JESUS, THE GREATEST CAREGIVER

Caregivers are very much in demand nowadays, especially for babies, elderly people, and handicapped persons. But all of us, and not just these categories of care-needing people, are in need of “comprehensive care,” not just of food, clothing and shelter, but especially of acceptance, respect, affirmation, encouragement, and love. The one who is always ready and willing to satisfy all these needs is Jesus Christ, our greatest “Caregiver,” our Redeemer, and “Bread of Life.”

Our Sunday Eucharist is a privileged manifestation of Jesus’ immense love for us, as He makes himself our spiritual nourishment, the source of our wisdom and strength. It is also for us an opportunity to express our gratitude to him and to the Father for the most precious gift of the Eucharist.

Jesus said to the crowds: “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.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

BREAD OF LIFE FOR THE WAYFARERS

"I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE."

There are many ways to consider life, and one of them is to compare it to a journey. Indeed, our whole life is in many ways similar to some of the travels that we undertake. Because of the uncertainties or unwanted events that may occur, we ask the Lord to accompany us, just as He accompanied and nourished the Chosen People and the prophet Elijah during their respective journeys in the desert.

In the journey of our life God shows His concern for our safety and nourishment through the presence of Jesus, our fellow traveler and Bread of Life. May His life-giving Word guide us. May He, the Bread come down from heaven, sustain and strengthen us in this Eucharistic celebration and beyond.

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’ ”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.

It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 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.”