DAILY PRAYER

“Many of his disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’ Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you?”  (Jn 6:60-62)

The simple answer is YES. It did shock them.  It would shock us as well.  They well may have been appalled at that kind of discourse from yesterday’s Gospel reading: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” (Jn 6:54-58). 

“What on earth is Jesus saying?”  They may have asked themselves.  The disciples did not enjoy a two-thousand-year faith tradition of the Eucharistic Celebration.  They had no catechism of the Blessed Sacrament.  They were hearing such talk for the first time!  Eat my flesh?  Drink my blood?  Then, the Lord casually asks: “Does this shock you?” 

Yet, we who have been blessed with the knowledge of the Last Supper, the Resurrection, Conciliar Decrees, and a lifetime of teachings, are sloppy about our devotion and adoration to the Eucharist.  

Once the shock has worn off, now complacency enters.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 111:10 “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name”  (Acts 9:15-16).

Saul had all the power needed to bring the new Christians from the Jewish community of Damascus to Jerusalem to be punished.

Saul was convinced that it was his responsibility.  Yet Jesus wanted to save Saul from his error and convert his fervor to the cause of the Gospel.  He was knocked down, and left blind… and the Lord asked: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  (Acts 9:4)

They guided Saul to Damascus. There Ananias, a believer in Jesus, received orders from God to speak to Saul.  But Ananias resisted because he knew that Saul had come to take prisoner all who believed in Jesus.

The Lord explained to him: “This man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles… and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name”  (Acts 9:15-16).

Saul’s dramatic conversion, practically obligated by the Lord, launched the converted St. Paul into a world of travel to extend the boundaries of the Gospel to all.

All the Apostles (save John) died a martyr’s death after having begun their missions.

Have we been called by God to comfortably (inoffensively)  preach the holy Gospel?  Or are we called to evangelize… regardless of the cost? 

And your fearless preaching?

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 89:3 “My love is established forever; my loyalty will stand as long as the heavens.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone instructs me?’” (Acts 8:30-31).

Holy Scripture is a great source of wisdom and knowledge.  Yet it is difficult to understand bits and pieces (often taken out of context) that are often presented as “proof texts.”  The Scriptures were never meant to be read and interpreted indiscriminately without assistance.  Ignoring this, we have thousands of different churches and denominations, each preaching what they claim to be the truth.

Our teacher and guide is the Catholic Church.

She has been teaching Christians for 20 centuries and has promoted, guarded, and interpreted those Scriptures without fail.  Before the printing press, thousands of monks dedicated themselves to the painstaking task of copying — by hand — the Holy Scriptures.

Any interpretation of the Holy Scriptures that differs from that which we have received from our bishops united with the Holy Father should, at best, be suspect and cause for concern.  Many of our separated brethren base their teachings on readings taken out of context — both Scripturally and historically — as well as being out of context within the Church’s 2000 years of experience. 

Many people fail to realize that the Church is the very institution that brought the Bible to life.  The Church did not come from the Bible; the Bible is a product of the Church.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 119:130 “The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen (me), you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me” (Jn 6:35-37).

The Bread Jesus offers us is  His very Self.  His Bread is not meant to satiate the material hunger that is born in the stomach, but the transcendental hunger for God that comes from our spirit.

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:56-57).

“O God, you are my God— for you I long!  For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts, Like a land parched, lifeless, and without water”  (Ps 63:2).

Though, as Jesus affirms, His Body is real Food and His Blood is real Drink — since as He comes to us in the form of Bread and Wine — it is meant to nourish soul over body.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water” (Rev 21:6).

Jesus is offering Himself in all His infinite goodness to the human creature. He insists that if we are to enjoy that which He offers, we must believe in Him, and respond accordingly. “I will not reject anyone who comes to me…”  (Jn 6:37-40).

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 78:25 “All ate a meal fit for heroes; food he sent in abundance.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors”  (Acts 7:51). 

The Holy Spirit gently inspires our hearts to bring us to the truth.

The truth refines and directs our intelligence to be in accord with the divine intellect.  Whatever concept we can hold if not in accord with the thought and design of God, cannot possibly be the truth.  It is most absurd to call something true for me as if through some personal decree and private talent, we could make things distinct from the way that God ordered them. This is truly the height of human haughtiness!

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth…” (Jn 14:16-17).

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth…  He will take from what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:12-15).

The Holy Spirit, however, requires our cooperation and our desire to know the truth. 

To know the truth requires faith in the font of truth: His Church and her ministers and a willingness to study the faith that comes to us from the Fathers of the Church. 

When we want to make truth whatever is most convenient for us, we make ourselves “stiff-necked people… opposing the Holy Spirit,” just as Stephen told the men of Jerusalem for opposing the Church.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 51:13 “Cast me not out from your presence, and your holy spirit take not from me.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (Jn 6:27).

We call those outward signs established by Christ to give grace Sacraments. As we have just learned in the Gospel, those signs, that infuse in us grace and life, are essential for our vital communication with God.

In the Blessed Sacrament, He gives us the most marvelous gift of all:  His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.  We recognize this gift of His Holy Body and His Precious Blood as that which He offered on Calvary for the pardon of our sins.  He gives us His Body as food to prepare us and nourish us spiritually.

