:"Lord, give us this bread always"

Scripture: John 6:24-35
Jesus makes a claim which only God can make: He is the true bread of heaven that can satisfy the deepest hunger, thirst, and longing which every human being experiences in life. When the Israelites journeyed in the desert wildnerness they could find no food to keep themselves alive. They complained that God had left them there to perish. God tested them to see if they would trust in his personal care and provision for them. He gave them sufficient manna each day to sustain them on their journey to the promised land. This daily provision of manna in the wilderness could not produce long lasting satisfaction nor eteral life for the Israelites. It did however prefigure and point to the superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper which Jesus gave to his disciples on the eve of his sacrifice. The bread which Jesus offers his disciples sustains us not only on our journey to the heavenly paradise, it gives us the abundant supernatural life of God which sustains us now and for all eternity. When we receive from the Lord’s table we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, who makes us sharers in his body and blood and partakers of his divine life. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.) calls it the "one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Ad Eph. 20,2). This supernatural food is healing for both body and soul and strength for our journey heavenward.