Sunday August 8, 2021 - Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - I am the living bread, which came down from heaven, says the Lord; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6, 41-51 

Through today's Gospel, Jesus reveals himself so that we may believe in the mystery of the Incarnation: the God who became man and who gave himself as food so that we may have life in him. The Jews are shocked by the words of Jesus who proclaims himself "the bread which came down from heaven", food which guarantees access to eternal life. For all of Jesus' teachings, faith is an imperative. Faith that is not satisfied with appearance, but brings us into another dimension, that of God where we welcome Christ, the living bread. It was this faith that the Jews lacked, they did not consider Christ as the messenger of God, but only a simple human. This unbelief can also happen to us, when our hearts are blinded, when we consider ourselves to be holders of the absolute truth and above all, when it is only the miracle and the extraordinary that push us towards God or make us the reason that we pray. Visions and miracles are not enough, we must accept to be led by God, so that we can welcome and love him.

Christ is for us a gift from God. He is the bread of life, the living bread that came down from heaven, according to Saint John. He who feeds on it, lives on heavenly things, and will neither hunger nor thirst for earthly things, but is in union with him and takes gold and already to eternal life in God, such is the mystery of the Eucharist, by which we communicate. May the Eucharistic celebrations, in which we frequently take part, not be a mere habit, but strengthen our faith in Christ who is the expression of the love of God. And may our communion with Jesus the Eucharist make us his fellow man, ready to give of himself for others.