THURSDAY, THIRD WEEK OF EASTER
Acts 8: 26-40; Ps 66: 8-9, 16-17, 20; Jn 6: 44-51
BREAD FROM HEAVEN
We continue our reflection on the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. Popularly known as the Eucharistic discourse. From today’s passage, we can draw the following lessons:
- A Gift from the Loving Father: The Father is the one who sent him and who will draw souls to him. “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.” So, those individuals who heard Christ’s words and were drawn to him that day were doing so because of a gift of faith from the Father. If we today have faith in Christ, it also is a gift from the Father, who wants to draw us to his Son. If we have doubts or weaknesses in faith, we should ask the Father to draw us nearer to his Son and to help us believe with our whole hearts and minds.
- The Word Was Made Flesh: Christ’s birth took place in the town of Bethlehem, which in Hebrew (bêth-lehem), means “house of bread.” He was also laid in a manger, where food for animals would normally be placed. Before becoming bread which would be our food, Christ first became man. Merely giving us some specially blessed bread would not be nearly as significant as giving himself. That is how God always loves, by giving himself completely and without reserve.
- His Flesh Was Made Bread: The Gospel accounts of Christ multiplying the loaves report he did so out of compassion for the crowd: “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat” (Mt 15:32). This same compassion moves him to give himself as our bread in the Eucharist. He does not want us to die from a lack of spiritual nourishment. Christ – in the greatest gesture of humility – became a man like us, the same in every way except sin. But in an even greater gesture of humility, he descended further still to become our spiritual food. So let us devoutly participate in the Eucharist and be nourished by this heavenly bread.
Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
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