Tag: flesh

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.”

In today’s Gospel, which continues from last week’s readings as he addresses the Pharisees, Jesus describes his relationship to the Father as the Good Shepherd. While the hired man, Jesus says, whose sheep are not his own, has no interest in caring for the sheep in time of danger, the good shepherd knows the sheep and they know him. Just as the Father knows Jesus, and Jesus knows the Father, the sheep know the good shepherd. Jesus speaks here of the love between the Father and the Son. For those who follow him and believe, the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep to take it up again in the resurrection. Jesus says, “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.”

Do I recognize Jesus as the Good Shepherd and see the sacrificial love of the Son who does his Father’s will? Through his passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus calls us each by name to be brought into the same loving relationship with his Father to reconcile us to him in the hope of eternal life. God, help me understand how the Good Shepherd is not a remote concept, referring to some far-off people from long ago, but is the risen Christ present to me today in the people and events I encounter.

Be with me, Lord, throughout the day. From today’s Psalm, help me recall your love: “Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on. And bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

So Jesus said, “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

In today’s Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Jesus addresses the Pharisees. He tells them the parable of the Good Shepherd, that whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate is a thief and robber and that whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for them and leads them out, following his voice, and walks ahead of them to lead them. But a stranger, Jesus says, they will not follow because they don’t recognize his voice. The Pharisees don’t understand what Jesus is trying to tell them, so he explains things to them in this way: “I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy.”

God, help me see that Jesus your Son is the only way to salvation, the gate, and that what he offers is eternal life to those who follow him. Jesus says: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There are choices I can make to steal and slaughter and destroy, but Jesus is the true shepherd who knows his sheep by name, those who choose to follow him to have life and have it more abundantly.

Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd, you call me by name to follow you. Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus continues talking with the disciples about his relationship with the Father as the bread of life. After telling them that his body and blood are true food and true drink and that they must partake of this to have eternal life, they say to Jesus: “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Jesus tells them, “It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” And many of his disciples returned to their former way of life, so Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter’s reply, “to whom shall we go?” is a question I could ask daily as I make my way through this complicated world. Peter affirms his faith by saying, “We have come to believe and are convinced.” What opportunities today will I have to come to believe that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God?

God, I am struck by Peter’s words “we have come to believe.” As a pilgrim on this earth, I struggle every day to see you in people and events as the day unfolds. Your grace is at work in the world, but do I come to believe that and stand firm in my faith in you? Help me realize that the world will present me with innumerable alternatives to you. Grant me the grace to pause throughout the day before taking action, to ask myself: If not to you, Lord, to whom shall I go?

Lord, let me come to you today fully aware that in the mystery of the Eucharist you are present body and blood, soul and divinity. Help me recall the words you spoke to some who believed you and some who did not: “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life.” Strengthen my faith, Lord. Saint Catherine, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said, “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.”

Speaking to some of the Jews who were quarreling among each other, Jesus says these words. They say, “How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” Accepted today as a central tenet of the faith, the Eucharist that Jesus describes to the people of his time must have seemed bizarre and gruesome. But by comparing himself to manna that came down from heaven, Jesus brings the exodus into the present. He says to them, “Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” In this way, as the Son of God, Jesus is able to declare himself as the true food and true drink through which he will remain forever with those who believe him.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel. I’ve grown accustomed to hearing spoken at every Mass what must have been shocking to the people of Jesus’ time. Jesus said literally, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” As grotesque and bizarre as these words seem, they are the means to eternal life then and today through the love of the Father who draws us to him. From today’s Psalm, we hear: “For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.” Thank you, God, for the Eucharist, the pure gift of fidelity of your Son. In it, Jesus is present unceasingly in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass.

Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son. His words penetrate the hearts of all who hear him, and some choose not to follow. Give me the grace today to hear his word and follow him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.