Do you remember a time in your life when you truly experienced being found by Jesus?

 
Reading: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51.
 
Good morning, happy Thursday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
In today’s Gospel (John 6:44-51), we are reminded that it is not we who find Jesus. John writes: God, the Father (or Mother), will draw us to God’s Self! God always comes to us first, long before we even think of coming to God. God has been with us always, perhaps even before we were in the womb. And, it is God who continually searches for us and finds us when we have wandered off.

Jesus now comes to the climax of his discourse: he now speaks of the great mystery of the Eucharist. This is the real meaning of the multiplication of the loaves: the abundance and power that it shows is but a sign of something immeasurably more wonderful: Jesus gives us himself as our food and drink. I ask for the grace to enter deeper into this great mystery of our faith, in a spirit of wonder and gratitude.
 
‘I will raise that person on the last day.’ Faith is what makes my life last forever, it brings fullness to my life. I thank Jesus for offering himself for me and for calling me to believe in him. I stand in awe at how important I am to God: the Father draws me to Jesus, who will raise me up on the last day.
 
Do you remember a time in your life when you truly experienced being found by Jesus? What was happening in your life at this time? What was this experience like? Was it peaceful, joyful, or unsettling? Or did you experience a variety of emotions and thoughts?

Jesus tells us that He alone is the bread of life. Yes, we can eat manna or bread. However, before long, once again we are hungry. “Earthly” food does not truly satisfy our hunger. Take a moment and ask yourself: what is your experience when you receive the bread of life? Do you simply consume it without thought or prayer? Or do you understand and believe that in that very moment, we truly are receiving Jesus, our Lord and God? Do you experience that moment as holy and sacred? Or is it something you mindlessly do?

Jesus came to earth for us! And Jesus died for us, for you and for me, that we truly might live! Jesus gave us the sacrament of his body and blood to sustain and grace us. Today, may we take a few moments and sit with the gift that Jesus gives us in the Eucharist. When we receive the bread and the wine, we are receiving Jesus!
 
All our practices of prayer - our liturgies, disciplines and habits - are like school buses; they bring us to where a special kind of learning happens: we need to be present, ready, eager to go to receive truth. Jesus tells us that God wants to be the teacher of each person, desires to speak heart to heart.
 
Blessings,
 
Luis+