Father Boniface Hicks, a Benedictine monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa., swings a censer in front of the monstrance during Eucharistic adoration July 19, 2024, at the third revival night of the National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. OSV News photo/Bob Roller
Listen to this article now
1 Kgs 19:4-8
Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Eph 4:30-5:2
Jn 6:41-51
Food advertising is everywhere. From television to social media platforms, in grocery stores and restaurants, from food commercials to nutrition labels, we are surrounded with information about food.
The marketing of food is a billion-dollar industry that encourages brand loyalty, even as consumers are invited to try the new and latest food products. Certain foods evoke memories and connect us to people, places, and events. Food shapes and transmits culture and is an essential part of the fabric of daily life.
In today's Gospel, we hear Jesus say, "I am the bread of life come down from heaven." Those who first heard him were puzzled by his teaching. In our food-saturated world, Jesus' words may be puzzling as well. As we think about food that satisfies our physical hunger, do we pause to reflect on our spiritual hunger? As we enjoy healthy foods, do we search for the spiritual food that will satisfy the deepest human longings for peace, love, and union with God and one another? Does the concern for food that nourishes the body match the desire for spiritual food that sustains the soul?
The Eucharist is a gift that transcends all forms of spiritual nourishment. With eyes of faith, we see and taste the goodness of the Lord in the gift of heavenly bread. In faith we recognize that Jesus offers to us the gift of his very self, his life given to the point of death on the cross for love of the world. Jesus, the bread that comes down from heaven, offers to each one of us nothing less than God's abundant love. In this divine love we find our peace, security, and the origin and goal of eternal life with God.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that God alone satisfies the deepest hungers of the human heart. Jesus, the bread that came down from heaven, draws close to us in his sacred body and blood in every Eucharist so we might taste and see the goodness of the Lord, as the psalmist acclaims in today's responsorial psalm.
Just as our bodies need nutritious food, we need divine, spiritual food for the journey of faith. Today's Gospel invites us to hear Jesus' words and to respond in faith as we long for and receive the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist that leads us to pray in confident faith, "Speak to me, Lord."
Question: How does the experience of Jesus' presence in the Eucharist change your spiritual life?
- Jem Sullivan holds a doctorate in religious education and is an associate professor of Catechetics in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.