20.Saturday in Ordinary Time,Year b John 6,51-58

The secret of Eucharistic transformation …
We carry within us the desire for a long and happy life. Despite great sacrifices and hardships, we sometimes try to improve and extend this life. Today’s reading prompts us to ask ourselves: What is necessary for life? Food, air, water, good people, happiness, and life principles so we don’t hurt others and let others live. Is this recipe sufficient for a long and happy life? From the first moment our hearts begin to beat, a shadow falls on our lives. A shadow that cannot be removed in any way. A shadow that does not disappear even when the most beautiful sun shines. It is the shadow of our death, our transience, and our fragility. That is why our heart begins to beat stronger when we hear Jesus’ words: 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 body, sacrificed for the life of the world.

As the first reaction, a spark of hope awakens in us. But soon, another shadow appears: How is this possible? Isn’t Jesus wrong? Is his promise fulfilling? These questions have been introduced previously. The Evangelist John informs us that the Jews also argued among themselves and asked: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? It was and is, therefore, difficult to believe in the life-giving power of Bread, the Body of Christ, in the life-giving miracle of the Eucharist. Sv. John wrote his Gospel several decades after the events in Jerusalem. He only cared a little about the exact description of what Jesus did, when, and what he said. His main question was: Who was he? How long is He for me, for our community of believers? It is difficult for him to describe this secret in words. He is looking for images and concepts that can express what cannot. He also uses images such as light, living water, vine, shepherd, life, way, truth, and the body – bread. Of all the signs that Jesus did, John chose only seven. He tries to sort his memories, thoughts, and experiences around them.

However, he always knew that Jesus was more excellent than human words and comparisons. One of the signs was the miraculous multiplication of Bread. After this description of reproduction, St. John, here are the words we hear today. I am the Bread of life. Whoever eats this Bread will live forever. For the first listeners, they must have sounded particularly mysterious, incomprehensible, if not directly pictorial. These words were spoken by a young, thirty-year-old Rabbi who considered himself the Messiah and, what’s more, the son of God. After two thousand years of serving (performing) the Eucharist in different corners of the world, these words have acquired a slightly different meaning. However, they have kept their secret and mystery. The Eucharist, the Body of Christ, the Bread of Life – will only find a partial explanation and understanding in human language. In the encyclical on the Eucharist, the Holy Father John Paul II writes: In the Eucharist (…), the mystery of the resurrection becomes available. That is why St. Ignatius of Antioch described the Eucharistic Bread as “the medicine of immortality, the antidote to death.”

In a moment, a transformation miracle will occur on the Eucharistic table. Ordinary white Bread becomes the Bread that gives life. The invitation to this table is for all, although not all can or want to see the miraculous value of this invitation. God’s wisdom was already called in the times of the Old Testament: Come, eat my food, and drink the wine poured by me! Leave childhood, and you will live; follow the path of knowledge! Therefore, like the first Christian communities, we gather for the Eucharist; we speak to each other in psalms, hymns, and songs full of spirit; we sing and glorify the Lord in our hearts. And we always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Try and see for yourself how good the Lord is.