In the Gospel, Jesus is called the Bread of Life, meaning a source of nourishment shared for all. Jesus calls disciples to be nourishing as well. Helping to nourish people, physically and spiritually, is a basic ingredient of discipleship in Christ. As author Monika Hellwig wrote, disciples learned that to be true to Jesus they “should touch the lives of the hungry of the world with authentic and generous compassion, drawing on the bread of life that is Jesus, to become themselves bread of life for the needy.”
Touching other people’s lives with authentic and generous compassion is always shown to be more true of those who are poor or in need than those who are wealthy. Wealthy people are usually busy acquiring money and using people to get it. People of average and lower economic status tend to live lives of basic interdependence. We understand each other’s needs and share what we have with each other. A life of being poor and interconnected can thus be an expression of discipleship in Christ that is not valued by people who are wealthy. Unfortunately, people who are wealthy exert considerable influence within institutional christianity, negatively so. Their negative influence is apparent in their ridicule and rejection of Pope Francis’ recent communications. Pope Francis has been critical of wealth. For example, in the Joy of the Gospel he writes, discipleship “means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty … as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter.” (#188) Also, “(L)oving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person … Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor.” (#199) Those who are rich will likely not eliminate structural poverty, be in solidarity with or accompany the poor if current institutional church practices continue. Current practices reflect social exclusion and inequality. Rich Christians (an oxymoron) are out of touch with poor ones. It is rare for rich people to be in touch with poor people even when they gather to be nourished by the Bread of Life. The average church in the U.S. reflects the empire’s division of rich from poor.
The truth of Jesus as the Bread of Life is that we are all one Body, nourished together. Eucharist is not an extraordinary ritual to commemorate a past event but rather a daily communion in which we are nourished by a generous Creator so as to be ourselves generous nourishment for others.
Prayer: God of all Goodness, thank you for the nourishment we are given every day.
Question: How do I experience myself as being the bread of life?
June 22, 2014 Gospel John 6:51-58 Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