I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (cf. John 6:1-15) led to what has come to be known as the bread of life discourse (John 6:22-71). After having their fill of the multiplied loaves and fish, the people started to warm up to Jesus. They wanted more of what he had done. They even wanted to make him their king so that he could become their security. They were now ready to become his followers. While Jesus appreciated their new-found enthusiasm for him and for what he was doing, he challenged them to warm up to him for something bigger than bread. Jesus wanted them to open their eyes and see the real bread that he had come to offer them. Jesus didn’t mind meeting their need for physical bread; his mission constituted of this (cf. Luke 4:18-19). However, even as he provided bread for them, he also wanted to satisfy their real hunger. As human beings, our needs are not limited to bread that satisfies our physical hunger (man does not live on bread alone). As beings created in the image and likeness of God, a life of happiness with God (eternal life) - which includes our fill of bread - is our real need. And it is this that Jesus has come to offer us.
When Jesus says that he is the bread of life, he is inviting us to open our eyes in order to see in him the opportunity to finally realize the goal for which God created us: a life of happiness with God (life in its fullness). Because of the sin of disobedience to which our first parents introduced us, this final end of our life has become elusive. As such when Jesus says that he has come to give us life in its fullness (cf. John 10:10), he is referring to this gift of God. Whereas it is true that we cannot talk of the fullness of life when there is a lack of bread to fill our bellies, fullness of life consists of much more. Take as an example the current situation here in the United States. The latest reports indicate that the economy is doing better that it has in recent times. The unemployment number has gone down, and with each month that passes, more jobs are created. This should be good news to our ears, for coupled with the tax breaks that we were recently given, there is more money going into our purses. Such good news should translate to a kind of happiness that is seen in the happy faces that we wear. But sadly, that is not the case. As it stands now, we are not feeling the effects of a growing economy. And the reason for this, I can boldly say, is that we spend all our energies working for bread that perishes.
We definitely need the economy to be better, and we thank the Lord for that. Jesus is still interested in providing for our physical bread. However, we have not taken Jesus’ offer to work for the living/eternal bread, and as such, we cannot enjoy the physical bread that we have before us. In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us of why this is so. We cannot enjoy our fill of bread if we are full of bitterness, anger, hatred for the other, malice, and name calling. Instead of building bridges and reaching out to each other as we work for the common good, we have resorted to burning the bridges that connect us as citizens of one country. Instead of seeing in the other someone who can complement my shortcomings and help to build me up, we have come to see the other as a threat that must be eliminated at all costs. We spend our energies hating each other instead of showing love. We spend our days perpetuating hatred and reminding each other of the wrongs we have committed instead of reaching out to the other in forgiveness. The presence of these vices, St. Paul tells us, points to the absence of the Spirit of God in our communities. We have kicked God out of our lives. We claim we do not need God and that we can manage without him. Unfortunately, we cannot. We just have to look around and see what is happening to know that we need God in our lives. We need God in this country. And it is to this God that Jesus has come to direct us.
Jesus is the bread of life because he has come to show us how to do away with all the vices that have come to prevent us from enjoying our fill of bread. He is the bread of life because he has come to show us how to live as brothers and sisters even as we strive to preserve the relational bonds that tie us together. Jesus does this by calling upon us to live in love, compassion, forgiveness, and bearing with one another.