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Tuesday, 08 April 2008

Today's Gospel is
Jn 6:30-35

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.”

Reflection: What I learned from others:

This passage correlates to the one read on the past Sunday, which is the same reading from my first post (scroll down), because it's about the Eucharist. The two disciples were walking to Emmaus and Jesus appeared to them, opened the Scriptures to them, yet they did not recognize him until the breaking of the bread.
This leads to a very interesting point, since the disciples said that their hearts were burning within themselves when Jesus shared to them about the Scriptures, but it was only when Jesus gave thanks and broke bread that they recognized that it was Him!
So what about people who rely only on Scripture to get to know Jesus and burn for love? Do you think they could really burn for Jesus' Love? Doesn't this passage state that only those who receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, can really open their eyes and recognize Jesus?
“Sir, give us this bread always.”

Friday, 04 April 2008

Today's Gospel is:
Jn 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Reflection from today's homily + my thoughts:

Put yourself in the people's shoes. They saw this healer who was going across the Sea and decided to follow him so that they too could be healed, and to listen to his great preaches. Think about what these people thinking or doing. Their walking a long walk, and their feet are probably hurting by now, and they must be so hungry! Some of them retreat because of a long journey. Some are hungry and tired and they quit to go home and eat. Some don't see the point in making all this effort to go see a man preach, and left. Isn't that what we do in our own lives? ???
But little did they know, those who made it there were not disappointed. Jesus fed them Himself!!! They got both spiritual food and body food! Too bad for those who left! They did not get to experience the miracle of God! And remember, they ate in abundance, since there were leftovers! They didn't just have enough to satisfy their hunger, they were full!
Another awesome point is that Jesus HIMSELF fed the crowd, showing He wants to be one with us, He knows us, He is not sitting there telling people what to do, He is the example for us, He is doing it Himself!

Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Happy Easter Wednesday!
Lk 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.