Gospel: John 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came
down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we
not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from
heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. 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.”
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Reflection:
A young couple was often seen by a church worker at church attending
Sunday Mass with their little child in tow. The church worker befriended the
young couple, therefore, every now and then they would converse after mass.
As weeks passed by the friendship deepened and until the church worker
visited the dilapidated house of the young couple. While conversing the church worker asked the
couple: “How long have you been married?” The wife said, we are not yet married
because life is hard.
The church worker told the couple: “Do you want to join a Mass wedding
at church scheduled next month?” In unison and with conviction the couple said,
“Yes we will join!” To make a long story short the newly wed couple became
volunteer church workers themselves.
What should we do when we are faced with this kind of situation? Of
course, we should help as well, there’s no other option but to help. We should
help them because this is our duty as followers of Jesus: To help those who are
in need.
In our first reading for this Sunday, the prophet Elijah encountered so
much hardship during his journey in the desert that he was almost on the verge
of giving up. But the Lord helped him, the Lord sent Elijah an angel to give him
hope, food and water so that he could continue his journey going to mount
Horeb.
In every occasion that we present ourselves at Holy Mass the Lord through
the Sacrament of Holy Communion offers Himself to us. He invites us to partake
of His Body, Blood and Divinity. For what reason? He wants to help us, He
wants to strengthen us and He wants to give us hope as we face the many
challenges of life.
However, it must not end with our partaking of the Bread of Life. Our
partaking of the bread of Life must propel us to be Christ like in every way.
We must allow Jesus to change and transform us the way He wants us to become
not how we want ourselves to become. We must be like Him in humility, in
kindness and in compassion.
Our partaking of the Bread of Life should also move us to courageously
share Jesus. Let us not be daunted by the obstacles before us for Jesus is
always there for us. Why share Jesus? This is for the reason that many are still not aware of the enormous spiritual blessing of the Bread of Life.
Let us share Jesus with them so that they too will be blessed by the
Bread of Life which is no other than Jesus Himself. Have you already shared
Jesus your Eternal Bread of Life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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