TODAY'S GOSPEL REFLECTION: “Blessed Sacrament”

TODAY'S GOSPEL REFLECTION: “Blessed Sacrament”

April 28, 2023. Friday of the Third Week of Easter.

Gospel

Jn 6:52-59

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,

you do not have life within you.

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day.

For my Flesh is true food,

and my Blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood

remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me

and I have life because of the Father,

so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven.

Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,

whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Reflection:

A blessed Friday to all of us! The Jews do not want to believe that Jesus is the Bread of Life. They do not understand the Eucharist because before the Lord came, no one was really able to give his blood and flesh to be food and drink in a literal way. It is only the Lord Jesus and He gives it for us to have eternal life. This happened did not immediately after He said this but at the end of His public life or ministry to people - at the Last Supper. That is the establishment of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and Holy Orders (or priesthood). 

The body that Jesus offered on the Cross is also what we eat in the form of a small white Bread. Do we believe this Truth or do we still deny it? Do we appreciate Jesus waiting for us in the Tabernacle of Churches every day for us to talk to Him, visit Him, and at least receive Him in the Holy Communion every Sunday as the fulfillment of our obligation? 

These small sacrifices are nothing compared to what the Lord Jesus gave for us so that He can be our Spiritual Food but we don't want Him. Many people reject God and continue to hurt Him by being cold and indifferent to what He gives us – His whole self. If anyone fulfills duties to God, they should ask God for forgiveness for others and to bring them back to the right path to God. We exchange a lot of worldly things for God, and we know it is very painful to be cast aside by our loved one for other people or things but that is what God experiences with us, every day and more.

Let's visit Jesus in the Church, in His tabernacle, and in the adoration whenever we want and need, and when God calls us, let's go there with all our hearts. He is there – His Most Holy Body and Blood, His real presence, and not just the Holy Spirit. May we thank and appreciate the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist through the prayers of the Virgin Mary.

May we continue to reflect on this and not give up on our faith even when it is difficult. Amen. + May we continuously reflect on this. Amen. +

God bless us and give us peace of the Risen Christ. Amen. +

Reflections by: F.M.M.J.

Go to USCCB website for the full readings.