The Miraculous Bread, the Bread of Life

“He looked up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave the bread to the disciples, who in turn gave the bread to the crowd.” (Matt14:20) The multiplication of loaves and fishes is an image of our communion with Jesus and each other. 

It is an image of what happened and what happens now. It is a blessing and an obligation. It is a gift of Self and a gift from oneself.

It is a changing of compassion into action; it is a changing of crowd into community. It is a changing of bread into the Body of Christ. It is real. It is a union of Jew and Gentile-5000 on the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee, 4000 later on the west side of the sea.

 
It is a union of Savior and saved; of Christ giving and apostles not imaging they had anything to give away to anyone. It is a meal for friends and a meal that fulfills and transcends all others. 

It looks back to the Old Testament and looks forward to the institution of the Eucharist. It remembers the manna from the desert and the true bread of satisfying food. It goes from satisfying to another to being satisfied in oneself. It remembers Isiah's prophesy ( Is55:1-3) of the covenant with Israel and the everlasting covenant of Christ. 

It is the greater power of Christ rather than the power of Elijah and Elisha to multiply food for sustenance. It is a miracle, a sign: it goes from known to knowledge of something unknown and greater than that known. By “blessing”, “broke”, “gave” to the apostles and all were satisfied, Eucharist was made known and understood. 

Man goes from knowledge of loaves and fishes to knowledge of Christ as Son of the living God. Bread is transformed, so too man is transformed, changed. It is indeed a miraculous bread.

Bread of Life- the Mystery of the Eucharist

Jesus in Capernaum, reveals the mystery of the Eucharist, the transformation of bread and wine, Christ becoming present in the Eucharist- "a change of the whole substance of the bread into the body of Christ, our Lord, and a change of the whole substance of wine into His blood." (Catechism of Catholic Church #1376)

Several times Jesus compares the true Bread of Life to manna the Israelites received in the desert, a material bread to sustain them physically. Now Jesus is asking for a commitment of faith from his listeners to believe that He is the real food for sustenance to the soul for eternal life; food that man must eat, or literally chew.

From His "living Father"(Jn6:57), Christ has been sent and lives, so too we will live. He is the Living Bread and the Cup of the new Covenant offered on the altar of the cross. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (Jn6:50-51)
What should be man’s thoughts as one comes to receive the Lord in communion? Profane reverence, gratitude, honor are His due; man has many faults and sins surrounding himself to prevent full communion. All man can offer is himself, humbly acknowledging his unworthiness and God’s goodness. Man can give Him praise, thanking Him for His kindness in giving man this food of Himself.

Man’s prayer comes from Ignatius of Antioch. “I only want God’s bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, and for drink I crave his blood, which is imperishable love.”

Mary, the Mother of the Good Shepherd

Mother, the heart of the family, Christ the heart of Christian faith, are honored on Good Shepherd Sunday.   It is a day worthy of celebration; a day of love, a day for remembering, a day for family.

Jesus belonged to a culture where family life was highly prized; family was a divine creation.  In Deuteronomy, father was a priest in his home; every Hebrew mother secretly hoped her son might be the Messiah.  Jesus himself lived at home for most of his life where his mother taught him the tenets of Jewish beliefs.

Jesus and his mother taught by example.  At the wedding at Cana, Mary asked her son to help with the couples’ plight, just as she often intercedes for us.  She did not wait for Jesus to answer, but instead told the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn2:5) and the water in the water jugs was transformed into the best of wine. A reciprocal love between mother and son, between Mary and Jesus, Mary and humanity, ensued.

Mary, the first Christian, first believer of Christ, was given as our mother on the cross on Calvary: “Woman, behold your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” (Jn 17:25-27)  Here is an example of filial love, of her union with Christ and us.  Mary, always following the will of the Father remains forever in her calling as Mother, forever reminding us of the love of Jesus for us.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, loves us as his mother loved and cared for him.  Christ, ever faithful, loves us his smelly, poor, hungry flock as only God could: without barriers, without conditions.  He loves us sickly, imperfect people, unable to heal ourselves, needy for Love, wanting true peace and hope as we go about our work, the work He intended for us from all eternity.

