Gospel: John 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ”
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
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.”
Reflection:
Our gospel for today is from John 6:41-51. There are some points at which we have to pay attention. First, when Jesus said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” What does this mean? Not all people can understand the depth of the meaning of what He meant. It is of big faith that we must adhere to the true meaning of this message.
The Living Bread – Jesus is the only one who can claim it. It means that Jesus is the spiritual nourishment for us to eternal life. For that, we need to nourish our soul with the presence of God for us to prepare for the afterlife. Physical bread which we eat will feed us but we will still be hungry after how many hours. The living bread who is Christ Jesus is the eternal bread that will nurture our souls for eternity. He is always drawing us into divine life because we are important to Him. Jesus loves us more than anything that He gave His life for us.
The gospel in John 6:41-51 is very deep. Some people become skeptical about this in other sense. It is our faith and trust in Jesus who can save us all from the depth of eternal damnation. How can we understand more the message the gospel in John 6:41-51 is trying to tell us? Simple answer is you have to believe in God. Faith is the only way you can do this.
Now as we compare this gospel to our present situation, we are struggling yet we are moving forward. The pandemic is very strong that it evolve into a different strain, yet we are still on our feet standing. Why do you think we are surviving? It is because of our great FAITH. To believe in God that He will cover us and protect us always. So, this pandemic might be huge but remember, we have within ourselves the living bread. It is Jesus whom we will call upon in everything. – Clea | Helpline PH