GOSPEL REFLECTION, WEDNESDAY, 3RD WEEK OF EASTER, 22 APRIL 2026

John 6:35-40.  Chapter 6 of John’s gospel is theologically rich and complex.  It contains one of seven remarkable “I AM” proclamations by Jesus.  Even in Greek this distinctive and emphatic phrase occurs only in John’s gospel, and nowhere else in Greek literature.  In this gospel it appears thirty-seven times, only in Jesus’ proclamations and four times by John the Baptist denying that he is the Christ to come.  The phrase reminds us strongly of God’s name for himself when Mosres asked for his name, his identity, at the burning bush and God said, “I AM WHO AM” (Exodus 3:1).  Not only is the phrase in John’s gospel grammatically odd – it literally is “IAM IAM” in Greek – it echoes the Father’s divine name.  Today’s proclamation by Jesus is “I AM the Bread of Life ….” 

No doubt many of the crowds who followed Jesus thought of him as a miracle-making wonderworker of some sort who promised to bring a rewarding earthly life.  But Jesus’ proclamation means much more than that and many failed to grasp what he is saying.  Ordinary bread can sustain life only briefly, manna in the desert could be used by the people of Israel only for the day it appeared (it  disappeared overnight if people tried to hold on to it), but Jesus proclaims that HE is the Bread of Life which nourishes eternally.  At this claim, many who had followed him fell away because it seemed so preposterous to them.  Jesus in himself, in his own being, all that he is, is the nourishment that feeds and sustains eternal life.  Eternal life is more than physical life that is fed briefly on earthly bread.  Eternal life is a new relationship with the Father, through Jesus.  Without Jesus there may be existence, but not essential and everlasting LIFE.  The paschal mystery confirms that for us.  If Jesus is the ESSENTIAL OF LIFE, then he truly is the BREAD OF LIFE. 

As Catholic Christians we cannot escape the Eucharistic significance of Jesus as the Bread of Life.  Many have accepted that significance and live by it in faith; others, like many in the crowd when Jesus made this claim cannot or will not accept it.  Where we, each of us, on this fundamental question?