Beloved sisters and brothers, what tremendous lessons Christ packs in today’s Gospel!
He points out the mystery of faith: That no one can believe in Him “unless drawn by the Father.” Faith in Jesus supplies us with life’s only dependable fuel, and yet, faith in Christ is God’s gift.
Faith in Christ leads to “eternal life.” Later in the Gospel, Jesus tells us that eternal life consists in knowing “you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). In Biblical language, “knowing” implies deep personal intimacy, the kind of relationship that we all yearn for. St Augustin writes in his Confessions that “our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
Jesus himself is the “bread” of this eternal life, its source, and sustenance. Without food, physical life perishes; without Jesus, without his flesh “that I will give for the life of the world” in the Eucharist, our life of intimate communion with God will perish. It is that simple, and it is that crucial.
Eleven times in yesterdays and today’s discourses Jesus speaks of himself as the bread of life; you’d think we would get the message!
Unfortunately, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center Report, 69% of Catholics in the USA believe that the bread and wine used in Communion “are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” Thus, only 31% believe in the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist!
No wonder why the world is such a shape! Even among those who attend Mass at least once a week, the research showed that 37% do not believe that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ!
It seems you and I have our work cut out for us. We need to pray without ceasing for an increase in faith, both for ourselves and for those who have yet to believe. Let us turn to the Virgin Mary, our Blessed Mother, and ask her to intercede and help us in this effort!