“I am the bread of life” – the anniversary of the 2019 Sri Lanka bombings

 Photo: Canva.com

As I reflect upon today’s first reading from Acts 7:51-8:1 which tells of the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and the gospel passage from John 6:30-35, where Jesus says “I am the bread of life”, I am aware that today is also the anniversary of the Sri Lanka Easter bombings that took place on April 21, 2026, when three churches and three hotels were the target of coordinated suicide bombings. 269 people were killed. The first blast shook the Shrine of St Anthony, an historic Catholic church in the capital of Sri Lanka. Of the 93 people killed, 27 were children. The second blast took place in St Sebastian’s church located in a suburb to the north of Colombo. 115 people died including 27 children.

 

These attacks took place on Easter Sunday, a day on which Catholics celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Catholics number around 1.55 million in Sri Lanka, about 7 per cent of the population. This deeply tragic event shows the connection between the two readings for today. These people, over 200 Catholics of Sri Lanka, died as they prepared to receive the “bread of life” on Easter Sunday, the most sacred day in the Catholic Church’s calendar. They are included among the martyrs of the church whose history extends back to the death of St Stephen. Sadly, the victims of the bombings in Sr Lanka had no time to see the heavens open as Stephen did. Still, the heavens would have opened to receive these victims of religious violence. No doubt St Stephen would have been there to welcome them. Their memory is kept alive because they share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the heavenly banquet they would have come to understand what Jesus meant, as we hear in today’s gospel, when he said, “I am the bread of life. They who come to me will never be hungry; they who believe in me will never thirst.” The life we share is the life of the One who gives us bread from heaven, food that reminds us of those who struggle for freedom from slavery, food that reminds us of the commitment to wash each other’s feet and to be willing to sacrifice our lives for the sake of the life of all.

 

Let us remember those who died in 2019 in Sri Lanka and pray for an end to religious violence and violence against children. Let us continue to pray for peace in our troubled world.