This passage is the climax of Jesus’ teaching about the bread of life. Having shared bread with the crowd (6:1-13), he spoke of bread as sign of his relationship with the Father shared with us (6:27-50). Now he describes vividly the manner of our participation in this life. When these words were recalled among the Church, the actions of eating and drinking could only refer to the eucharistic sharing which the Christian communities were already experiencing regularly as the focus of their relationship with Christ. The use of the word "flesh" echoes the description of the incarnation itself in Jn 1:14 — "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Just as he originally "took flesh," so now through the eucharist he continues to take flesh in us. Through the sharing of the Lord’s supper, the incarnation — "enfleshment" — of Jesus is continued through all times and all places. Through communion with his eucharistic flesh and blood we become one flesh and blood with him. It is important to see Christ not only in the eucharistic bread and wine, but as really present as well in the those who share them (v 56).

The eucharist is our link with the whole Trinity (v 57): as the Son lives by the Father, so the Christian lives by the Son through the medium of this bread; and this union is brought about in the power of the Holy Spirit. When parents offer bread to their children in their love and care for them, it can be described as a sharing of their flesh through the personal toil that went into it. What is given in love is always a sign and a bearer of the one who gives.

In nearly every religion throughout history, the ritual meal has played an important role as a sign of communion with divinity. This is true of the Jewish tradition as well as the Christian eucharist. Eating in common creates bonds among the partakers, and insofar as the food is seen to belong to the divinity in some way — as either a gift of nature or a sacrificial offering — a favorable unity with the Beyond is established.

In this reading, the meal is seen as symbolizing the communication of God’s wisdom to humankind. The banquet well expresses the richness of God’s generosity (vv 1-2) and his eagerness to share by sending out servants to shout the invitation (v 3). Just as hunger is necessary to appreciate a meal, so poverty in spirit and awareness of our lack of wisdom are necessary to open us to God’s wisdom (v 4).

These verse meditate on the openness of the poor, the hungry, and the ignorant to God’s care. Response: "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."

In chapters 5 and 6, Paul draws practical conclusions from the key verse: "Be imitators of God as his dear children" (5:1). Vv 8-14 are read on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A. In these passages, he reminds us that we live in time, and the present moment is a precious, unrepeatable opportunity. In the life of the Spirit, the occasions of worship and praise (eucharist) are focal points, summing up the remainder of life and charging every moment with new and life-giving meaning. They are a challenge to live fully in time as the sacrament of God’s presence, and not merely to pass time heedlessly or try to escape or evade the passage of time.

1. Does a Christian social conscience have anything to do with the eucharist? Can one satisfy one’s own hunger and be heedless of the hungers of others, material or spiritual? Does sharing the eucharistic bread relate to the obligation to share bread with the poor?

2. Reflect upon your own experience of time. How does it relate to the eucharist and the Church’s liturgical year?