In our Gospel, for the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus (John 5:51-58), Jesus says,
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
At Mass, we are fed in Word and Holy Eucharist: the Living Bread. Yes, Communion is Living Bread, not just a symbolic host/sip of wine. In Communion, we receive Christ and His divine graces, most of which we are not yet capable of totally understanding.
We invest ourselves in faith, that the hour we spend in church with our parish family, will help us to be reminded and transformed into the less stubborn/more forgiving, less accusing/more understanding, less rattled/more loving people God desires us to be. God knows what we need, way more than we do ourselves, alone.
I often wonder who I would become if I did not go to church. In my human weakness, I would potentially succumb to: negative thoughts, foul language, personal assumptions. I would become more freely judging, less forgiving and more spiritually isolated, crabby and self-absorbed, in this troubling and treacherous world today. And, I would probably make more excuses for doing so.
In a recent message, Fr. Joe Dailey shared, “Church is not a place you go to, it is a place you emerge from.” At Mass, Jesus invites us out of ourselves to places of higher thinking, praying, living, and loving others. We still may fail, but He always invites us back. Mass is a powerful reset button. Although, our specific expectations of what happens (to us) at Mass may often fall short (i.e. boring message, bad music), we must trust that God works on us therein. Eucharist gives us the power to begin again and reveal the Living Bread in how we emerge and glorify God with our lives.
As bread and wine are transformed into the true Body and Blood of our Lord at Mass, we are transformed by the Life-Giving Bread of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Although, we do not totally understand either transformation, we must believe that we, like the bread and wine, we are being changed for good, each time we make the spiritual investment in devoted time together.
Attending Mass, I receive the Living Bread not only to grow closer to God, but to be fed and formed on life’s journey. Otherwise, I would remain a lump of clay; motionless and distant from the Potter’s wheel.
-Amy Righi