Jesus lived among shepherds and sheep; they were common around Bethlehem.  His listeners knew the relationship of love, trust, care, between a shepherd and his flock.  They knew the shepherd slept at the gate entrance, guarding the flock against intruders.  We are the flock of sheep.  Jesus tells Simon Peter :”Feed my sheep.”(Jn21:17)Again He says, ”Feed my lambs.”(Jn21:15) and again, “Tend my sheep.”(Jn2116)

Sometimes we, like sheep, need to be carried; we need to be healed; sometimes the sheep fail to follow the voice of the shepherd; always the sheep need to be led by our faithful Shepherd.  “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”(Jn10:6-9)

Christ, the gate, the pathway, the physician, the Way, is our Good Shepherd.  He says, ”Follow me(Matt8:22),  showing us how to be good shepherds to our flock, to be an active presence to our community, our world.

We too can be Christ’s good shepherds; we the people of his flock:

Us, being receptive to His voice: ”Love one another, as I have loved you.”(Jn15:16)

Us, disciplining ourselves through prayer and fasting;

Us, training to become His disciples;

Us, open to the Spirit’s words of wisdom.

Us, able to listen to His calm loving voice in the midst of a noisy world;

Us, discovering the best in man, looking as Christ did beneath man’s surface façade.

Us, making our world one; us, not being divided into “us” and “them;

Us, working together for the good of all, the good of all the flock, of all the earth;

Us, making a continual act of will, giving up self, to nourish the flock, to show love to all;

Us, detaching ourselves from all that takes us away from the Shepherd;

Us, being fed by His bread and scripture, becoming God-filled vessels going forth into a weary world that is bellowing like sheep in a shepherd-less crowd;

Us, being led by the Good Shepherd.

Presentation of Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple

Life in the Jewish community, at the juncture of BC and AD, was centered in the temple.  The temple was a place of sacrifice, an offering of rams, bulls and doves to a monotheistic God who guided man from the mountaintop.  God was seemingly far away, but now was the dawn of new life:  God was coming down from above; God was being made known as a man in all ways of life but sin.  God was coming down to earth; God being born to a virgin woman, living among man in a loving Jewish family where life centered on the temple.

God in his wonderful plan of salvation for man uses that which is familiar, that which is known; God uses circumstances into which each man is born to further his divine plan.  Here, the “temple of life “acquires new meaning.  Here, Mary dedicates her life in the temple; she is led along the path of the temple by virgins with lights.  This is the prelude of the coming of Light into the temple of the womb of a virgin who has dedicated her life to him.   This is the foretaste of new life; the light of the world comes into Mary’s body, soul and heart. 

This is the Mother of God coming to do Your will; the beginning of her lifelong gift of self- “let it be.”   This is the new temple where “Obedience is better than sacrifice; and submission (better) than the fat of rams.” (1Sam15:22)

The presentation of Mary reminds one of another later presentation in the temple- that of Jesus.  Jesus, presented by his parents as was Mary, is given over to the world.  He is dedicated to loving man, to do the will of His Father, to teach man of His heavenly father, to bring God down from the mountainside into the heart of man, to dwell in man, into man’s very depth of man’s being.

Man’s gift of faith received, given to man by Mary and Jesus by their love and obedience to the Father.  Their love inspires man to journey with Jesus and Mary, to follow the perfect path where they trod, a path leading to the temple of eternal life.

      II         Who is Jesus

Son of God, one person, two natures

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your will.”

(Luke1:38)

A single “yes”, by a single person of faith, her free choice to become an instrument of God’s plan of salvation changes man’s future and is the culmination of man’s wanderings to see and know God. Now man sees the face of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  Man is finally able to know God through His Son, Jesus; to know not just intellectually, but with the eyes and heart of one with a full commitment to the Word.

