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Gospel: John 6: 41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, “
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I had dinner with a married couple from our parish this week. During the course of our conversation, I learned that both are avid readers. One prefers mystery or history books, while the other enjoys fictional tales that carry you to another place.
One of the best-selling fiction novels of all time is J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Maybe you’ve heard of it, or even read it, too.
The Lord of the Rings is a story about Frodo, an unlikely hero, who fights against the Satan-like figure, Sauron, who is seeking to rule Middle Earth.
Along his journey, Frodo travels through the land of shadows – a place filled with demons, orcs, and giant spiders.
Key to Frodo’s survival is lembas, or elf-bread. Each loaf of bread is flat and slightly sweet, providing Frodo with enough nourishment for a day. Interestingly enough, while he depends upon it, evil is repulsed by it.
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Can you see a connection here to today’s Gospel?
Bread as food for the journey; bread that nourishes; bread that repulses evil.
Some might be surprised to know that Tolkien was a devout Catholic. But any reader with a working knowledge of our faith could easily conclude: lembas serves as the Eucharist of this mythological place called Middle Earth.
Just as Frodo depended upon lembas for his survival, so Tolkien depended upon the Eucharist to sustain his spiritual life. As he once wrote in a letter to his son, Michael:
“Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honor, and fidelity… which every man’s heart desires.”
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Tolkien saw – and believed – what the Lord is attempting to teach the crowds in today’s Gospel: that Jesus is the Bread of Life.
“I am the bread that came down from heaven,” he says. “Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
This is the climax of Christ’s teaching in John’s Gospel – and, perhaps, the hardest truth for us to understand. Whoever receives the Eucharist receives Christ himself.
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How does the crowd respond to such a gift?
They “murmur” amongst themselves. To “murmur,” literally means to, “disagree with; dislike.” Now that Christ has revealed his true identity and mission, the crowds find him offensive.
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?” they question. “Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’ … How can he give us his flesh to eat?”
The crowds are not wrong to question such a bold claim; no one else has ever promised to do what Jesus is saying. However, they make one significant mistake.
The crowds think that both of Jesus’ parents are human. But only one of them is human – his mother, Mary. His Father is divine, which leads to yet another difficult truth to grasp: Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Mary.
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This same verb, “murmur” is used to describe the reaction of the Israelites in the desert 1500 years prior, when God tells them he’ll satisfy their hunger by sending them manna, bread from heaven.
When the manna appears, the Israelites respond, “What is this? Would that we had died in Egypt!” Disgruntled, they preferred exotic Egyptian delicacies to this strange desert food.
Yet like lembas in Lord of the Rings, the manna was enough to sustain them on their forty-year journey.
In both cases, the crowds in today’s Gospel and their ancestors in the desert are given “bread from heaven,” but they “murmur.”
They disagree with it; dislike it.
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What is our own reaction to Christ’s teaching in today’s Gospel?
“I am the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Do we “murmur” at such a claim? Do we question it? Or do we respond faithfully in awe, saying, “amen?”
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Just as Tolkien saw and believed, may we accept Jesus for who he is: the “bread come down from heaven.”
Lembas.
Food for the journey.
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Image credits: (1) Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (2) Lord of the Rings, Raven Fox (3) WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
