whoever eats this bread will live forever. JN 6:51
DEUTERONOMY 8:2-3, 14B-16A
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
In this Exodus, in this our exile in this valley of tears, You provide us the heavenly Manna, the Holy Eucharist, without which we would perish by the wayside. Today, in a special way, we recall, just as Moses asked the Lord's Chosen people to do, all the blessings we have received, especially the spiritual blessings You rain on us and pour into our souls through the life-giving Sacraments You instituted.
We are fed on the Word made Flesh, who came to dwell among us and revealed to us the mind-boggling love of the Father for us, His wayward children. Every single thing You did Beloved, every Sacrament You instituted, You did so at Your Father's behest. We know this because You have said that You do nothing except that which Your Father desires You to.
As we sojourn daily through the desert of life filled with temptations and pitfalls You feed us on the Bread of Angels, we drink the Cup of Salvation and receive strength for the journey, we receive spiritual life, we are made One with You who is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We are drawn into the very life of the Holy Trinity. What a glorious mystery it is that while we are still here on earth we are somehow also in eternity.
You have not forgotten us, just as God did not forget His people whom He brought out of slavery guiding them through the desert into the promised land. You provided them with manna from heaven as well as with water from the rock. You healed them from the bite of the fiery serpents and scorpions. We are healed and fed on the even more wonderful food and drink, Your own Flesh and Your own Blood and we receive divine life.
PSALM 147:12-15, 19-20
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Through the Sacraments of initiation we have received a glorious inheritance in the Kingdom of God and are made children of God, Most High. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. and we feast on the finest wheat and sweetest honey and drink from springs of the clearest, most refreshing water flowing from the Rock of All Ages, welling in us to supernatural life in us.
Abba Father, thank You for Your Word that sustains us, thank You for Your Word that upholds us, thank You for Your Word that directs our footsteps, thank You for Your Word that illumines our path, and above all thank You for Your Word that feeds us, strengthens us, and abides in us always.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:16-17
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
In unity, in communion, in being one with You and with one another we are strong. It is a strength that comes from You being the Food that sustains us and draws us into Yourself making us one with You and with the Father and the Holy Spirit. How little we truly comprehend this wonderful truth? We are one - but when we allow division to separate us we wound Your Body and weaken it.
When we come together at the Eucharistic feast we recognize You at the breaking of the bread and as we each receive and eat and drink we are given a foretaste of life at the heavenly Banquet. May we not eat and drink damnation to our souls but rather may this heavenly manna well up to eternal life in us.
JOHN 6:51-58
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
These are Your words, "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." They are clear, there is nothing symbolic about it. It is the fulfillment of the manna that the chosen people of God ate in the desert. Everything about the institution of the Holy Eucharist has its roots in the Old Testament, veiled, hidden, only hinted at and we realize this when we listen to Your words to the Jewish people 2000 years ago.
The Jews knew You were not speaking symbolically, they understood exactly what You said and they were horrified and disgusted. The did not eat the flesh of animals unless all the blood was drained from it and here You are telling them something that they had never heard of before and immediately there was an uproar among them. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" You responded by reiterating even more forcefully, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."
All those who call themselves Christians but deny Your Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, all those who do not receive this heavenly Bread do not have Your life in them and have no hope of receiving eternal life. What a terrible risk they take by foolishly following human leaders who led so may of Your sheep astray, jeopardizing them from the life that You came to give us and to give it us in abundance.
We join in Your prayer for unity which we know will be realized someday for Your Father always hears You. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
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