The gospel reading for the nineteenth Sunday, Year B continues Jesus’ bread of life discourse delivered in the synagogue in Capernaum. Having been fed with the miraculously multiplied five loaves and two two fish Jesus’ interlocutors demand from him another miracle after the pattern of the manna given to the Israelites in the time of Moses. In his dialogue Jesus is trying to lead them to discover that he is the true bread from heaven that gives eternal life to those who believe in him.

This dialogue may seem nothing more than a sophisticated theological discussion which is of no interest to a ‘normal’ Christian. Well, nothing more misleading than that. In reality, the questions raised by the people in the synagogue in Capernaum, are exactly those that people of all times and places face every day. Having realized the miraculous nature of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus’ contemporaries are convinced that they have found someone who can fix all their problems, a perfect candidate to be their king/president. Is the longing for someone like that not deeply rooted in our hearts?

On the one hand Jesus rejects any attempts of using him to satisfy our purely biological needs. But on the other hand, recognizing those needs as real he makes of them a place of encounter between God and his people. Jesus doesn’t dismiss our authentic longings for peace, joy, satisfaction, and happiness. But he invites his disciples to open themselves to the action of God in their lives by believing that he is able to meet those needs in his own mysterious way. He invites them to communion with him through faith in order to find a life of deep satisfaction, joy, and happiness.

This is the greatest miracle of all that humans may experience in this life. Jesus doesn’t dismiss our needs but transforms them by the power of divine love. That’s why the only thing he asks of us is to receive him with faith. But it is hard for us to do.

The recent opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris with its part mocking the Last Supper proves that even today, this teaching is a stumbling block for many people. Like the people in the synagogue in Capernaum we often murmur against God in our hearts thinking of him in a narrow human way. Jesus knows that only those who are able to recognize him as the true God and true man will be able to welcome the gift of his presence in the Eucharist. The problem of the Eucharist is the problem of Jesus, his identity and who is he for me.

Our faith in the Eucharistic presence of Jesus is not abstract. The responsorial psalm invites us to taste and see the goodness of the Lord who is the refuge for those who trust in him. We can truly taste that goodness of the Lord in the Eucharist, where he shows his power to save us from death and where he gives us eternal life.