All About God

No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophets:

And they shall all be taught of God.

Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me. Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
John 6:44-51 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father there is that one sentence that Jesus quoted: "And they shall all be taught of God." And Jesus did exactly that! He taught them that you are love. He did a good job too, since we are learning this ourselves from what has been passed down from Him and the apostles. That you are all about love, not vengeance, not hatred, but purely love. You sent us your Son to correct a few misconceptions about you. But we have come to see the sacrifice you gave us in giving up the life of your Son Jesus for our sake. To help us come to understand the depths of love you have for us. You sent us the true bread from heaven, the living bread of life in the flesh of your Son Jesus. We truly have been taught of you.

How Assured Are You?

And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that you also have seen me, and you believe not. All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will not cast out. Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. Now this is the will of the Father who sent me: that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day. And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day.
John 6:35-40 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father it's a shame that Jesus had to say this "But I said unto you, that you also have seen me, and you believe not." For those of us who live in this time period have never seen Jesus, yet many of us believe in him. How truly wonderful that is, because we believe without seeing. What an awesome assurance to know that on the last day we will be raised to life everlasting. In this day and age where do we get this kind of assurance. One could say a person has job assurance and that it is ours for our lifetime, but even then the promise of job security is lost when things change. We don't always have 1o0% assurance in our daily lives because things tend to happen to keep us focused on you dear Father. But there is always the assurance that Jesus is right there by our sides, no matter what. It's time that we take a look and take stock of our surroundings and see what we have placed as a priority in our lives, 1: is it Jesus the very bread of life, or 2: what we have to live with on a daily basis.

Bread of Life

They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread. And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.
John 6:30-35 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father you have given us the greatest sign ever, you gave us your Son as the bread of life. There is no other sign needed. Jesus gave of himself totally. If we don't believe in him or the fact that he is the bread of life then we have nothing. We will hunger forever for the truth and our thirst will never be quenched. He showed us and gave us so much to believe in his presence in the Eucharist, the bread par excellence. How can we ask for a sign when he is constantly present, just as those who were with him were. They too were looking for signs when he was present with them. Yet we have many who believe, but only a few who come to claim that Jesus is the true Son of God, the bread of life. I had a personal encounter with the bread of life, that didn't give me my belief, but strengthened that belief even more. It wasn't a sign for me, he fed me and gave me what I have thristed for, his love.

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

Jesus said to the crowds:
“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.”
John 6:44-51

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father thank you for the gift of your Son in the Eucharist and the gift of your Word. No finer gift has ever been given to the world but these. How we are nourished in Word to live our lives in the way that is meant to live, and the true bread from heaven that feeds our souls. Just as we partake of the bread that gives us life where we are in communion with your most precious Son Jesus. Help us to listen attentively to your Word and to make them a way of life to live. May Jesus' sacrifice not be one in vain. That when we receive him we understand the depths of his love for us and what he went through to give us his presence for all time. Amen

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

The crowd said to Jesus:
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
John 6:30-35

Prayer

Dear Father when they asked that they be given this bread always, little did they realize the truth and it's meaning. You sent us the bread from heaven in your Son. We are the ones who have been given this gift that nourishes us. We have Jesus with us always until the end of time. My God what a treasure we have on this earth, the living bread. Where no sign is needed because he is the way, the truth and the life. May we all come to know Jesus in this special gift from heaven. How blessed we are to partake daily from the bread of life.