Every three years, the six Sundays from the end of July to the end of August showcase a continuous and uninterrupted reading from the Fourth Gospel —chapter 6, the Bread of Life Discourse.
John’s Gospel situates the teaching on the Eucharist in Galilee and not the Last Supper in Jerusalem.
Following the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Jesus says to those he just fed: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51).
The Second Vatican Council describes the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium 11).
The Eucharist is transformative; we are recreated. The People of God make the Eucharist, and the Eucharist makes the People of God.
Eucharist is an action, a work. We do Eucharist at the altar and we do Eucharist in our daily lives.
“This is what we are called to be: to become what we eat, to become “Eucharistic”, that is, people who no longer live for themselves. (cf. Rm 14:7) We do not live in the logic of possessions and consumerism, but rather people who know how to make their own life a gift for others. When we cultivate bonds of fraternity, when we participate in the suffering of our sisters and brothers and share bread and resources with those in need, when we make our talents available to everyone, then we are breaking the bread of life, like Jesus” (Pope Francis, June 2, 2024).
Father Steve Adrian
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