No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophets:

And they shall all be taught of God.

Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me. Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
John 6:44-51 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father there is that one sentence that Jesus quoted: "And they shall all be taught of God." And Jesus did exactly that! He taught them that you are love. He did a good job too, since we are learning this ourselves from what has been passed down from Him and the apostles. That you are all about love, not vengeance, not hatred, but purely love. You sent us your Son to correct a few misconceptions about you. But we have come to see the sacrifice you gave us in giving up the life of your Son Jesus for our sake. To help us come to understand the depths of love you have for us. You sent us the true bread from heaven, the living bread of life in the flesh of your Son Jesus. We truly have been taught of you.

And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that you also have seen me, and you believe not. All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will not cast out. Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. Now this is the will of the Father who sent me: that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day. And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day.
John 6:35-40 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father it's a shame that Jesus had to say this "But I said unto you, that you also have seen me, and you believe not." For those of us who live in this time period have never seen Jesus, yet many of us believe in him. How truly wonderful that is, because we believe without seeing. What an awesome assurance to know that on the last day we will be raised to life everlasting. In this day and age where do we get this kind of assurance. One could say a person has job assurance and that it is ours for our lifetime, but even then the promise of job security is lost when things change. We don't always have 1o0% assurance in our daily lives because things tend to happen to keep us focused on you dear Father. But there is always the assurance that Jesus is right there by our sides, no matter what. It's time that we take a look and take stock of our surroundings and see what we have placed as a priority in our lives, 1: is it Jesus the very bread of life, or 2: what we have to live with on a daily basis.

They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread. And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.
John 6:30-35 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father we have given us the greatest sign ever, you gave us your Son as the bread of life. There is no other sign needed. Jesus gave of himself totally. If we don't believe in him or the fact that he is the bread of life then we have nothing. We will hunger forever for the truth and our thirst will never be quenched. He showed us and gave us so much to believe in his presence in the Eucharist, the bread par excellence. How can we ask for a sign when he is constantly present, just as those who were with him were. They too were looking for signs when he was present with them. Yet we have many who believe, but only a few who come to claim that Jesus is the true Son of God, the bread of life. I had a personal encounter with the bread of life, that didn't give me my belief, but strengthened that belief even more. It wasn't a sign for me, he fed me and gave me what I have thristed for, his love.

The next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea, saw that there was no other ship there but one, and that Jesus had not entered into the ship with his disciples, but that his disciples were gone away alone. But other ships came in from Tiberias; nigh unto the place where they had eaten the bread, the Lord giving thanks. When therefore the multitude saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they took shipping, and came to Capharnaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him: Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God, the Father, sealed. They said therefore unto him: What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered, and said to them: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.
John 6:22-29 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Reflection

Dear Father we have to wonder if we are exactly like these people who had just finished eating from the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes. These people went in search of him and knew by what they saw how Divine Jesus really was. In Jesus' question though, he wants to know if they are seeking him because of these miracles, or is it because they have been fed and their stomachs are the reason they search for him. Ever notice how in the food industry, such as restaurants, food stores, many things are upsized or down sized to pay a higher price. Or how there is more emphasis on fast food meals. More or less heat it up and off you go. Food is important in order to allow the body to function, but we have grown in proportion to the products that are pre-made. Even our bodies reflect the chemicals that we ingest. Jesus provided them with a fast food take out, and it seems that they want more of this so they don't have the work that is entailed to make a meal. We've gotten like this haven't we? Jesus questions us too, do we seek him only for the fact that he provides us with miracles or do we seek Him so we will be part of Him because we believe in Him and you dear Father. I believe in Jesus, because he is who he is and not for what he can give. The son of God who came to unite us with him.

And behold, two of them went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near, went with them. But their eyes were held, that they should not know him. And he said to them: What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to him: Art thou only a stranger to Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days? To whom he said: What things? And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people; And how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we hoped, that it was he that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea and certain women also of our company affrighted us, who before it was light, were at the sepulchre, And not finding his body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that he is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulchre, and found it so as the women had said, but him they found not. Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him. And they drew night to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther. But they constrained him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them, Saying: The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way; and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread.
Luke 24:13-35 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Reflection

Today if your heart is burning, you might be told it is indigestion or some other malady. If your heart is burning to hear the Word of God then you have met up with the two on the road to Emmaus and shared with them what we all come to share in our Mass after we hear the Word of God. Don't our hearts leap when the Gospel is read at Mass as we too walk with Jesus. We continue to walk and talk with him in unity with others as we join in the celebration at his table. Didn't we even realize when the bread was broken that it was Jesus standing there. From the Gospel on we have the road to Emmaus to the breaking of the bread, given to us to join Jesus in the one place we know he will always be present. Even though we are like the two who traveled to Emmaus with Jesus right there spelling it out for them, they didn't see until it was time in the breaking of the bread and their eyes were cleared. Amazing isn't it how each time we can read or hear a Gospel message we can always find something new revealed to us. For me anyway, it is so. I always look forward to those moments when I too can walk with Jesus along the road to Emmaus and let him explain the scriptures to me.