John 6:35-40 Bread For Life(Click here for readings)
Christ is what maintains, sustains, enriches and satisfies life on earth, and life itself. Without Him life is brutal. Just take a look at that part of the world that still does not know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Without Him, we are forever thirsty and hungry. Life becomes confusing, I am unbearable and those around me are depressing.
"Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." The Lord offers it all, his whole being - words, deeds, his life, body and blood, literally and spiritually. God loves me and He will not lose me. "I will not reject anyone who comes to me." It is a mystery. Whoever arrives to Christ cannot leave without Him. Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life. The last shall be first: prostitute, tax collector, murderer, pedophile, rapist, drug addict, abortionist - He shall reject no one. It is a mystery. I cannot even imagine this! So much harm but much more grace! They are the ones that make the greatest converts - if only they convert.
Saul was present. Saul was consenting. Saul was trying to destroy the Church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women (Acts 8:1b-8). What is so amazing about the early Church is that they were praying for this man, for his conversion. The prayers of the faithful are powerful! We tend to forget this. We say to one another, "I will keep you in my prayers" but do we really? I tend to believe that very few of us do. I know I say it all the time, but then I find myself neglecting to do so, and it is one of my most sacred duties: to pray for others! Not too long ago I went to bless the home of a young couple. As I was making my way around the house, blessing each room, I was pleasantly surprised to see a prayer list posted on the refrigerator door. I was second on the list, underneath Usama Bin Laden. I was happy to make the list, even if my name was so close to the other. I always said that if I had not become a priest, I probably would have been a terrorist!
"Let all the earth cry out to God with joy" (Ps 66:1). This is the Will of the Father: that all who see the Son may have eternal life. Come, all who are lost, forgotten, bruised and abused. All who are abusers and addicts - come to the light, confess your sins, acknowledge your crime, seek forgiveness, start anew, make reparation, repair the damage, fix the problem, do penance and sin no more, for the Lord rejects no one no more! Let all the earth cry out to God with joy! I'm forgiven! I no longer need to carry the cross of my past. "Come and see the works of God, his tremendous deeds among his children. How tremendous are your deeds!" Tremendous literally means - trembling, earth shattering, earth shaking! If I have yet to experience that in my life, if I don't see it, then I still do not know God. And that's okay. There is still more to go! Always! Till the end of my life! But I cannot just know God; I need to experience Him along the way.
It is time to go and approach the Lord in praise, thanksgiving, and in prayer; with our hearts trembling. It is no longer a mystery! Christ calls me in the deepest portion of my heart. His heart calls out to me! The image of the Sacred Heart has one hand pointing towards His heart and the other hand pointing towards my heart. He longs for me! I fear, I tremble before the Almighty Lover! I shall fear nothing! He is the one who goes and looks for me. How can I fear? Confession - the Sacrament of resurrection, of rebirth, of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is the best means to come back to life, wash your hands and face and feet and come to the table where the Lamb awaits his guests.
"Taste and see the goodness of the Lord" (Ps 34:8); His bread for life!
You are on our prayer list too Fr. Alfonse! Keep up the awesome inspirational messages. They are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteConfession the sacrament of. . . . . "mouth-to-mouth resuscitation"
ReplyDeleteI love it!
Do you understand the 4th Cup?
ReplyDeleteAfter the beginning of Jesus’ Last Passover Supper (Seder) Judas Iscariot left to do what he had to do. The twelve left in the room were at the point where the second of four traditional cups was about to be drunk.
(The first is at the beginning of the Seder meal.) Jesus took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.”
More of the lamb meal was consumed. During that He took a loaf of unleavened bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, “This IS my body given for you; do this to recall me.” (“Recall” is a better translation of the Greek “anamnesis” than “remember”.)
After the supper He took the third cup saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This IS my blood of the NEW and everlasting covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
A hymn was sung, which is a combination of several psalms called The Great Hallel, and they went out to the Mount of Olives.
What happened? The Passover ceremony and ritual was not complete. There was no fourth cup. There was no announcement that it was finished. Could it be that Jesus was so upset with what He knew was about to happen that He forgot? Doubtful!
Not only Jesus, but also the 11 others had participated in the Passover Seder every year of their lives. No, this was done on purpose. The last supper of Jesus was not over.
On the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples slept while Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.”
He prayed that three times. Then Jesus was arrested, illegally put on trial by the Sanhedrin, then by Pontius Pilate, sentenced and crucified.
While on the cross He wept. Jesus, who was in excruciating agony, was so merciful that He prayed for the forgiveness of His executioners. He was offered some wine with a pain killer, myrrh, in it. He refused it.
“Later, knowing that all was now complete, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled and the kingdom established, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.‘” A man dipped a sponge into sour wine; he placed it on a hyssop branch and lifted it up to Jesus lips.
He drank. (We recall that it was the hyssop branch which was used to paint lambs blood around the Hebrew’s door for the Passover of the angel of death.)
It was then that Jesus said, “It is finished.” He then bowed His head and gave up the spirit to His Father.
The fourth cup now represented the lamb’s blood of the first Passover, a saving signal to the angel of death.
The Lamb of God was now sacrificed. The last Passover supper of Jesus Christ was now complete with the fourth cup. It was finished.
The tie in with the Passover is unmistakable.
The Lamb of God was sacrifice and death was about to be passed over come Easter day.
The promise of eternal life for many was about to be fulfilled.
Christ’s Passover was finished, but His mission was not until he rose from the dead.