“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)
Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant by this? How is he the bread of life for us, and what kind of “life” does he give? Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household, has this to say:
“The Fathers of the Church took the example of physical nourishment to explain this mystery. It is the stronger form of life, they said, that assimilates the weaker and not vice versa. The vegetable world assimilates minerals, and animals assimilate vegetables, and the spiritual assimilates the material. To those who receive him, Jesus says: ‘You shall not change me into your own substance. Instead you shall be changed into me.’
“Food is not a living thing and therefore cannot give us life. It is a source of life only in that it sustains the life we have. The bread of life is a living bread, and those who receive it live by it. So while the food that nourishes the body … is assimilated by the body and forms human blood, the complete opposite takes place with the bread of life. This bread gives life to those that receive it, ‘assimilates’ them,
and transforms them into itself. …
“Christ calls himself the ‘bread of life’ precisely to make us understand that he doesn’t nourish us as ordinary food does, but that, as he possesses life, he gives it to us…. To say that Jesus ‘assimilates’ us in communion signifies, in fact, that he makes us similar to him in our sentiments, desires, and our way of thinking; in a word he creates in us ‘the mind that was in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2:5).”
Keep these points in mind the next time you receive communion. Make it a point to offer yourself to the Lord. Give him your challenges and your sins as well as your gifts and treasures. Let him assimilate you and transform you into himself. You won’t lose your freedom or your identity. On the contrary, as you lose yourself in him, you will find even greater freedom and dignity. You’ll find the life that he wants to give you!
“Lord, come and live your life through me. The world needs to receive your mercy, wisdom, and power, and I may be just the person you are asking to give it
--that in all things God may be glorified--
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