I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ⁵²The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

 
Here's a funny question: Why do we eat? You might not have thought about it before. (Solicit children's answers.)

That's right. We eat when we're hungry - but our need for food goes way beyond a growling stomach. The food we eat gives our bodies the energy they need to keep working. If you didn't feed your body it would stop working. Eventually your body could become very sick - or even die - without food to feed it. That's why you sometimes hear food described as "life giving."

Over the past couple of weeks we've heard Jesus describe himself several times as "bread." Have you noticed?

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus calls himself "the bread of life" and tells the people that whoever eats his bread will live forever. Isn't that interesting? As he often does, Jesus is using language to help make his point. He doesn't mean that he's really a loaf of bread, does he? But he's making a comparison. Just like bread is something that helps our bodies to live and grow, Jesus is reminding us that the way to keep our spirits strong and alive (both now and forever - with God in heaven) is to follow his example. Jesus is food for our souls in the same way that real bread is food for our bodies.


Bread has a very special place in the church - and a special connection to Jesus. When we take the bread of communion and recognize Jesus as God - we are sharing the bread of life that connects us to him forever.

Let's pray.

Dear God,

You are the bread of life sent from heaven.

Amen