The Bread of Life

Based on John 6: 25-59.

Written exclusively at St. Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Brighton.

What is our daily bread, the food by which
The path to life eternal is attained?
No perishable matter, but the bread
Which Christ, the Lamb of God, does freely give.
For we are called to do the work of God:
To believe in Jesus, He who had been sent
From Paradise, that blessed eternal shore
To earth, to bring fullness of salvation
To God's elect, His chosen ones, whom He
Has drawn unto Himself, all those who have
Looked to the Lamb of God and have believed.
The bread of Heaven supercedes that which
 In Moses' time did fall to earth to give
The manna, daily bread, perishable
For Yahweh has given us the true bread
Life-giving food by which our souls are saved.
Jesus declared: "I AM the bread of life"
In him hunger and thirst are satisfied.
All those who come to Him and who believe
He will receive and never drive away.
For Jesus came to do the will of His
Father, Yahweh, in true obedience
Holding fast to all of those who have been
Given to Him and finally to raise
Them up at the last day, the climax of
Both human and salvation history.
Yet these truths most profound fell on deaf ears
Becoming lost in mortal reasoning,
Preferring limited knowledge of Him
As son of human parents, knowing not
The incarnational evidence of Him
Born of a virgin impregnated by
The Holy Spirit, overshadowing
Her virgin self in preparation of
That wondrous birth of Him who would save those
Who would, in time, come to believe in Him.
Such human talk and reasoning which falls
Far short of the knowledge and reasoning
Divine, yet gave He them the truth of His
Mission to seek and save all humankind
And rescue them from Satan's vicious lies.
Jesus, He is the one true bread from Heaven
He is the one who came from Paradise
The one who has seen Yahweh and still lives
The bread of life by which all those who eat
Of Him will never die but be raised up
At the last day. His flesh is real food
And His blood real drink. All those who eat
And drink shall have eternal life, for unless
We eat His flesh and drink His blood, we shall
Perish and never gain eternal life.
The bread He gives, His flesh will be given
For the life of the world, on Calvary's tree,
The tree of shame which will become the tree
Of glory; O most holy, sacred cross.
Nailed to the cross, His body pierced straight through,
His blood, a holy river flowing free
For our salvation. Jesus, Lamb of God,
Let us hold fast to the salvation which
You offer us and may we all partake
Of your most precious body and your blood
At every holy Eucharist, feeding
Upon the bread of life, until at last
We step upon the shores of Paradise
To spend eternal life in your presence.