Daily Reflection – 4/26/2023
Sacred Scripture
So they said to him, “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 him, “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)
Reflection
As I meditated on this scripture, a sentence came into mind : “ The consistency of Jesus.” Now that might sound a bit silly since all of us who follow Him know that He is there eternally.
As I sorted out these thoughts, I recognized that there was enormous power in the last sentence “ I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
So much power but how often do we activate that in our lives?
Do we cling to His promise in times of need or despair? Or do we hold that promise foremost in our daily life?
I must think that we Christians don’t do a very good job of holding His promise close to us on a daily basis. Why do I say that?
If each of us did, then our world would truly be a different place. If each of us woke up each day with that promise, then so much of the angst that we carry would not be there.
You see, it’s not about going around with a serendipitous attitude (although that is a sweet response), it starts rather with the belief that He is alive in us. Not dormant but in a very active mode. His love is not distant, it is there with us.
With the gift of the Holy Spirit, each of us becomes a place of homage because He resides in us. When we talk about loving our neighbor, its not just about another human being, it’s about loving another person who has Jesus living in him/her. If we all really believed that then our relationships would be utterly different. Wouldn’t they?
OK, now we move to where that love brings us. It should bring us face-to-face with the very will of God. God willed that His son would come to earth to save us for eternal life with him.
His son would be the very essence of life. For then and for now, the essence of life is daily nourishment. Jesus is that daily nourishment. When we have brought alive His presence in us, there is nothing that we should fear, nothing that we should truly want (after all, is there a greater gift than that of eternal life?)
So, there we are. Christ is alive in us! Christ is there to nourish us! Christ is there to hold us through the good times and the bad! His love is eternal as His Fathers love is.
Truly, is there anything more that we should want?
Loving Jesus and following Him is a decision that must be renewed not only each day, it must also be renewed throughout your day.
Be a tabernacle for Christ.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus Christ, you are the bread of life. You alone can satisfy the hunger in my heart. May I always find in you, the true bread from heaven, the source of life and nourishment I need to sustain me on my journey to the promised land of heaven.”
Daily Note
The bread which Jesus offers is none else than the very life of God. This is the true bread which can truly satisfy the hunger in our hearts. The manna in the wilderness sustained the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land. It could not produce eternal life for the Israelites. The bread which Jesus offers his disciples sustains us not only on our journey to the heavenly paradise, it gives us the abundant supernatural life of God which sustains us both now and for all eternity.
