Tag: true food

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.

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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.

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