My flesh is true food: Commentary by Fr. Jorge Miró

Fr. Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, August 18, 2024, entitled “My flesh is true food.”

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In previous Sundays, the Word had spoken to us about the thirst, fullness, and happiness that we all have and how so often we live dissatisfied, tired, overwhelmed… And Jesus told us: Work for the food that lasts… inviting us to discover that neither money nor power nor pleasure nor work nor success… will ever be able to fill your heart.

You are created in the image and likeness of God… and there is only One capable of filling your heart completely: the Lord. No one loves you like He does!

Last Sunday we saw Elijah walking through the desert, tired and discouraged, as we often do, and how the Lord, who is always near us, sends him an angel who tells him: Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.

But what should we eat? And today Jesus gives us the answer: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever… Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.

This Word invites you to discover that you do not give life to yourself. That your strength is little, even if at times it seems a lot. And that you need to be saved. Or better, you need to accept the salvation that Jesus Christ has already won for you with his death and resurrection.

You need to eat Jesus Christ. We cannot live without the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus, from the cross, draws us all to himself and makes us branches of life, which is himself. And then, remaining united to Him, we will bear fruit, because without me, you can do nothing.

Participating in the Eucharist is not simply spending a little time in the Church. Participating in the Eucharist is living united to Jesus Christ, in a personal, intimate, profound way: living in his body, which is the Church; listening to and accepting his Word; participating in his sacrifice of love, giving one’s life for one’s brothers; obedient to the will of the Father and loving as Christ has loved us, living with his same feelings and attitudes. It is taking up the cross every day and following Him wherever He wants to lead us, allowing ourselves to be filled with his Spirit.

And then the fruits of the Spirit, who dwells in you, will appear in your life: Wisdom: you will savor the life of each day, because you will look at it with the eyes of the Lord; praise, because you will enjoy the presence of the consoling Spirit; trust: because those who seek the Lord lack nothing; you will be able to live in the will of the Lord.

And so, with the cross of the disciple, you will be able to live gratefully, because there is nothing and no one that can separate me from the love of God manifested in Christ Jesus.

Come Holy Spirit!