08

甲年—基督圣体圣血节

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

甘天霖神父

Gospel： John 6:51-58(若6：51-58)

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John,

Glory to you, O Lord!

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily： The Word of God and the Bread of Life

This passage is the concluding part of the discourse on the bread of life taught by Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum after the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The people saw the sign; they decided to take him by force to make him king (Jn 6:14-15).

Why do these amazed and admiring crowds seek Jesus? They are moved by an immature faith. They are interested in Jesus just because they think he is able to satisfy through miracles their material needs. Mature faith is something else. It is that of those who understand that Jesus does not perform miracles to impress but to introduce a deeper reality.

In Capernaum, the crowd does not understand. Jesus attempts to explain the mystery. He starts presenting himself as the bread of life, which comes from heaven (Jn 6:33-35). He declares that whoever listens to him assimilates his message, his gospel, feeds himself of the words of life. His statement is not listened to.

For the Jews, the bread that came down from heaven is the manna (Ps 78:24) and the food that nourishes is the word of God (Is 55:1-3). How can “the son of Joseph claim such right?”—they ask indignantly. Instead of mitigating his claim, Jesus makes an even more surprising statement. The bread to eat is not only his doctrine but his own flesh. “The bread I shall give is my flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.” These are the opening words of today’s passage (v. 51).

Eating this God-made-flesh means recognizing that the revelation of God comes into the world through “the carpenter’s son” and to welcome this wisdom coming from heaven.

Even after this clarification, however, the scandalous aspect of the proposal of Jesus remains. How can one “eat his person”? The shocked reaction of the listeners is understandable and justified: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52). They understand that he is not only referring to the spiritual assimilation of God’s revelation but also to a real “eating.” What does he mean? The discourse on the Eucharist is inserted here.

Jesus gives the meaning of the sacrament of Eucharist. This is the “fount and summit of all Christian life.” We know that, for lack of priests, on Sunday many Christian communities do not gather around the table of the bread of the Eucharist, but around the Word of God. We are confident that they receive an abundance of life from this unique food available to them.

Eucharist, it must be emphasized, is sacrament—that really makes the Risen Christ present. It does not substitute the faith in the word of Christ. Before receiving the Eucharistic bread, it is necessary to listen to and meditate on a Gospel passage. The reading of the word of God is the essential premise.

证道：天主圣言和基督圣体，吃喝的永生之粮！

若望福音：6：51-58

这段福音叙述是耶稣在增饼奇迹之后，于葛法翁会堂中作的生命之粮论述的一部分。人们看到了标记，并决定强迫他作王（若6：14-15）。

那么，这些惊奇和钦佩的群众为何寻找耶稣呢？他们是受到不成熟的信德所驱使，对耶稣有兴趣只是因为他们认为耶稣能够透过奇迹满足他们的物质寻求。成熟的信德则是另一回事儿。信德是明白耶稣行奇迹不是为令人钦佩，而是引入一个更深事实。

在葛法翁，群众并不明白这些。耶稣尝试解释这个奥秘。他开始显示自己作为从天而来的生命之粮（若6：33-35）。他宣称：谁聆听他，并融入他的要旨和福音，就是用生命的话语喂养自己。不过，他的声明并未被人听进去。

为犹太人来说，来自天上的食粮是玛纳（咏78：24），养育人的食物是天主的话语（依55：1-3）。他们愤慨地问道：若瑟的儿子怎么能宣告有这样的权力？耶稣并未缓和自己的宣告，甚至作了更令人震惊的声明。要吃的食粮不仅是他的教导，而是他自己的肉。“我所要赐给的食粮，就是我的肉，是为世界的生命而赐给的。”这是今日福音叙述的开场白。

吃喝这成为肉的天主，意思是要承认天主的启示透过“木匠的儿子”进入世界，并欣然接纳这来自天上的智慧。

然而，即使在这个阐明之后，耶稣的提议仍旧给人们留下了令人愤慨之处。人怎能“吃他的身体”呢？听众的震惊反应是正当而又可以理解的：“这人怎么能把他的肉，赐给我们吃呢？”他们清楚明白：他谈及的并不仅仅是天主启示精神的吸收，也是真实的“吃”。那么，他是什么意思呢？感恩祭的论述就在此处插入。

耶稣赋予弥撒圣祭意义。这是“基督徒生活的泉源和高峰”。我们知道，在缺乏司铎的主日，很多基督徒团体无法围聚在圣体的餐桌，只能分享天主圣言。我们坚信：他们从这独有的食物领受了对自己切实有效的丰富生命。

必须要强调：感恩祭是圣事，复活的基督会切实地临在。感恩祭不替代对天主圣言的信德。在领受基督圣体之前，聆听和默想一段福音是必要的。天主圣言（读经）是必不可少的前提。

文本来源：雅颂福传

翻译：Fr.James