TODAY’S GOSPEL REFLECTIONS: “Bread of Life”

TODAY’S GOSPEL REFLECTIONS: “Bread of Life”

April 27, 2023. Thursday of the Third Week of Easter.

Gospel

Jn 6:44-51

Jesus said to the crowds:

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,

and I will raise him on the last day.

It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

Not that anyone has seen the Father

except the one who is from God;

he has seen the Father.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life.

Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;

this is the bread that comes down from heaven

so that one may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give

is my Flesh for the life of the world."

Reflection: 

A blessed Thursday to all! “When we eat this bread, and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord”. This is one of the responses when the priest says “The Mystery of Faith" after the consecration prayer, when Christ finally came down to be the Bread and Wine for us in the Holy Mass to be consumed later in the Holy Communion.

Indeed, eating Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is dying to ourselves - our old selves who are slaves to sin. Only by the strength of the Eucharist can we conquer sin and temptations through the Lord. When we die to sin and ourselves, we can become new persons and resurrect in the Lord. Christ Jesus is truly the Bread of Life. He is Whom we receive in the tiny white host during Holy Communion. It is not a symbol, but it is He Himself. Our first parents sinned against God through eating. God restores us to Himself through eating as well, and it is by eating the Most Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Himself. Do we recognize and thank Him enough in the Holy Eucharist? 

Are we guilty of wandering minds and irreverences during the Holy Mass? Recognize Him there and believe with your whole heart that God came down from Heaven for you. Do not titlt your head left or right but gaze at Jesus in the altar and the taebernacles just as He does to you under this hidden appearance of bread and wine. Then you will see how futile your distracting thoughts are, and that this Truth of God’s love alone in the Eucharist is more than enough for you to exchange everything else in the world just to receive Him in the Holy Communion, not the other way around. 

When we slowly lose our belief and cannot find relief, go to confession. Have your heart cleansed by God Himself through the person of the priest. Then, receive Jesus Himself in the Holy Mass while offering your full self to Him. 

All your worries and pains will be God’s, and His grace, strength, and glory shall be yours. Who doesn’t want to make this sacred exchange? It is only the foolish, the unbelievers, and the one who listens to the lies of the evil one. The lies include that we are better off on our own without the Holy Mass but the truth is, we are spiritually dead without it. This, apart from the fact that not going to Holy Mass on Sundays is a mortal sin which again makes us dead within, as mortal sin cuts off our relationship with the Lord. Reject evil and its lies. Come to the Sacred Banquet God has prepared for you where He constantly waits for His beloved – you. 

Do not delay anymore and do not doubt anymore for what God says is true. Jesus is the Bread of Life not figuratively but literally. He gives us eternal life through the Holy Eucharist through the real presence of Jesus Himself. 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.