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19^TH SUNDAY, YEAR B: REFLECTION BY FR JULIAN EKEH

THEME: CHRIST THE BREAD AND THE BREAD MAKER

 (John 6:41-51)

The troubles and challenges of this life can make us pray God to take away our lives at one point or the other. But Jesus comes as the angel from God, as the messenger from heaven not to take away our lives but to give us a better life, to feed us and to nourish us for the journey ahead.

As Jesus comes, let us recognize Him, let us open our spiritual eyes and acknowledge Him, let us stretch out our hands to embrace Him, let us bring out our tongues to have a taste of Him. As we take our flight away from sin, let us rise to accept from the hands of the Christ, through His priests the bread He prepares for us through their hands in the Holy Eucharist. It will strengthen us to journey along with Him. It will help us to come back to confront the powers and forces holding us down, trying to clamp down our zeal for the things of the spiritual. The bread Jesus gives will help us to win and keep winning in the battles of this life.

Let us pay attention to the following Eucharistic disciplines outlined by our Lord in the Gospel of today since the Gospel affirms: "And they shall all be taught by God"

 

I AM THE BREAD

Jesus tells us that He is the bread. We should learn to see the Eucharistic Bread as God who took flesh. Let us not forget the name of God: "I Am". Thus the "I Am" is the Bread. The source of this Bread is Heaven, the abode of God. God wants to be eaten by Man to give man the life of God. What an amazing love!

Do you still recognize the divinity of Christ in the Holy Eucharist? Jesus is the One hidden in the sacred species. Let us give Him the honor that is His due. He is that Bread.

 

BEWARE OF WHAT THE BREAD IS NOT

When Jesus was teaching about what He is: 'The Bread' the people murmured: Is not this Jesus...?

He is Jesus and more. He is Jesus and Christ. He is Jesus the Son of God and of Mary. He is not just man. But He is God made man. He is Spirit that took flesh. He is not just natural but supernatural. He is not a flesh fallen in sin but a special flesh that gives life to our weak flesh, and life to our mortal bodies.

Let us not be like these people who now see the Jesus as mere man. Let us not be like the people who take the Eucharistic meal as ordinary meal. Let us not take the Eucharist as a memorial, but as: The Real. Let it keep drawing us to God and make us live ever in thanksgiving for what the Lord continues to do for us.

 

LET US EAT AND WORSHIP

The Eucharist was instituted within the Passover meal. After eating in the African setting especially among the Igbos, those who ate say: 'Thank You' to the one who fed them. The word Eucharist means, thanksgiving. As we receive the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us remain thankful to Him for being our food and nourishment. Let us worship and adore Him. Let us live in gratitude. Let our lives become inspiration for others. Let us not stop appreciating the life God gives us in Christ. Let us make the Eucharist our daily bread.

Let us approach God with humility and faith. Let us kneel, genuflect, bow and stand before the Blessed Sacrament in worship.

 

BENEDICTION

May God continue to lift us up, help us not to fall, feed us, hear our prayers and bless us in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Happy Sunday (19th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Yr B)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh