LBW# 222, "O Bread of Life from Heaven"
Devotion
Since tomorrow is the first Sunday of the month, many of us will receive the Bread of Life in the Lord’s Supper. I moved recently, and have not been able to find an ELCA congregation in my area that offers communion every Sunday. Worship seems incomplete without it.
This hymn takes the text of John 6:24-35 to a new level. It asks Jesus to feed "the souls that want and need your love." It reveals the depth of our hunger and thirst beyond bread and wine. Only taking in the love of Jesus can fully satisfy.
The hymn’s text dates to 1661. Food was not very plentiful for those who sang this hymn then. Most of us who will sing this tomorrow will be well fed, but we still have a deep hunger. It is a hunger that only Jesus’ love can satisfy.
Prayer
O Bread of Life from Heaven, feed with blessed sweetness of your divine completeness, the souls that want and need your love. Amen.