Jesus always receives us

Reading: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35.

Good morning, happy Wednesday, and many blessings.

In today’s Gospel (John 6:35-40) Jesus makes clear that the bread he is giving is his word, which, if accepted, will satisfy. Moving from the metaphorical, Jesus spells out what it means to believe in him and what are the consequences of such belief.

The gospel can underpin our prayer. It offers us Christ's assurance that he will raise us all up on the last day because that is the will of his Father/Mother.

It is the will of God that nothing should be lost; may I look on everything that is good as a gift from God and an invitation to embrace the life that God offers. So much is offered to God each day! I pray that all people who are blessed may realize their identity and destiny lies in God.

For Christians, the dead are not gone from our lives forever; they continue to exist and to be part of our community. Some are enjoying the fullness of life with Christ in heaven; others are awaiting that enjoyment in a state that Catholics call purgatory. We pray today that their wait may be short-lived.

The gospel can underpin our prayer. It offers us Christ's assurance that he will raise us all up on the last day because that is the will of his Father. Jesus seeks to draw those who listened to him into a profound relationship. He asks them to believe in his wonderful promises about eternal life.  Jesus, you invite me to partake in a life that is indestructible. I am to share in the very life of God. This sharing has already begun. May my life and prayer witness that I belong where you are. Bring me – and all others - home to you.

In Jesus' life of complete obedience to the Father, we recognize our own call and our true identity as human beings. He has come to draw each one of us to the Father. Everything he says and does is for this purpose. He never drives us away. I ask Jesus to help me to be as he was: not self-serving on some personal project but doing the will of God. It may be that in my prayer I recognize what is enduring, what is at the heart of life. I may glimpse what it means to live in eternal life, seeing my experience of God’s Spirit as the inheritance I am promised.

On this day I may choose to bring before Jesus some person or persons who have already passed away, and pray for them. In gratitude for all I have received from them, or asking for pardon for my mistakes in dealing with them, or ask for God’s mercy on them. I find special consolation in Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel: ‘Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away’.

Blessings,

Fr. Luis+