The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Cyril Ortega SVD – Divine Word College of Vigan
Wednesday 3rd Week of Easter
Jesus tells his listeners very clearly that he is the Bread of Life. Whoever partakes of this Bread will never again be hungry or thirsty. When we stop eating and drinking from this Source we will stop living. Jesus’ entire life – his actions, words, and relationships – are a rich resource on which we can draw much meaning.
Jesus reproves his listeners for their lack of faith in him. “Though you have seen me, you still do not believe.” (6,36) How much of Jesus did they really see? How deep was their perception of who he truly was?
That may be our problem too. Without a deep trust and total commitment to Christ and all he stands for, we have no full access to that much needed Bread of Life. We will never be able to search for the full Christ completely in this life. We only hope that we will never stop searching.
Let us open our hearts today so that Jesus can fill them with his life-giving love. Jesus’ mission is “to do …the will of him who sent me…that I should not lose anything of what he gave me but that I should raise it on the last day.”
When we seek to follow in the footsteps of the faith that enabled Jesus to give up his life for the life of the world, we are freed for a whole new way of living – onethat is motivated by compassion and giving, by mercy and caring, by faith, hope and love.
One day we hope we can say with St Paul: “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). When that happens we know that we have truly been filled with the Bread that is Christ.
