Posted by Word Alive — Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus tells us in this 18th Sunday Gospel.
The Lord was concerned for our basic needs. He showed this when he miraculously multiplied the meager bread and fishes for the hungry crowd (Gospel of last Sunday).
But he also prescribed a spiritual food. Thus, Jesus decided to dwell inside the bread of the Eucharist to become the nourishment of our souls.
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In the 8th century, a Basilian monk doubted the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. While celebrating Mass one morning, after the two-fold Consecration, the priest was astounded to see the host transformed into live flesh and the wine into live blood.
The miracle convinced the scared monk dramatically on the veracity of Christ’s Eucharistic Presence at Mass. This moved him to make penance and reparation. If you happen to go to Rome, take time out to visit that holy place.
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ASK YOURSELF: Do I really believe Christ’s presence in the Eucharist? Do I appreciate its importance by receiving the sacred Host whenever I attend Mass?
Jesus himself said categorically: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 6,55).
The great St. Augustine bolstered what the Lord wrote in his book, Confessions: “Our hearts are made for You, O God, and they are restless until they rest in You.”
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STORY TO PONDER. A lady named Brigitte Guerney, while walking in a street of New York City, a construction crane fell pinning her underneath. For six agonizing hours, paramedics frantically struggled to keep her alive until she could be removed from the heavy crane.
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During the ordeal, Brigitte was given blood transfusions, fluids and painkillers. But she asked for one specific thing and that was to receive Holy Communion. She was then taken to a hospital where doctors operated on her for another five hours. Miraculously, she survived.
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The crane accident was only one of a series of previous mishaps Brigitte had suffered. At age 18 months, her son drowned accidentally. Her husband died of cancer. Her father was killed in an automobile accident. She had an operation to remove a cancer and she had suffered multiple injuries in a cable car crash in Switzerland in 1982.
Like Brigitte, we sometimes encounter accidents, endure disappointments or suffer tragedies. By ourselves, we can never survive. We need a higher power and spiritual energy.
