20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B: “From the Bread of the Word to the Eucharistic Bread”

From the Bread of the Word to the Eucharistic Bread

“The bread that I will give is my flesh.”
John 6:51-58

Today we listen to the final part of Jesus’ discourse on the bread, following the multiplication of the loaves. In the first part of the discourse, Jesus presented Himself as the Bread/Word that came down from heaven, provoking murmuring among the “Jews,” who believed that it was the Torah/Law that was the Word that had come down from heaven. In this second part, Jesus takes a further step, asserting that it is not only His Word that is bread, but His very person: “The bread that I will give is my flesh.” Something unimaginable! “The Jews then began to argue sharply among themselves: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?'” Jesus moves from the image of manna to the Passover lamb!

Jesus’ discourse becomes truly hard and scandalous for the “uncircumcised hearts” (Jeremiah 9:26). Far from softening the tone and mitigating the language, it seems that Jesus intensifies it. As a frame for this section of the discourse, we find at the beginning (v. 51) and at the end (v. 58) Jesus’ statement: “Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Then, four times, both in positive and negative forms, He reiterates the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood to have life: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” / “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

At this point, Jesus speaks in a very physical and blunt manner, leaving no room for a symbolic or parabolic interpretation. We notice a persistent emphasis on concreteness in the words used: bread/food/drink: 7 times; eat/drink: 11 times; flesh/blood: 10 times; life/live/raise up: 10 times. The Bread of the Word now becomes the Bread of the Eucharist, that is, the body and blood of Jesus, His humanity.

While Jesus was speaking of the Bread/Word, a symbolic interpretation was possible, like the Wisdom mentioned in the first reading (Proverbs 9:1-6). But here, it is not just about new doctrine or wisdom: “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” And this confounds His listeners. By adding “drink the blood,” the scandal is total because this was something forbidden, a sin punishable by death (see Leviticus 17). Naturally, His listeners could not understand this discourse, but the Christian readers of St. John could understand it very well. It is to them that the evangelist is addressing. This text, in fact, is a catechesis on the Eucharist, perhaps introduced into the Fourth Gospel at a later stage. And there were reasons to insist on the concreteness of body, flesh, and blood because, towards the end of the first century, there were Gnostic currents that despised the body and matter, risking emptying and denying the incarnation. This is why St. John is keen to insist that the Word became flesh.

Points for Reflection

1. The Eucharist: Symbol or Reality? Today’s Gospel invites us to reflect on the Eucharist. The risk of a purely symbolic interpretation of the Eucharistic elements of bread/flesh and wine/blood is ever-present. Putting aside the fact that various Protestant churches view the Eucharist as a symbolic act, it is not guaranteed that all Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, about 69% of American Catholics believe that the bread and wine are symbols, while only 31% believe in the real presence. Therefore, the majority is in stark contrast with the Church’s faith. It is to be hoped that the faith and awareness of partaking in the body and blood of Christ are common among those who regularly participate in the Holy Mass. However, according to St. Paul’s advice, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29). Each of us should look at that Bread placed in our hands and renew our profession of faith and love: “My Lord and my God!” There is, indeed, the danger of receiving Communion automatically and with a certain indifference, without the fervor of love and gratitude.

2. Dialogue Between Life and the Eucharistic Table. “Our life must dialogue with this table” (Card. Tolentino). If my life does not feel challenged by the Eucharist, something is amiss. The Eucharist offers us a different vision of life and proposes a different way of facing existence. The Eucharist is a program of life. In particular, we should ask ourselves if our domestic table is in harmony with the Eucharistic one, as a place of communion, dialogue, welcome, and solidarity…

3. The Eucharistic Bread as a Journey. We often speak of the Eucharistic Bread as nourishment that sustains us on our pilgrim journey. It would also be appropriate to see it as the Journey itself that leads us to the eschatological Banquet of joyful and fraternal encounter of all humanity, the object of our hope. This means that our daily paths should not be dispersive, leading us away or causing us to lose our way, but should bring us to the Sunday Eucharist. A Christian life without the compass of the Eucharist easily becomes aimless wandering, eventually leading to a labyrinth!

P. Manuel João Pereira Correia, mccj
Verona, August 2024