Reflection
You are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
John 6:24-35
Prayer and certainly the central prayer of the church is for our transformation. This means it is for our appropriating in our lives and embracing the self-giving love of Christ. Eucharist celebrates our response to the totally loving, totally free gift of God’s self in Christ. It is our “yes”- our “me too” – in spite of our poverty and sinfulness. It is the “Amen” that responds to the tenderness that invites us to enter into the loving and deeply personal life of God. We come together to grow together into the authenticity of our “Amen” through the power of God’s spirit.
Barbara Fiand
Prayer
One does not live on bread alone,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Action
Does participation in communal celebration of Eucharist call you to turn outward in relationship to others? Do you see this as a private devotion that benefits you only?
Suggested Reading
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one God sent.”
John 6:24-35
The Eucharist which I celebrate, does it lead me to truly feel they are all like brothers and sisters? Does it increase my capacity to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and cry with those who are crying? Does it urge me to go out to the poor, the sick, the marginalized? Does it help me to recognize in theirs the face of Jesus?
Pope Francis
However we interpret the feeding of the crowds, we are left with little doubt that all were well fed…For Jesus there is little doubt that the table had to be open. Nobody for any reason was excluded.
Diarmuid O’Murchu
When Jesus spoke the words ”This is my Body”, I believe he was not only speaking about the bread right in front of him, but about the whole universe, about everything that is physical, material, yet also spirit-filled.
Richard Rohr
When we share life together, God appears in our midst as Life itself, and we rise up together beyond the resistant forces around us and within us. This is the Body of Christ.
Ilia Delio
The covenant of the Eucharist, the new covenant in Christ Jesus, is the commitment, even to the point of death, to God’s cause—to the holiness, health, and wholesomeness that blossoms in a society of equals where all are welcome and all are fed around the table of God’s justice.
Barbara Fiand
The effective power and compassion of God has to be embodied and Eucharist proclaims that we will be this presence. If Eucharist does not lead us to this awareness and action, then our Eucharists are a sham.
Michael Morwood
Instead of reading the Bible to assure ourselves that we are right,we would be better to read it to discover where we have not been
listening.
Raymond E. Brown