The Gospel reading for the next 5 Sundays will not come from St. Mark, which is what we focus on in the B Cycle of Sunday Gospel readings, but from St. John, particularly the 6th chapter. The Church is taking a step back from the flow of St. Mark’s Gospel to meditate on the Eucharist, as Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse appears in the 6th chapter of St. John’s Gospel. So I’ll take the Church’s lead and reflect on the Eucharist the next 5 weekends as well.
The Gospel this Sunday is the miraculous feeding of the 5,000. This is a noteworthy miracle in Jesus’ life, as it is the only miracle that is recorded in all 4 Gospels. I think it is also worth noting that the chapter that contains Jesus’ doctrine on the Eucharist begins with this miracle. He performs this amazing miracle, and then the next day gives the people the teaching on the Eucharist. I think what we see here, among other things, is the primacy of faith. In order to believe in what Jesus says, we have to believe in who He is first.
The same goes for the Eucharist. Faith has to be at the fore, otherwise we will begin to lessen what the Eucharist really is, we could objectify the Eucharist unknowingly, or not believe in the real presence of the Eucharist at all. There is a poll that was taken some years back that sadly stated that 40% of Catholics think that the Eucharist is just a symbol. Almost half of the Catholics in this country don’t believe in the Eucharist. This is really a crisis. The Second Vatican Council refers to the Eucharist as the “source and summit of the Christian life.” If almost half of our nations Catholics do not believe in the very life of the Christian faith, how strong is their faith? How will their faith persevere when trials and difficulties arise?
As Jesus wanted to activate the faith of the people through performing a miracle before teaching on the Eucharist, I think the same needs to happen to all of us, myself included. Before diving into the Eucharist in the coming weeks, may our faith in Jesus Christ be renewed. May we come to know Jesus for who He is, that is our savior, our redeemer, and our Lord. And may our faith and our relationship with Him be increases with every communion that we receive. May our hearts never grow cold, so long as we remain connected to our Eucharistic Lord.
 
Reflection by Fr. Braud