August 12, 2018

Gospel: Jn 6:41-51
The Jews murmured because Jesus had said, “I am the bread which comes from heaven.” And they said, “This man is the son of Joseph, isn’t he? We know his father and mother. How can he say that he has come from heaven?” Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 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 from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die. I am the living bread 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.”

Lectio Divina
Read: Elijah, who is depressed and suicidal, feeds on the food of the angels and recovers. Anything that separates us from God saddens the Holy Spirit and we must avoid them. His listeners have a hard time taking in his “strange” teachings, but Christ insists that they take him seriously, for their own good.
Reflect: “They shall all be taught by God.” It looks like a great honor to be taught by God Himself, but when God does so, people tend to shy away in disbelief. This is what we find in the reactions of the people to Jesus’ teachings. Such reluctance to be taught by God is presumably because what God teaches goes against our sinful inclinations and inconveniences us. But such reluctance is to our own peril and saddens the Holy Spirit whose passion it is to help us understand Jesus’ teachings. What we need is an openness to the Spirit so that he can drive home what God wants us to learn, do and be.
Pray: Say a little prayer to the Holy Spirit.
Act: Do the Eucharist today.

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