18 April, 2024 | Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

Acts 8:26-40

 Gospel Jn 6:44-51

Jesus said to the crowds:

"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."

Reflections:

"The Eucharist is the culmination both of God's action in sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship offered by human beings to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit" (CCC, 1325). Through the sacrament of the Eucharist, the community is united as the branches are united to the vine, and through the vine they are all united to one another. When we receive the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, we do not really embrace Christ, but Christ embraces us. In this way we are united with the Mystical Head, who is the source of our life, and with all the members of his Body. The Eucharist sanctifies our whole being and, through us, the world. With the Eucharist we give glory to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. Christ enables us to bear fruit that lasts and gives life. 

Action: 

 Become aware of how worthily you approach the Eucharist, your attitude towards the Body of Christ.