19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 6:41-51
Saint John is usually portrayed as an eagle or as a skylark, probably because he can soar to lofty heights from the very earthly things with which we are familiar and easily understand. St Francis of Assisi, who loved all creatures, regarded the lark as his favourite bird, not only for its beautiful song, but because its earthy, brown colour and lighter hood made its plumage resemble the Franciscan habit. John, the lark, keeps linking the things of earth with heavenly thoughts.
The Jews in the Gospel passage today are all confused. They cannot reconcile heavenly things with what is familiar; ‘the son of Joseph’ ‘come down from heaven’! They need to rise up in the leap of faith, to soar with the eagle in a flight of Faith. Faith is the acceptance of a divine truth, and John in this passage tries to explain what it entails.
Firstly, Faith is a gift from God – ‘no one can come to me unless the Father draw them’. Secondly, Faith is based on the words and signs of Jesus. And, very important, Faith relies on our cooperation with this gift of the Father and the teaching of Jesus.
So this Jesus, who is indeed son of Joseph and Mary, a man of history, is also the one come from the Father to link us earthly creatures to the heavenly mysteries. What more earthly, basic thing with which to do this than with bread! Bread can be seen in the same way as the ‘manna in the desert’, which merely sustains earthly existence. But the bread that Jesus gives will give eternal life. ‘Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever’! This calls for Faith – the acceptance of a divine truth. Bread, from being a sign and symbol of providence and nourishment, has become a sacrament. A sacrament is a sort of symbol which transmits a divine energy to the one who receives it.
John, skylark or eagle, began his Eucharistic narrative with the miracle of the loaves and fishes as a sign of the supernatural power of Jesus. Now he soars to the heights of the divine reality where the bread of life is given to satisfy the hungers of the human heart and mind.