follow Jesus or do our own thing? Am I an intentional disciple choosing Spirit and Life in Christ? The choice is always ours.

There is a Oneness between God and Jesus, and this makes all the difference. Those who truly know God know Jesus as Son of God. At the end of last week’s gospel he said, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. The people’s, or rather their leaders’ murmured response opening our gospel today reveals more than a lack of awareness and understanding. It is part of a pattern of rejection: Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? In effect, how could he be the son of God? Jesus’s response is twofold. He first appeals to God’s authority as the one who sent him. Then he suggests that understanding who he is, is a matter of cooperating with God’s grace. Some, like the woman at the well, get it. Others, like Nicodemus, do not. There are those who have learned from God and are drawn to Jesus, drawn to the One who is the Bread of Life. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. Eucharist brings us to the heart of Trinity and the transforming dance of a vast, undreamed of, eternal Love. Manna was for a specific time. Eucharist is forever. Do we get the message? Or do we sit murmuring?

In the Jewish tradition the manna in the desert was associated with the giving of the Torah, and the wisdom of God is often portrayed by the metaphor of food.  While speaking of the bread of life, Jesus use language of believing, drawing near, and listening, terms associated more with assimilation of wisdom than eating.  Full participation in eating the body drinking the blood of Jesus follows upon personal commitment and love which draws a person to absorb the teaching of Jesus and imitate his life given for others.

Rather than continuing with Mark’s version of the feeding of the five thousand we turn instead to John’s account. John reveals the full significance of the event and shows us that the miracle is not only a work of power but a sign pointing to realities of another order, a sign that address our whole being, our whole identity, and every aspect of our personhood. He went across the sea of Galilee. He climbed a mountain and sat with his disciples on the green grass. A crowd spontaneously gathered with him on the mountain across the sea. All aspects of a mysterious sign unfolding in the shadow of the Passover feast. The request to Philip is addressed to all of us today. Unleavened barley loaves used for the offering are multiplied. Twelve baskets of fragments are collected. There is more than Moses and manna here, more than Elisha. Can you hear the soft echoes of Eucharist resounding down the centuries? Can you sense Jesus drawing us all into unity? Will you withdraw with Jesus to the mountain when they seek to make him king? Will you sit with him and the Father on the green grass of the Spirit?