In todays Gospel from the Gospel of John we hear Jesus’ speech on bread. He speaks on bread and on life. We believe that Jesus our bread, our life and our salvation. The bread which Jesus means is not only a food material which we daily need. Jesus had once taught his disciples to pray for daily bread. This prayer for daily bread namely the prayer which Jesus taught, the our father, we pray in every Eucharistic celebration and in many of our gatherings.
The speech of Jesus is much more than a speech on bread. The small piece of bread about which Jesus speaks and which Jesus gives unites uns with God and human and intensify our relation to God and fellow human. It fosters love and care. We are invited to receive this bread and to live always in deeper relationship with God and fellow human.
Christians call this bread Eucharist. Eucharist means thanks giving. We speak of thanks giving because we are grateful for this gift of bread and its effect.
In the history of Christianity we have been convinced of the special effects of this bread. It has been recorded by several people and in many occasions. There are descriptions, as well as  places and centers in different areas of the world where the effects of this bread were seen. There were many people who were healed physically and spiritually with this bread and such healings still happen today. There were also people like Niklaus of Flüe, who seems to have lived for several years only with the Eucharist without any other food. Today, many people still experience healing, reconciliation and God’s power during the Eucharist. Eucharist is the bread of love, the bread of friendship, the bread of thanksgiving.
Therefore Jesus talks about life when He speaks about this bread. Love, friendship and gratitude increase the quality of human life. But the life that Jesus means here does not only refer to the earthly life. The life that Jesus is talking about is the eternal life. Eternal life is not an extension of earthly life. We cannot extend our earthly life forever. The eternal life is a new life, a life with God. Jesus promises this new, the eternal life to those who eat his bread and drink his blood.
We can understand the question of the Jews as to how Jesus can give his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, because the Jews only thought about earthly life and food. But the bread and meat of Jesus Christ are much more than food. Bread and meat in Jesus’ sense are life, love and thanksgiving. That’s why Jesus talks about hope, eternal life and the resurrection when he talks about bread, flesh and life. Jesus also talks about a life with God the Father. We have eternal hope and eternal life only with God the Father. Our life, love and friendship, our food and drink, everything has meaning in relation to life in God with the Father.
The Eucharist, the Bread of Life, can help us to live with God the Father, in love and friendship with Jesus Christ his Son and with people, the children of God. Every day we can be grateful that God is leading us. At every Eucharistic celebration we are allowed to receive this bread of thanksgiving and love and to have a deep spiritual relationship with God.
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS