Today offers us another golden opportunity to deeply reflect on the core of our Catholic faith and worship namely the Eucharistic Bread, the Bread of Life.

In fact, the opportunity is lengthy because throughout the month of August, the Clarion calls on us to partake in this spiritual banquet is loud and clear.

Without mincing words, Jesus declared openly "I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." Jn 6:35.

One surprising fact is that, even if the whole century is dedicated to the teaching of the Holy Eucharist, it is not enough to sufficiently explore in order to unravel the mystery and awesomeness of this great spiritual meal.

Dear friends in Christ, Lumen Gentium describes this spiritual food as "the source and summit of our Catholic faith." The Bread of Life is Jesus himself. The Sacrament of Sacraments, the spiritual food that is necessary for the salvation of our souls, just as how material food is important for the growth of man. 

Dear friends, this spiritual meal is unique, vital, energizing and binds us together as one family of children of God. But unfortunately many souls are still far from it, many still starve their souls.

It is pertinent to know that the Eucharistic Bread is a basic need for the soul. Food is necessary for the survival of the human person. The first reading from the book of Exodus, presents how the whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and said to them "would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots..." Ex 16:3. The reaction of the people was factored by the severe scourge of hunger and starvation.

The pain of hunger was unbearable. Mahatma Gandhi is right to have said hunger, fuelled by poverty is the highest form of violence. 

In our context especially in Nigeria, due to epileptic nature of our economy factored by corruption and mismanagement of resources, we cannot deny the excruciating pain of hunger.

The reality of hunger has claimed many lives even as we read. The scourge of hunger and hardship has driven many to different types of protest. Because of hunger, you can do anything just to survive. With this, you will understand the plight of the Israelites in the wilderness.

My dear friends, the good news is that God was aware of their plight just as he is aware of our present plights too and he is ready to save us.

Last Sunday he fed the multitude who were physically hungry and today he is ready to feed us again even spiritually. God is aware that man is not just a physical entity but a composite of body and soul.

He fed them initially with physical bread, but today he is paying attention and preparing food for our souls. If physical hunger can drive us to protest, how will spiritual hunger and starvation be? God does not want us to starve spiritually and in his wisdom the Bread of Life is super sufficient for our souls.

The chief spiritual food that God has ordained and prepared for our souls is what Jesus introduces to us in our gospel today. 

It is clear that there are two types of food mentioned in the gospel, the one that perishes and the one that endures to eternal life.

The children of Israel in the wilderness craved for material food and died, we are encouraged by Jesus not to crave for food that perishes but the one that endures to eternal life. The food that endures to eternal life is Jesus Bread of Life. 

Dear friends, this is the food that we should search for. It is the food of the immortals.

Our liturgy today is revealing a fact that God is transforming the world through Jesus Christ the Bread that comes down from heaven.

If we settle for the Bread of Life and eat devoutly, we are hopeful to enjoy the promises that accompany this great sacrament as stated in the gospel.

Jesus believes in the statement ‘you are what you eat’. He wants us to eat him in order to become another Christ. He is Life per excellence and by eating him we possess life.

Let us humbly approach this divine sacrament and fill our souls with its presence. Let us consume it with reverence and savour its sweetness. Remember, in the garden of Eden, the instruction was "do not eat of this particular tree" but we disobeyed by eating.

This time around the instruction is "I am telling you the truth, if you do not eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." Jn 6:53 Are we going to disobey God again by not eating?

We need to place our priority on what endures for ever. Most often, we work effortlessly just for material gains and trivialize the spiritual aspect of our being.

From this moment learn to pay more attention to your spiritual needs and growth for you to be able to stand before the son of man on the last day. It's pertinent to remind us again that regular confessions prepare us for the beautiful celebration of the pascal meal. Let us avoid growing old in sin.

May God give us the grace to place our priority right and make us humble enough to appreciate the sublime gifts of his Body and Blood. Amen