Our Daily Bread - Season of Joy

Jesus said to the crowds,

"I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

But I told you that although you have seen me,

you do not believe.

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,

and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,

because I came down from heaven not to do my own will

but the will of the one who sent me.

So we are in the long discourse of Jesus in the 6th Chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus has multiplied the bread and the fish, he has fed 5,000 people with food left over. He has appeared to his disciples at night, in the midst of a storm, walking on the water. He has uttered, in his own voice, the divine name to his astonished apostles – “I AM, do not be afraid.” And now he speaks to the crowd that has come to Capernaum searching for him.

We are approaching the mid-point of this great discourse on the miracle of the multiplied bread. I want to explore this theme of bread. What did Jesus want his audience to understand and what might he wish for us to hear anew today?

In our opening verse today, Jesus says to the people, “I am the bread of life.” In saying so, he is ascribing to himself a meaning he has just excavated from an Old Testament story. He has said that the manna described in the book of Exodus was not bread from Moses, but it was the bread from heaven, given by the Father. It was the bread of God which descends from heaven to give life to the world.

The people respond: “Lord, give us this bread always.” That’s verse 34.

This is the question that prompts Jesus to say: “I am the bread of life.” I want to stop there. When Jesus says this – I am the bread of life – we need to hear him to picking up on the meaning he just teased out about the bread of God. Putting verses 33 and 35 together – we should hear Jesus say: “I am the bread of life which comes down from heaven to give life to the world.”

This is a beautiful Theophany all by itself. We can think of Jesus standing in our midst and saying, in all gentleness: I am the bread of life which comes down from heaven to give life to the world.

But there is another point I want to draw out of this exchange. The people’s question to Jesus – what does it remind you of?

“Lord, give us this bread always.”

In the people’s minds, they are asking each day to be given the bread which descends from heaven to give them life. Jesus responds that he is this mystery that descends from heaven to give life to souls. He is the life-giving bread. He is the bread of life.

What I want to underline is that this question, this prayer of the people, is our own daily prayer. It’s the fifth line of the Our Father. When we ask the Father for our daily bread, at the deepest level we are asking Him for the bread of life. We are asking for that which descends from heaven and gives life to our souls. We are asking for Jesus, in His Word, in the Eucharist, in His presence mediated through the Holy Spirit.

If this is not obvious to you yet, consider this little detail. “Daily” is not the only way to translate the original Greek word used here to describe the bread. That Greek word is epiousion. St. Jerome, who translated the Bible from Greek to Latin, translates epiousion as ‘supersubstanialem’ – supersubstantial, or supernatural. Origen and St. John Chrysostom translate it as ‘necessary for existence’ because ousios denotes substance or existence. Anyway, when we ask in the Our Father for ton arton emon ton epiousion, it is fitting to understand that we are asking for supernatural bread, for the bread we need for our existence, the bread which comes down from heaven to give life to our souls, the Bread of Life. Jesus Himself.

A brief prayer to close:

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, you are the bread the life, the bread we need each day. The bread which comes down from heaven to give life to our souls. Have mercy on us sinners. Give us this bread today and always. The bread of life. Your own presence in our hearts. Amen.