Bread from Heaven
Introduction
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Past week was a week of achievements.
o
The Olympics is on. Every day new world records
are born. It shows the progress of the athletes. It is an achievement.
o
The man made satellite Curiosity landed on the
surface of Mars after travelling 567 million kilometers. It took around eight
months to reach Mars. It is a big leap in the planetary exploration. It is a
great achievement.
o
These achievements have a nature.
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The Olympics records will be broken in the coming
Olympics and new records will be set.
§
After some years the new satellite would go to
another planet and will make us proud. Therefore we have lot more to achieve in
all these fields.
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In today’s gospel Jesus speaks of an achievement
that is set for Human being. It is the greatest achievement that human can ever
achieve. There is no higher achievement then that unlike the achievement that
is mentioned earlier. That is “ETERNAL LIFE”. Jesus gives us a clue to achieve
this in today’s gospel and that is - ‘the bread of life’.
Content
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In the first reading we heard the story of Elijah
who received the bread from God and walked forty days and nights with that
strength. To walk forty days and nights is something impossible for human
being. But it made possible by the bread that he received from above. In other
words the bread from God makes the impossible things possible.
o
Eucharist is the bread from God, which is Jesus
Christ. It makes impossible things possible. Eternal life is impossibility for
human being. It is made possible by the bread from above, the body of Jesus
Christ.
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Therefore what is Eucharist? – it is “Word
became Flesh and Flesh became Bread”. In other words it is God the word became
Human, Jesus and Jesus became the Eucharist for us.
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I would like to mention three important
functions of the Eucharist. They are;
1. Keep
us united
§
The church is united as family from the 1st
century till today. It is because we gather together around the Eucharistic table
on every day, especially on Sundays.
§
There is a saying, “the family that prays
together stays together”. I would change that maxim in to “the family that eats
together stays together” and that is what the Eucharist is. We eat from the
same table and stay together.
2. Make
us spiritually strong
§
For the prevention of the deceases we take
vitamin C. It keeps our body strong against the sickness.
§
There are diseases that affect out spirit. It is
mentioned in the 2nd reading like bitterness, fury, anger, shouting,
reviling, hopelessness, despair, envy and so on. What is the medicine for these
sicknesses of the soul? It is the Eucharist.
3. Leads
us to eternal life
§
It is the promise of Jesus that those who
receive the bread of life that he himself is, will live with him forever. Jesus
is so faithful in his promises. So we all, who take part in the Eucharist, will
live with him forever.
Conclusion
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What is the practical implication of these
functions
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If you are having a division in your family or
society, come to the Eucharist and get united.
·
If you are spiritually sick, come to the Eucharist
and get healed.
·
If you need life in its fullness, come to the
Eucharist and receive it.
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What should be our response to this greatest
gift?
·
‘Acceptance with gratitude’. Let us hear the
call of our loving God to take part in the Eucharist everyday and fill
ourselves with the divine life to achieve the greatest achievement – eternal life.
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