Drop the mike.
It’s a phrase we often use when we’ve said something that leaves nothing left to be said. In today’s Gospel, a seismic mike drop fulfills a prophecy, leaving a synagogue shaken, its member in a fury. Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah: “He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
The words from the scroll, which had been read and studied for generations, were familiar to those in the synagogue. But then, with eyes intently upon him, Jesus adds, “Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Mike drop.
Jesus declares his divinity publicly and unequivocally. He affirms that he is the one Isaiah and all the prophets wrote about, and he announces the salvation of God.
There is not a Christian alive today who does not take Jesus at his word. And it is that same unwavering belief we must all have when we hear these words from Jesus: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
As Saint Peter Julian Eymard writes: “Bread of Life! Ah, but that is the true name of Jesus; in it is the whole Christ, in His life, in His death, and after His Resurrection.”
In that synagogue, Jesus declares his real presence as Lord and Savior. In the Bread of Life Discourse, he declares his real presence in the Holy Eucharist – the source and summit of our faith that sustains us and physically joins us with our Lord until his glorious return.
Mike Drop.
Let us Pray:
Renewed by this bread from the heavenly table, may it confiram our hearts and stir us to serve you in our neighbor (an excerpt from the Prayer after Communion)
