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Gospel Reading for April 16, 2024 – John 6: 30-35
SATISFIES OUR SPIRIT
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.”
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Indeed, that which the Jews called “manna from heaven,” like any other food, once consumed goes into the latrine, then after a few hours, we get hungry again, then eat again. But if Jesus is our bread, when we receive him in the Eucharist, it is not the physical hunger or thirst that is satisfied. It SATISFIES OUR SPIRIT, and this is the reason why we can keep going in life despite trials and difficulties.
We need Jesus, we need the Spirit, so we may continue to have faith and courage in the midst of a looming crisis in the South China Sea and in the Middle East. We need Jesus, we need the Spirit, so our world leaders may have enough wisdom to discern what is best for the whole world. We need Jesus, we need the Spirit, so our young people will not lose hope for a bright future.
Let us ponder on this song written by Suzanne Toolan, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE –
I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me shall not hunger;
He who believes in me shall not thirst.
No one can come to me
unless the Father draw him.
And I will raise him up,
and I will raise him up,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
The bread that I will give is my flesh
for the life of the world,
and he who eats of this bread,
he shall live for ever,
he shall live for ever.
And I will raise him up,
and I will raise him up,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
