October 2014October 2014

WordWord

ofof

LifeLife

WordWord

ofof

LifeLife

"I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will

never thirst“ (Jn 6,35).

In his Gospel John narrates that Jesus went to Capernaum after the

multiplication of the loaves, and there, in His

discourse on the Bread of Life, He said:

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man

will give you“(Jn 6,27).

For those who were listening to Him it was evident that

He was speaking of the manna and was expecting a

“second” manna which would come down from Heaven

during the Messianic times.

Shortly afterwards, in

that same discourse,

Jesus presents Himself

to the crowd, which had

not yet understood, as

the true Bread come

down from Heaven,

which must be accepted

through faith:

“I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst”.

Jesus already sees Himself as bread. This is the ultimate purpose of His life on earth: to become

bread to be eaten, to become bread so as to communicate His life to us and to transform us

into Himself. So far the significance of these words, with its references to the Old Testament, is

clear.

Jesus says of Himself: “The

bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the

world” " (Jn 6,51b), and

“Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you“

(Jn 6,53).

It is the announcement of the Eucharist which scandalizes and puts off many

disciples.

Yet this is Jesus’ greatest gift to humanity: this intimate union with Him present in the sacrament of

the Eucharist, which satisfies body and soul and gives the fullness of joy.

When we are nourished by this Bread, we no longer hunger, in the sense that our every desire for love and truth is satisfied by the One who is Love itself, Truth

itself.

"I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst”

It is true, this bread nourishes us with Him already here

on earth, but it is given to us so that we in turn may

satisfy the spiritual and material hunger of the people

around us.

Christ is proclaimed to the world not so much through the Eucharist, as through the lives of Christians

nourished by the Eucharist and by the Word. They preach the Gospel with their lives and words, thereby

bringing the presence of Christ in the midst of men and women.

The life of the Christian community, thanks to the Eucharist, becomes the life of Jesus, and therefore, a life capable of giving love, the life of God to others.

By using the metaphor of bread, Jesus teaches us the

most authentic, the most “Christian” way to love our

neighbor. What does loving really mean?

Loving means “making ourselves one” with everyone, making ourselves one in what others want,

in the smallest and most insignificant things, in things that might not be very important to us but in

which they are interested.

Jesus gave us a stupendous example of this way of loving by making Himself “Bread” for us. He makes Himself

“bread” to enter into everyone, to make Himself edible, to make Himself one with everyone, to serve and to love

everyone.

So we too should make ourselves one to the point

of allowing ourselves one to the point of allowing

ourselves to be “eaten”. This is love, making

ourselves one in a way that makes others feel

nourished by our love, comforted, uplifted,

understood.

Text written by Chiara LubichText written by Chiara Lubich

“I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me will

never hunger, and whoever believes in Me

will never thirst “ (Jn 6,35).

“I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me will

never hunger, and whoever believes in Me

will never thirst “ (Jn 6,35).