Apr 13, 2026 Written by 

Mysticism of the Bread of Life

(Jn 6:30-35)

 

What the term «Bread» used by Jesus in this pericope alludes to is derived from the Hebrew term «Lechem», whose root [consonants «l-h-m»] evokes his «being ground» and «sifted» in the Passion of love; thus, it relates in filigree to the complete gift on the Cross.

According to a Jewish belief, the coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by a shower of Manna from heaven - called Manna of the Second Redeemer - to satisfy material appetites.

Bread that does not last.

There were also rabbinic speculations that reflected other claims, not of physical necessity; and they told of the «bread» descended from above in a sapiential figure (Deut 8:3: «man does not live by bread alone, but by what comes from the mouth of the Lord»; cf. Wis 16:26).

In order to satisfy existential needs and great questions of meaning, Jesus reveals and presents Himself as the indestructible Bread of Life.

 

There are questions we cannot answer: why the pain and humiliation, why there are fortunate people and others who through no fault of their own live unhappily; for what great task we were born and why despite the comforts we still do not feel fulfilled.

Our experience is as if shrouded in the confusion of underlying questions... and often lacking even the eye and warmth of a Witness.

So we look for a Person who translates everything into Relation, and we long for his sapiential Food - a foundation, the humanising warmth, and a synthesis of all truth, of all history.

Only Jesus and his story give meaning to the many happenings; also to limits, wounds, boundaries, precariousness.

He is Dream, Meaning, Action and Voice of the Father. Key, Centre and Destination of each one and of humanity. The only Food for the 'hunger' and the only Source for the 'thirst' of the woman and man subjected to trials and questions.

In Jesus' time, by widespread devotion Moses continued to be the great leader to believe and adhere to. But according to the Lord, that of the Exodus of the "fathers" is configured as a proposal that has no future: it does not guarantee orientation, subsistence and a joyful, solid and full life.

It does not even remain as a stump of the now. It is only an archaic seed, a particular excrescence undone in favour of the mystical and renewed Wheat that makes one proceed on the authentic Path.

The pious and inactual custom - with all its labours - had not secured the great change: access to the 'land of the free'.

The Gift from Heaven prepared and arranged another Birth, upsetting from the root the light, tedious and insipid nourishment; whatever, for all seasons.

No reassuring recipe comes our way, because the 'second Genesis' and growth in the Spirit has character, but it does not happen once and for all.

Even the wounds and uncertainties of life become a 'call' to feed on the Person of Christ. But reinterpreting Him with new answers to new questions; to generate again and grow in Him and of Him.

So we are in the episodes, yet out of time; in the Love that is born, yet new.

We can experience the taste of living, instead of the condemnation of always feeling undermined.

For this spousal and ever-new union, the immense scope of his Person minced, ruminated, made one's own as one does with food, becomes Life itself of the Eternal (v.33).

Anointing that does not lapse, that calls us together to Concelebrate.

 

 

[Tuesday 3rd wk. in Easter, April 21, 2026]

237 Last modified on Tuesday, 21 April 2026 12:20
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

Wherever people want to set themselves up as God they cannot but set themselves against each other. Instead, wherever they place themselves in the Lord’s truth they are open to the action of his Spirit who sustains and unites them (Pope Benedict
Dove gli uomini vogliono farsi Dio, possono solo mettersi l’uno contro l’altro. Dove invece si pongono nella verità del Signore, si aprono all’azione del suo Spirito che li sostiene e li unisce (Papa Benedetto)
But our understanding is limited: thus, the Spirit's mission is to introduce the Church, in an ever new way from generation to generation, into the greatness of Christ's mystery. The Spirit places nothing different or new beside Christ; no pneumatic revelation comes with the revelation of Christ - as some say -, no second level of Revelation (Pope Benedict)
Ma la nostra capacità di comprendere è limitata; perciò la missione dello Spirito è di introdurre la Chiesa in modo sempre nuovo, di generazione in generazione, nella grandezza del mistero di Cristo. Lo Spirito non pone nulla di diverso e di nuovo accanto a Cristo; non c’è nessuna rivelazione pneumatica accanto a quella di Cristo - come alcuni credono - nessun secondo livello di Rivelazione (Papa Benedetto)
Who touched Lydia's heart? The answer is: «the Holy Spirit». It’s He who made this woman feel that Jesus was Lord; He made this woman feel that salvation was in Paul's words; He made this woman feel a testimony (Pope Francis)
Chi ha toccato il cuore di Lidia? La risposta è: «lo Spirito Santo». È lui che ha fatto sentire a questa donna che Gesù era il Signore; ha fatto sentire a questa donna che la salvezza era nelle parole di Paolo; ha fatto sentire a questa donna una testimonianza (Papa Francesco)
But what does it mean to love Christ?  It means trusting him even in times of trial, following him faithfully even on the Via Crucis, in the hope that soon the morning of the Resurrection will come.  Entrusting ourselves to Christ, we lose nothing, we gain everything.  In his hands our life acquires its true meaning.  Love for Christ expresses itself in the will to harmonize our own life with the thoughts and sentiments of his Heart.  This is achieved through interior union [Pope Benedict]
Ma che vuol dire amare Cristo? Vuol dire fidarsi di Lui anche nell'ora della prova, seguirLo fedelmente anche sulla Via Crucis, nella speranza che presto verrà il mattino della risurrezione. Affidandoci a Cristo non perdiamo niente, ma acquistiamo tutto. Nelle sue mani la nostra vita acquista il suo vero senso. L'amore per Cristo si esprime nella volontà di sintonizzare la propria vita con i pensieri e i sentimenti del suo Cuore. Questo si realizza mediante l'unione interiore [Papa Benedetto]
St Thomas Aquinas says this very succinctly when he writes: "The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit" (Summa Theologiae, I-IIae, q.106 a. 1). The New Law is not another commandment more difficult than the others: the New Law is a gift, the New Law is the presence of the Holy Spirit [Pope Benedict]
San Tommaso d’Aquino lo dice in modo molto preciso quando scrive: “La nuova legge è la grazia dello Spirito Santo” (Summa theologiae, I-IIae, q. 106, a. 1). La nuova legge non è un altro comando più difficile degli altri: la nuova legge è un dono, la nuova legge è la presenza dello Spirito Santo [Papa Benedetto]
Even after seeing his people's repeated unfaithfulness to the covenant, this God is still willing to offer his love, creating in man a new heart (John Paul II)
Anche dopo aver registrato nel suo popolo una ripetuta infedeltà all’alleanza, questo Dio è disposto ancora ad offrire il proprio amore, creando nell’uomo un cuore nuovo (Giovanni Paolo II)

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