For the next week the gospel assigned for each day is from John 6 which scholars call the Bread of Life discourse. The Church includes this chapter in the Easter season because the Bread of Life which we receive in the Eucharist is our direct connection with the Resurrection. The chapter starts off with the story of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. Each of the gospel writers tell of this miracle — Matthew and Mark twice! — so it obviously had a big impact on the first generation of believers. St. John uses the miracle to set up the long passage about the bread of life which follows culminating in Jesus saying “my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” As we receive Holy Communion we celebrate that the Risen Jesus is really present to us giving us access to the heavenly graces of joy and peace, binding us together as one body.
