April 14, 2016

Jn 6: 44-51

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Sacred Elements

I have a chemist friend who is agnostic but I think would make a great Catholic. She can describe for her child how a healthy diet allows his body to use what he eats as elemental building blocks to make strong bones and muscle. She would appreciate Jesus today telling the crowd that He is the living bread who will give life to the world. My friend could imagine the very molecules of Jesus in our bread and wine becoming part of us – building blocks for our bodies but also allowing him, Word made flesh, to become truly part of us as we strive to be people for others and make his presence felt in the world. When the Eucharistic Jesus becomes part of me, does it show in my actions? Can Jesus use me to give his Flesh for the life of the world?  Food for thought and action. —Jim O'Donnell is a long-serving deacon at Gesu Church, University Heights, OH. He is also a University Hospitals physician specializing and leading a research team in nuclear medicine.  

Prayer

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more, See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.                    ………………… Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below, I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so, Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light And be blest for ever with Thy glory's sight. Amen. —Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., translation of “Adore Te Devote” by St. Thomas Aquinas
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