By Mel Jasmin
On Sunday, the Church commemorates the solemnity of the Corpus Christi (Latin, it means the Body of Christ). The body of Christ is the living bread from heaven which he gave to us as his ultimate oblation during the last supper.
The body of Christ in a form of bread should be shared with everyone so they may have life. And when one eats the body of Christ, he/ she will live in the Lord and will have life eternal until the last day. The assurance of Jesus to the people that if they will live their lives in accordance to God’s will and will take Jesus as their bread of life, they will be with God forever.
Every organic being eats. Eating is a very important biological activity in life in order to live. One cannot live without eating. In our gospel reading, Jesus had made a very intriguing remark which provoked the Jews to react. There was confusion that led to a quarrel among the Jews especially those who heard Jesus’ exhortation about himself. The image of the living bread from heaven is absurd for them. And whoever would eat the bread will live forever as the bread would sustain him/ her till the end of time.
Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus declared that He is the living bread that came down from heaven. The living bread is referred to Jesus’ flesh, his body to be eaten by those who want to live forever, and his blood as the drink. This statement was not acceptable to the Jews as it was blasphemous for one to claim that he is from God and to declare that he is living bread from heaven. The bread that gives life and sustains life, unlike the bread that the ancestors of the people of Israel who ate manna (food) in the wilderness but died. It is because they have not known God fully well as they murmured and always complained.
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