by John Pacheco
Q. Who are you,
Jesus?
A. I am the
bread of life. (48)
Q. What kind of bread are you?
A. I am the
living bread that came down from heaven. (51a)
Q. What are we to do with this "living bread" and what
will this "living bread" do for us?
A. If anyone
eats of this bread, he will live forever. (51b)
Q. Where can we find this bread?
A. This bread
is my flesh. (51c)
Q. What "flesh" are you talking about?
A. ...my flesh
which I will give for the life of the world. [on Calvary] (51d)
Q. What does the Resurrection have to do with your flesh?
A. Whoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. (54)
Q. Just what kind of flesh is it? Can you be more specific? Is it
some kind of symbolic thing? How do we eat a symbol?
A. For my
flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
(55)
Q. Why is your flesh so special? Why is it necessary to eat your
flesh?
A. Whoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
(56)
Q. Why is it important to remain "in you"? Are you
claiming some divine status for your body, so that, in
"eating" your body, your followers can be like you and
share in your resurrection, the resurrection of their physical
bodies? Is that what you are telling us?
A. …so
the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the
bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and
died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
(57,58)
Q. This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? (60)
A. Does this
offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was
before! (61, 62)
Q. How can feeding on mere human flesh contribute to one’s
salvation?
A. The Spirit
gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken
to you are spirit and they are life. (63)
Q. Are you saying that your flesh counts for nothing or do you
mean mere human flesh counts for nothing?
A. I tell you
the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink
his blood, you have no life in you. (53)
Q. So are you saying that your flesh is somehow divine, then?
A. For the
bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to
the world. (33) I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
(51a) This bread is my flesh. (51c)
John Pacheco
The Catholic Legate
September 27, 2005