Apr 27- May 2: Monday: John 6:22-29: 22 On
the next day the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that
there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat
with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 However,
boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord
had given thanks. 24 So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his
disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking
Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say
to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill
of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food
which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on
him has God the Father set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we
do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of
God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
The context: Today’s Gospel introduces
Jesus’ famous discourse on the Holy Eucharist which emerged within a dialogue
between Jesus and the Jews who had gone around the Lake and come to Capernaum
searching for him. In answer to their question about his arrival, Jesus
challenged them, saying that they were looking for him to get another free meal
and that such meals would not satisfy them. He also instructed them to labor
for food that would give them Eternal Life.
Naturally, the Jews asked Jesus what they should do to get
such a food. Since the Jews believed that the Torah was the “bread of life,”
many may have thought that Jesus was instructing them to keep the Torah to
attain Eternal Life. So, Jesus clarified that they had to do the work of God to
attain eternal life and told them that the “work of God” was not to work
miracles for their own sakes but to believe in him as the Son of God, sent to
give Eternal Life to those who believed in him. While regular food helps us to
stay alive in this world, spiritual food sustains and develops our supernatural
life, which will last forever in Heaven. This food, which only God can
give us, consists mainly in the gift of Faith in Jesus and in the Grace God
gives us to live according to Jesus’ teaching. Through God’s infinite
love, we are given in the Blessed Eucharist the very Author of these gifts,
Jesus Christ, as nourishment for our souls.
Life message: 1) Most of the time, we work for
food which only nourishes the body. Jesus teaches that he is the Heavenly food,
who nourishes the soul and gives us eternal life in union with God in Heaven.
Hence, let us receive this Life-giving food both in the Holy Eucharist and in
the Holy Scripture with proper preparation and reverence while repenting of our
sins. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)19
Apr 28 Tuesday: John 6:30-35: 30 So they said
to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work
do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is
written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” 32 Jesus then said to them,
“Truly, 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. 33 For the bread of God
is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 They
said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am
the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in
me shall never thirst.
The context: In reply to Jesus’ implied claim
that he was the Messiah and his declaration that He had been sent from Heaven
to give Eternal Life to those who believed in him, the Jews demanded a sign
from Heaven. Moses, they said, gave a Heavenly sign to their ancestors in
the form of manna, rained down on them from Heaven. The Jewish rabbis taught
that the promised Messiah would repeat the miracle of the manna as a Messianic
sign, and that the prophet Jeremiah would reappear and show the Jews the Ark of
the Covenant where the original manna was kept.
Jesus explained to the Jews that it was not Moses but God,
his Heavenly Father, who had given them manna from Heaven. He then claimed that
he was more than a provider of bread like Moses because he was himself the
bread that the Father was providing. In other words, Jesus is the
Heavenly manna whom the Father has sent to the world as the Bread of Life.
Thus, Jesus clarifies that the manna given to Moses and the people was not the
real bread from Heaven, but only a symbol of the Bread to come. Jesus also
demands from them an absolute Faith in himself as the Son of God and Bread of
Life if they do not want to hunger and thirst again. Jesus uses the metaphor of
food and drink to show that He is the One Who really meets all man’s noblest
aspirations
Life messages: 1) Jesus kept his promise, and he
continues to feed us with his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. So,
let us nourish our souls with this Heavenly manna.
2) Let us also remember that our duty is to carry this Jesus
to our homes and workplaces, radiating his love, mercy and compassion all
around us. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)19
Apr 29 Wednesday: John 6: 35-40: 35 Jesus
said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and
he who believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have
seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to
me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 and this is
the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has
given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my
Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal
life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus
repeats his claim that he is “the Bread of Life.” He means that, just as
God sent manna from heaven to sustain the physical life of his people in the
desert, so He has sent His Son Jesus to sustain the spiritual lives of His
people. Spiritual life is actually our relationship with God the Father
through His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit in trusting Faith, Love and
obedience.
Jesus makes three claims: 1) He claims to be our spiritual
Food and offers himself in order to produce God’s life within us. 2) He
promises to those who believe in him unbroken friendship with God. 3)
Jesus also promises to those who believe in him a share in his own Resurrection
at the end of this world and share of Eternal Life with him in heaven.
