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.” (John 6: 53)

  Let me state unequivocally that I, without doubt and in complete certainty believe that the Holy Communion I receive at Mass is, in fact, the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  While the wafer of unleavened bread and the cup of wine appear unchanged, their substance has been transformed into His body and His blood.  I have no logical explanation, just my faith in the words of Jesus Christ.

   I don’t trust in this truth just because the Catholic Church teaches it but because Jesus Christ taught it in no uncertain terms.  He specifically and clearly says that His body and His blood are true food (see John 6: 22-71).  I can see no other meaning for the words He spoke.  He was emphatic, direct and unwavering in His statements.  In my mind there is no room for question about His intent.

   Making this claim was surely abhorrent to many of those hearing it.  The thought of eating human flesh and drinking blood was disgusting to them just as eating human flesh and drinking human blood is disgusting to us today.

   So how do I reconcile the revulsion felt about cannibalism and the fact that Holy Communion is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ?  I accept it in the same way that I accept all of Jesus’ miracles.  I can’t understand bringing a dead man to life; but Jesus did it.  He walked on water; how are we to accept that miracle?  He cured incurable diseases with a touch and a word; He turned water into wine.  Each of these acts defy logic, common sense and the natural laws.  To our minds they are not possible, yet they happened.  That is the definition of a miracle; it can’t be explained by any means available to us; we must accept it on faith alone.

   If I deny that Jesus can change the substance of the bread and wine into His body, blood, soul, and divinity then I should look at all of His miracles in the same way.  They can’t be explained so they must not be true.  Yet most people don’t hesitate to accept the miracles Jesus performed except for this one.  The one that promises eternal life to those who believe is the one many reject.

   Some would say this was only meant as symbolism, but the scripture doesn’t support that.  Not once did Jesus waiver in His claim.  In fact, many of His disciples left Him because of this teaching (see John 6: 68).  Jesus did not call out to them and explain that He was just talking symbolically.  Rather, He let them walk away if they could not accept His teaching.

   Jesus will never force Himself or His teachings upon us just as He did not force them upon those who chose not to believe Him when He lived.  Those who chose not to believe were free to walk away, just as we have the choice to believe or walk away.

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”  (John 6: 56)