The Sacrament of the altar, 3, 2 ; SC 94
Towards the fulfilment of the sabbath
Moses said : « The rest of the sabbath day shall be sacred to the Lord. » The Lord loves rest; he loves to rest in us that thus we may rest in him. But there is, too, a rest of the times to come, of which it is written: “From now on, says the Spirit, let them find rest from all their labors.” And there is a rest of the present time of which the prophet says: “Cease to do evil.”
We come to the future rest by means of the six works of mercy enumerated in the Gospel in the place where it is said : « I was hungry and you gave me food », etc…. For “there are six days when work should be done”; then comes the night, that is death, “when no one can work”. After those six days comes the Sabbath day when every good work is completed. This is the rest of the soul.
(Biblical references: Ex 31,15; Rv 14,13; Is 1,16; Mt 25,35f; Lk 13,14; Jn 9,4)
We come to the future rest by means of the six works of mercy enumerated in the Gospel in the place where it is said : « I was hungry and you gave me food », etc…. For “there are six days when work should be done”; then comes the night, that is death, “when no one can work”. After those six days comes the Sabbath day when every good work is completed. This is the rest of the soul.
(Biblical references: Ex 31,15; Rv 14,13; Is 1,16; Mt 25,35f; Lk 13,14; Jn 9,4)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 14:1-6.
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.
In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"
But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?"
But they were unable to answer his question.
In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"
But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?"
But they were unable to answer his question.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:30-35.
The crowd said to Jesus: «What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”
So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”
So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Commentary of the day :
Baldwin of Ford (?-c.1190), Cistercian abbot
The Sacrament of the altar II, 3 ; SC 93
The Sacrament of the altar II, 3 ; SC 93
“The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”
Christ is “the bread of life” for those who believe in him: to believe in Christ is to eat the bread of life, to possess Christ within one, to possess eternal life…
“I am the bread of life,” he says; “your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they are dead” (Jn 6,48f). By this is to be understood spiritual death. Why are they dead? Because they believed in what they saw and did not understand what they could not see… Moses ate manna, Aaron ate it and many others, too, who pleased God and are not dead. Why are they not dead? Because they understood in a spiritual fashion, they were spiritually hungry, they tasted the manna spiritually so that they might be spiritually satisfied. “This is the bread that came down from heaven: whoever eats it will never die” (v.50).
This manna – that is to say, Christ, who himself spoke like this…, was prefigured by the manna but was able to do more than manna could. For manna could not of itself prevent dying spiritually… But the righteous saw Christ in the manna, they believed in his coming, and Christ, of whom manna was the symbol, grants to all who believe in him that they should not spiritually die. Hence he says: “This is the bread come down from heaven; whoever eats it will never see death.” Here on earth, here now, before your eyes, your eyes of flesh: here is to be found the “bread from heaven” (v.51). The “bread of life” we spoke of a moment ago is now called “living bread”. Living bread because it contains within itself the life that abides and can deliver from spiritual death and bestow life. First he said: “Whoever eats it will never die”; now he speaks clearly concerning the life he gives: “Whoever eats this bread will live for ever” (v.58).
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