With great care, Jesus spent precious time instructing us about this sacrament so that we could not possibly doubt its importance to us.

All of Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John refers to this sacrament. The Gospel of John presents the miracle of the multiplication of bread to feed the hungry. To those who sought Him after the multiplication of the loaves for other than spiritual reasons, Jesus said: “You should not be working for perishable food but for food that remains unto life eternal, food which the Son of Man will give you; it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

Jesus specifically told us that He is, indeed, the Blessed Sacrament: “I am the living bread come down from heaven.  If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 23:5 “You have spread the table before me, my cup overflows.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Recall those words I spoke to you when I was still with you:  everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms had to be fulfilled.’  Then he opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures” (Lk 24:44-45).

The Apostles were witnesses to miracles and divine power.  Jesus foretold His impending death and His Resurrection.  Yet His followers were completely taken aback by the events of Good Friday and His death.

If they had understood the Lord’s words and warnings, they would have taken the testimony of the women at the tomb that early Easter morning to be a sign of joy and a confirmation of His predictions that he would soon manifest Himself to them.

But it was just the opposite:  The Apostles, except St. John, lacked even the light of hope: “In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost.  He said to them, ‘Why are you disturbed?  Why do such ideas cross your mind?’”  (37-38) 

It was no easy task to convince the Apostles that it was He and not some phantasm: “Look at my hands and my feet; it is really I.  Touch me, and see that a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I do” (39).

If the Resurrection were not something spectacular and beyond the wildest dreams of the Apostles, then His rising from the dead could not have served as proof positive to His divinity and the sheer truth of all of His Words.  “In his name, penance for the remission of sins is to be preached to all the nations” (47).

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 66:2 “Shout joyfully to God, all you on earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise.” 

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DAILY PRAYER

“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables.  Look around among your number, brothers, for seven men acknowledged to be deeply spiritual and prudent, and we shall appoint them to this task”  (Acts 6:2-3).

The Church is formed by all of us: clergy and laity alike.  The clergy is made up of people who are destined to sacred ministry for the people of God through ordination.  They are the preachers, teachers, rulers, and sanctifiers of the Church who share in the sacramental ministry with Jesus.  The laity is the rest of the baptized who are likewise called to their part in the mission of His Church.

Together we form the People of God called to live according to God’s holy will.

Christ called people of good will to help with His mission. “The Lord appointed a further seventy-two and sent them in pairs before him to every town and place he intended to visit” (Lk 10:1).

Many people believe that baptism gives them a right to demand services from the community without having to give anything in return to that same church. 

“Why have you been standing here idle all day?” — All your life?  (Mt 20:6)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 22:23 “I will proclaim your name to my brethren; amid the assembly, I will praise you.” St. Martin I d. 655.  Martin I, Pope, was exiled by Emperor Constans II and died at Cherson. Said of him: “Glorious definer of the Orthodox Faith…sacred chief of divine dogmas, unstained by error…true reprover of heresy…foundation of bishops, pillar of the Orthodox faith, teacher of religion.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick” (Jn 6:1-2).

If Jesus had concentrated only on teaching us about the Kingdom of God, things eternal, our moral responsibilities, etc.,  He probably would have had few followers after three years of evangelizing… And fewer would have turned up at His rallies! 

Yet the multitudes did follow Him, despite all that talk about the Kingdom.  Jesus surprised many with His miracles — miracles that had never been seen before by a prophet.

Since those miracles were principally to benefit to sick, the hungry, and the dejected, many people came to Him (or were brought to Him) with all the hope of their lives placed in Him for restoration.  Other people, those who were not sick or possessed by demons, came to Him out of a natural curiosity — to see the extraordinary and the supernatural.

Jesus’ miracles had a reason:  He wanted to convince people that His authority and power came through God the Father.

“If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works…”   (Jn 10:37-38).

To truly believe in Jesus is to sit at the Master’s feet, learn and accept His teachings, and live in accord with them — not just to stand in line for a celestial handout.  Christian, are you still waiting for a miracle?

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 69:33 “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, take heart!  For the LORD hears the poor, does not spurn those in bondage.”

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DAILY PRAYER

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him” (Jn 3:36).

Jesus comes to us from the heights of all eternity, the Heavenly Kingdom, the Seat of Divine unlimited Love, sent to us by His Eternal Father. 

The Lord gives us the option of living our lives in isolated, worldly interests or in the fullness of all that is God: “The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things”  (Jn 3:31).  And even in light of His all-knowing Wisdom, He allows each of us the freedom to ignore Him completely.

“The one who comes from heaven is above all and He testifies to what he has seen and… The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him” (Jn 3:31-35).

Our salvation depends on our choosing that promise.

We are a “hard sell” when it comes to these eternal things.  Our problem is that we prefer to enjoy today, the “now,” without limits, those immediate goods that God has placed within our reach. But this is not the path to God.

“The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it” (Rm 8:5-7).

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 39:12 “You chastise man with rebukes for sin; like a moth you consume his treasures. Every man is but a breath.” St. Stanislaus, d. 1079; as bishop of Cracow he assisted the poor; personally slain by the oppressive and savage king, Boleslaus II; patron of Poland.

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