“Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died…”
Jesus makes reference to the old covenant that His Father had made with the people of Israel. As great as that covenant was, it was not the definitive one that Christ was now establishing. He is the true Bread come down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will never die. Manna, the bread of the old covenant, could not save. It could nourish. It could help them on their journey, but it did not satisfy them. Try to imagine how the leaders of Israel accepted this teaching. It seemed impossible to accept. It was blasphemy. They had believed and taught for centuries that God had made a covenant forever with Moses. Christ´s new teaching was a hard one to accept and it can be hard for us today as well. How many Christians today still do not accept the Eucharist? Some believe it is merely a symbol. Others believe it is not necessary for salvation. Still others call into question the possibility of its reality. And yet we proclaim and believe that this bread is His “flesh for the life of the world.” As hard as it is to understand, our faith guides us to believe the Eucharist is truly His flesh and His blood. What makes it even harder is the fact that He had to go to the cross to give it to us. Sacrifice was the only way to make this miracle happen. But we affirm our faith in this sacrifice and this covenant every time we say, “Amen” when we receive Him. This sacrament, in its turn, nourishes that faith and makes it more alive. The harder it is to believe the more we need it so that our faith can grow.
Saint James Catholic Church 