Why We Celebrate Corpus Christi, by Gayle Somers

When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to His followers to give them the divine life of the Trinity.  Why, then, did He also give them a meal of Bread and Wine to attain eternal life?

Gospel (Read Jn 6:51-58)

Our Sunday Gospel reading begins midway through a long conversation Jesus had with people who tracked Him down after His miraculous feeding of the five thousand (Jn 6:25-50). They were looking for more bread, but Jesus used their physical hunger to direct their thoughts to another kind of bread: “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world” (Jn 6:33). It worked: “They said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always’” (Jn 6:34).

Jesus explained that He is the bread of life, and He called them to believe in Him. In this part of the discussion, Jesus used imagery of bread and drink metaphorically: “he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall not thirst” (Jn 6:35). When the Jews began to murmur at the suggestion that Jesus is bread from heaven (“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?”), He emphasized again that believing in Him is the source of eternal life: “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (Jn 6:47).  …

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