bread of life

by

Friday, 9 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 52-59

The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this Man give us flesh to eat?”

So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is really food, and My blood is truly drink. Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood, live in Me, and I in them.”

“Just as the Father, who is life, sent Me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats Me will have life from Me. This is the bread which came from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”

Jesus spoke in this way in Capernaum when He taught them in the synagogue.

by

Thursday, 8 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 44-51

No one can come to Me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent Me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets : ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to Me.

For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread which comes from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die.

I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is My flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.

by

Tuesday, 6 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 30-35

Then they said, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe You. What sign do You perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says : They were given bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus them said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.” And they said to Him, “Give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty.”

by

Saturday, 20 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the story of the miraculous resurrection of the lady Tabitha, who had died but then resurrected in a new life, in a miracle that many would believe in Christ and His apostles. This also show the truth of the words that Christ Himself had spoken and which we had heard in today’s Gospel, that He has the message of eternal life, and that all who believe in Him and His message, would not die but would live in a blissful eternal life with God.

Indeed, Christ is not just the bearer of the message of eternal life, but He is life Himself, the way, the truth, and the life, for outside Christ, and for those who do not receive Him nor His message, there is no hope for life. In Christ lies the truth of life, and the truth about God and His works, and how much He loves us to the point of sending His own, beloved and only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour.

Many yet find it hard to believe in Christ, not because the language that Jesus used was too harsh, as what the apostles said, but instead, it was because the hearts of the people had been hardened against Him, and their hearts and minds were deaf against the truth that the Lord offered them. The truth that Christ had brought with Him knocked hard on the door of their hearts, and many would not answer the call and that knock on the door. They did not open the doors for Christ, but instead slammed those doors in front of Christ.

Many among us today also find it hard to believe in Christ, that we choose to be what can be called as ‘market Christians’ as we choose what we want to believe, and what we would like to believe. We do not take the teachings of Christ in the Church as it is. We believe as we would like to believe, and in our pride and arrogance, we would not admit the Lord into our hearts.

Many of us would not put our trust in the Lord, and choose to put our trust in men. But if we do not put our full trust in God, we would not be part of His redemption and His salvation. He offered Himself freely for us, so that we may have life in Him, and that just like Tabitha, we may also be risen in glory with Him.

Yet, we remain in our sinful ways, and we did not put our trust entirely in God. We prefer this world and Satan to God, and if we do not change our ways, we would not gain life, but lose it, and just like the people who refused to believe that Christ is the bread of life, we too would refuse to believe in Him and accept Him fully as our Lord and God.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today strive to be better Christians, to be better faithful ones in Christ, that we can transform ourselves with God’s love and true and unconditional faith in Him, that we will then be able to put our trust in Him who loves us, and gain eternal life as our due reward. Let us also renew our commitment to spread the Good News of the Lord to many in all the nations, that those who hear the Good News and believe, will not die, but live eternally with God. Amen.

by

Saturday, 20 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 6 : 60-69

After hearing this, many of Jesus’ followers said, “This language is very hard! Who can accept it?”

Jesus was aware that His disciples were murmuring about this, and so He said to them, “Does this offend you? Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the spirit that gives life, not the flesh. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”

From the beginning, Jesus knew who would betray Him. So He added, “As I have told you, no one can come to Me unless it is granted by the Father.”

After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed Him. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Will you also go away?” Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the word of eternal life. We now believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

by

Friday, 19 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter, Eighth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 (Gospel Reading)

John 6 : 52-59

The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

“My flesh is really food, and My blood is truly drink. Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood, live in Me, and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent Me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats Me will have life from Me. This is the bread which came from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.

Jesus spoke in this way in Capernaum, when He taught them in the synagogue.

by

Thursday, 18 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 6 : 44-51

No one can come to Me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent Me; and I will raise Him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets : ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to Me.

For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread which comes from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die.

I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is My flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.

by

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus Christ, our Bread of Life, the Lord of life, and the Saviour, has died for us, and in dying, He destroyed our death, and through His glorious resurrection from the dead, He bring us to live eternal, all those who believe in Him, will have life through Him, and in Him.

He is the Bread of Life, and indeed, on the last supper He had with His disciples, He gave them His body and blood for them to eat and drink, in the form of the bread and the wine, and through these, He gave all of us Himself, that we all may have a share in Him and in the eternal life assured through Him.

This is why we should regularly and worthily receive Christ into ourselves, through the Eucharist in the Mass, when the Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, when He laid down Himself for all mankind to save them all, is once again brought to us, in a mysterious way, that the Sacrifice on the cross brought down upon us the Precious Body and Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, freely given, for our salvation.

It is not easy indeed to believe in things like this, that our Lord would give Himself up for us, and His Body and Blood for all of us to eat and drink. But indeed that was what happened, and He gave His Body and Blood for us in the bread and wine transformed by the priests, so that we may have a part in Christ’s salvation.

There were many people who even though had seen Jesus’ miracles and works, had refused to believe truly in Him when He said that those who do not eat His Body nor drink His Blood would not have eternal life. To them, the idea was just too radical, and the reason for their lack of faith was because they did not have a true faith in Christ. Their faith is human faith, believing because they see what He had done in miraculous signs, instead of true faith in God, even without all these miracles.

Blessed are all of us who did not see all these miracles attributed and done by Christ and yet truly believe that Christ is the Messiah and the Son of God, because just as He said, blessed are those who did not see and yet believe, when He mentioned the faith in Thomas, who believed only because he saw the Risen Christ. This kind of faith in Christ is true faith, not faith born just out of miracles and awe, but because we truly believe in Christ, in His works and His teachings.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to receive our Lord regularly in the Mass, and ensure that we are worthy when we receive Him into ourselves, and keep ourselves holy and worthy, as the Holy Temple for God, that is our body, that we will always be ever in His grace and receive His infinite blessing and love. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 6 : 35-40

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty. Nevertheless as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen. Yet all those whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me, I shall not turn away.

For I have come from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me. And the will of the One who sent Me is that I lose nothing of what He has given Me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him shall live eternal life; and I will raise Him up on the last day.

by

Tuesday, 16 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 6 : 30-35

Then they said, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe You. What sign do You perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says : ‘They were given bread from heaven to eat.’

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.” And they said to Him, “Give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me, shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me, shall never be thirsty.”