SAINT PIUS V, POPE (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

I am the living bread. 

Let’s talk about the virtue of healthy skepticism.   Imagine you hear an ad promising dramatic weight loss if you try a certain diet.   Maybe more research is needed before you commit any money to the plan.   Or how about the promise that just one herbal supplement can change your whole life?   Again, you would probably take a cautious approach.

But here’s one promise that you can take at face value:   Jesus is “the living bread” (John 6:51).   Jesus took the ordinary substances of bread and wine into his hands at the Last Supper and transformed them into his Body and his Blood.   The consecrated wine and bread we receive at Mass really is the living Jesus—given to us over and over again.   The Eucharist really does have the power to heal us, strengthen us, and make us more and more like our Lord.

As beautiful and incredible as this promise may seem, we need to understand that the Eucharist is not magical.   We don’t instantly become a new and improved version of ourselves when we receive it.   The transformation is usually gradual, and we have an important role to play.   We need to receive it with faith, and we need to back up our faith with acts of obedience during the day.

Of course, we don’t have to be perfect to receive Christ.   When we receive him, he receives us—in our strengths and our weaknesses.   And as he receives us, he slowly peels away our sins, strengthens our weaknesses, and gives us his grace.   It’s also true that the more time we spend with Jesus outside of Mass, the more we will see his love, mercy, and grace taking root in us through the Eucharist.   That’s why daily prayer and Scripture reading are so important.

The next time you are at Mass or at Adoration, think about just how extraordinary the Eucharist is.   Out of pure love for us, Jesus chose not only to become man but to become present to us in simple bread and wine.   He is our living bread, and this is a truth that will never fade.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for becoming living bread for me.”

Acts 8:26-40
Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20