Scripture Scribbles: August 11, 2024

the Gospel

John 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
"I am the bread that came down from heaven, "
and they said,
"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
'I have come down from heaven'?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
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."

the scribble

Filled with great joy and excitement, I received my first Holy Communion on my birthday, May 12, 1973, but things didn’t go as hoped. “It tastes just like bread,” I said in surprise to my Dad when kneeling in the pew. He scowled. I knew my Dad didn’t mean to hurt me, but I was crushed, evidenced by my red, puffy eyes in the pictures. I didn’t dare approach him for fear of saying something else scandalous, though my mom provided ample consolation afterwards.

Yet, what I said was true! It tastes like bread. It looks like bread. I just failed to realize that it was Jesus, “the bread that came down from heaven.” I would bring my children with me to daily Mass, only to depart immediately after the sermon. I was a busy mom of two and didn’t have time for what I perceived as symbolic repetitious stuff. Everything changed when I was questioned by a devout Catholic. “Why do you leave before the most important part of the Mass?” I was dumbfounded as she explained the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and handed me a Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I ultimately read cover to cover.

So began my journey toward the source and summit of my life ~ Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist. Any tears shed now are that of joy, knowing that I am receiving Jesus, “the bread of [eternal] life … my flesh for the life of the world.”

Today’s devotion was written by Karen Molvar