20th Sunday Ordinary Time – Bread of Life & Bread of Sorrow

Especially this part of Sunday’s gospel (below) revealed dissonance between Jesus’ words and the painful allegations against priests and bishops from the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report given earlier in the week. Ouch.

“…Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:47-51)

The dissonance? All the clergy identified as abusers of youth celebrated the Eucharist. All shared in the Body and Blood of Christ. How did they remain dead inside? Why didn’t the Bread of Life bring life to them or their victims?

We must seek further: Given the painful divisions in our world, country, and church, why hasn’t the Bread of Life brought life and reconciliation to us? Why do so many of us remain dead inside, numbing out, righteously angry? Here’s a few thoughts.