 Mary, whose human body generates new life in her womb, becomes the “new temple”, the “new sanctuary.”  It is she who protects, loves and nourishes the babe who will be the Savior of the world- the Redeemer who comes to bring all people back to the Creator.  With her ready acceptance of the unknown, her unwavering faith, her great love of God, Mary stands for man who has been waiting for the coming of the Messiah. She is man at his apex, man most perfect before God, the one most worthy, “full of grace.”

Mary’s Magnificat is her reply, is our reply; Mary’s hope is our hope; Mary’s love is our love; Mary’s joy is our joy; Mary’s journey toward birth, is our journey of faith.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

“(The people) brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. “ (Jn9:13)

 
We live by our beliefs day in day out, whatever our beliefs may be. Our words, our actions, our demeanor, tell others who we are. Our “outsides” project our “insides.” No clearer picture of faith, of beliefs can be seen as in the miracle of the blind man cured. On one side Pharisee Jews who were arbitrators of the Law of Moses; the other side, Jesus the Christ and His new disciple.

Pharisees, exclusive in membership, the elite of religious ideology, using cause-effect analysis, having tunnel vision, can only see a beggar who must have sinned, and Jesus, by curing on the Sabbath, must also be a sinner.

The blind man suddenly freed of his outward disability, no longer sees himself as an object of pity; he is transformed into a strong defender, a disciple of Christ. His heart and mind opened to faith in the one who gave him sight; faith not only by reason, but a faith filled with love and compassion; His faith formed by a relationship with Christ.

Humanity is at a pivotal point in history; a confrontation of old and new, of Jewish morality and Christianity, with Jesus seen as true authority, able to open our eyes, our minds and hearts; minds able to process facts more clearly as to who God is.

“Give God the praise,” speak on your oath.

“I was blind before, but now I can see.”

It is undeniable testimony, uncompromising fact, all other assumptions are no longer valid.

The Pharisees become the one blind. Real answers, real interest, real purity of heart, does not matter. Reduced to using intimidation, even insult, the Pharisees cannot give authority to Jesus as the one who opened the blind man’s eyes, and thus the One of God. Closed to seeking truth, they see Jesus only as a threat to their authority.

And what is Jesus’ response? He welcomes all into His love, His arms; arms which will open wide on the cross. He welcomes all into His side from which blood and water will flow out. He welcomes all into His kingdom, “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.”


The people brought the one who was once blind on a journey to Christ. All life is a journey; a journey to somewhere, to someone. Life is a journey with many bends, several dips in the road, a few mountainous terrains, some straight level stretches, but always flowing forward like a river.


While life is a physical journey, it is also a spiritual journey, a pilgrimage with other pilgrims. As followers of Christ, we welcome each step as it becomes an act of faith and hope. Each step with our Shepherd necessitates a compulsion to know, to understand what it means to follow His divine will. It requires one to slow down… to think… to write… to relearn… to leave behind some preconceived ideas, one’s habits… to seek guidance, maybe even rescue… to change in order to become Christ’s disciples, not just followers. Becoming, moving on a path toward Someone, transforms us into strong, vocal, living disciples of Christ.

Even loved ones may question us. Are you crazy? Are you sick? Laughter comes from another. To continue this quest for a lifetime, enduring hardships, loneliness, moving toward a sunrise of heavenly light is possible.

All journeys have an end, a final resting place. As a disciple of Christ, our destination, our everlasting dwelling, our homeward bound place, will contain us and all we have become, united with Love.

Jesus Christ, coming to earth as part of God’s plan us on a quest, a journey, a pilgrimage back to God; a journey foretold in Deuteronomy 1:32-33. “I am the Lord your God. I am going to prepare a place for you,” ... and I am in the Father, and the Father is in me” (Jn 14:3-10) and …”You are in me and I in you.”(Jn14:20)