Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “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” (Jn 6:51).
Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven. He is to be our nourishment, source of refreshment, and very life. Like a tree that is planted near the streams of living water (see Psalm 1:3) we are refreshed in all seasons, when all is tranquil as well as when we are immersed in our challenges and struggles, as long as our roots remain tapped into the well spring of the life of Jesus.
We are to look to the things of heaven for our foundation, not the things of this earth. For the things of this earth are passing away as many of us know all too well. This does not mean we aren’t to enjoy the blessings that God has given us. All that God has created is good and to be enjoyed as a gift of his grace. It is more a matter of perspective.
We are not to be attached to the things of this world, even to those closest to us, because we are finite and imperfect and so we will never be fully satisfied because we seek the eternal. With God as our center and our refuge, we have a stability that is not only unshakable but eternal so cannot be exhausted. We know that no matter what, we are accepted, we belong, and we are loved. We renew, heal, and grow in wholeness as we receive him especially and most concretely in the Eucharist, the bread from heaven, but also in resting in him, his creation, spending time with good friends and family as well as those he calls us to serve.
And we can do this more authentically and purely when nothing or no one else, including ourselves, but Jesus is the center of our lives. Letting go of our attachments takes time and effort but is well worth it because when we ask Jesus to reveal to us that which we place before the Father he will do so.
When we are willing to collaborate with him to let go, this practice leads to a freedom and peace that we would otherwise not experience. We will still encounter the pain of loss but it will not be as debilitating. In putting God first and deepening our relationship with him, we receive his love, we start to see ourselves as he sees us, and grow in his wholeness which overflows into our relationships because we are better able to be ourselves.
As we experience God’s love, we will slowly and surely come to identify ourselves not by what we do, who we think we are, who we think others think we are supposed to be, and/or others tell us to be, but rest instead in the truth and identity of being his beloved daughter or son. Our anxieties and fears will have less power over us, we will become less insecure and more confident, pride will weaken because we no longer place ourselves first. As we heal and grow, we also begin to experience the maturing of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle and able to practice more self-control.
During this Corpus Christi Sunday then, may we recommit to the truth and reality that Jesus is with us in a special and unique way. He is the “bread of life” that will nourish and lead us more intimately into a deeper relationship with his Father through the love of the Holy Spirit so that our healing and those in our realm of influence can go deeper and continue through this life and into the next.
Photo: Tabernacle in the chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, where I spent a lot of time in prayer, meditation, contemplation, and worship this past year and getting to know Jesus a lot better!
Spiritual Stepping Stones 