On a Silver Platter

Jesus says I am the Bread of Life

In the Broadway play “Mame,” the main character declares that “Life is a banquet, and people are starving to death.” We are told in our first Reading in the Book of Proverbs that Wisdom “has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table” (Pr. 9:2).

“I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus said repeatedly. And, in today’s Gospel Lesson, He offers us the Ultimate Banquet when He says, “Anyone who eats this Bread will live forever” (Jn. 6:58). “Anyone who does eat My flesh and drink My blood has eternal life” (Jn. 6:54).

It is sad to say that the life of the Christian community does not always come across as a banquet. Sometimes, the call to follow Christ seems more like an invitation to a serving of lifeless piety than a bid to the banquet of life. At times, formless “get-togethers” have been substituted for community worship. But…