Life messages: 1) We need to live dynamic
spiritual lives, sharing in God’s life as Divine Grace through the Holy
Eucharist. 2) We can keep the friendship of Jesus only by leading holy
lives free from sin. 3) We can enjoy and share the joy of Jesus’
Resurrection only by realizing and appreciating his presence within us and all
around us. Only he can satisfy our deepest needs. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)19
Apr 30 Thursday: John 6: 44-51: 44 No
one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise
him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all
be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to
me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has
seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal
life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the
wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven,
that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down
from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread
which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The context: Today’s Gospel passage is the
continuation of Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life. Jesus declares that he
has seen God his Father because he has come from Heaven. Jesus also states that
we hear God the Father’s Voice through him and through the Holy Spirit because
the Father draws us to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus reminds the Jews that they cannot be his disciples
unless God his Father draws them to him and teaches them. The Magisterium of
the Church has repeated this teaching in Vatican II: “Before this Faith can be
exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have
the interior help of the Holy Spirit, Who moves the heart and converts it to
God, Who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and
believe the truth” (Dei Verbum, 5). Once they become his disciples,
Jesus will feed their souls with the Bread from Heaven, and this Heavenly Bread
is his own Body. Eternal Life is reserved for such disciples. This Eternal Life
is a Life of love, fellowship, communion, and union with God.
Life message: 1) Holy Communion is the wonderful
banquet at which Christ gives himself to us: “The Bread which I shall give
for the life of the world is My Flesh.) Hence, let us receive the
glorified Body and Blood of the Risen Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist with a
repentant heart, proper preparation, reverential fear and grateful joy. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)19
May 1 Friday: John 6: 52-59: 52 The Jews
then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at
the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the
living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will
live because of me.
The context: The Jewish hearers of Jesus’
teaching on the Bread of Life were scandalized at his statement that he was
going to give them his Flesh to eat, for it suggested to them cannibalism,
forbidden in the Jewish Scriptures. Hence, they wanted to know how Jesus could
give his Flesh to eat as a means to gain Eternal Life. Jesus asserted
that it was a must for them to eat his Body and drink his Blood if they were to
receive Divine Life, Eternal Life and resurrection from the dead. There is no
way to interpret his words as “simply symbolic,” which would mean that receiving
Communion is only a metaphor, and not really eating and drinking the Body and
Blood of Christ. Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary for us to
receive him in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in Divine Life and to
develop the life of grace we have received in Baptism. “We receive Jesus Christ
in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us an increase of grace and
the gift of eternal life” (St. Pius X Catechism, # 289). “Really
sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we
are taken up into communion with him and with one another.” (Vatican II, Lumen
Gentium, 7). Jesus adds that eating his Body and drinking his Blood
are essential for abiding with him, which is, on this earth, the beginning of
the Eternal Life of Heaven. Communion with Jesus enables us to start enjoying
Eternal Life with God here on earth, while resurrection gives us eternal life
with God forever. St. Thomas Aquinas gives this explanation: “The Word gives
life to our souls, but the Word made Flesh nourishes our souls.” (“Commentary
on St. John, in loc.”).
Life message: 1) We need to receive Holy
Communion with the full awareness that we are abiding with Jesus, carrying him
wherever we go. Hence, we are expected to radiate to all around us the love,
the mercy, the spirit of service, and the forgiveness of Jesus(http://frtonyshomilies.com/)19
May 2 Saturday: John 6:60-69: 60 Many of
his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen
to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it,
said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the
Son of man ascending where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life,
the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and
life. 64 But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from
the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray
him. 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless
it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples drew back
and no longer went about with him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also
wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know,
that you are the Holy One of God.”
The context: Today’s Gospel passage explains the
reaction of Jesus’ listeners when he unequivocally offered eating and drinking
of his Body and Blood as an essential condition for Eternal Life which would
thus begin on earth. Many Jews in the crowd stopped listening to Jesus. Even
some of his disciples started murmuring.
Jesus challenged them, asking how they would they react when
they saw his Ascension to Heaven, if they found it difficult to accept this
doctrine. He clarified that only someone who listened to His words and received
them as God’s Revelation, which is “Spirit and Life,” would be in a
position to accept them. Jesus Christ requires his disciples to accept his
words because it is HeWho has spoken them. That is what the
supernatural act of Faith involves–that act “whereby, inspired and assisted by
the grace of God, we believe that the things which He has revealed are true;
not because of the intrinsic truth of the things, viewed by the natural light
of reason, but because of the authority of God Himself Who reveals them, and
Who can neither be deceived nor deceive” (Vatican I, Dei Filius,
Chapter 3). But the Apostles were not scandalized by our Lord’s words.
They said that they already had a deep-rooted confidence in Jesus, and hence,
they did not want to leave him. What St. Peter says (v 68), is not just a
statement of human solidarity but an expression of genuine supernatural Faith
which is the result of the influence of Divine Grace on his soul.
Life message: 1) The mystery of the Eucharist
does call for a special act of Faith from us believers. We believe in the Real
Presence of Jesus in the consecrated Host and Wine because we believe that
Jesus is God, and nothing is impossible for God. Even if we cannot explain the
“how” of this mystery we accept it as a doctrine of Catholicism based on the
authority and veracity of the Gospels. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
