In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Thursday 30 April 2020

Third Week of Easter

Word for today
The Gospel of John 6:44-51

All

The Hebrew and the Aramaic that Jesus spoke had no word for "body," but they used, with the same meaning, the word "flesh."   The hebrew basàr, “flesh” – which can also be found in the Akkadian and Ugaritic languages, means "body covering, skin," – also means “the entire human being”. Flesh-basàr is therefore not only the human being's material substance, but his/her whole way of being.
My flesh is the reality of Jesus, His whole being that becomes food, nourishment, bread to be eaten. Jesus truly said that nourishing ourselves with His flesh is nourishing ourselves with His being in His wholeness as God and Man; it is feeding ourselves with his way of being and doing, moving and working, speaking and choosing, in order to live a full life.
Jesus has to be entirely eaten, entirely taken, entirely drunk, entirely embodied, entirely listened to, entirely followed in His whole being.  Nourishing ourselves with Him in the Eucharistic bread while not nourishing ourselves with Him, with His way of living forgiveness to offer to our brothers is not eating Jesus, it is giving up on life. Nourishing ourselves with Him in the sacraments' holy gestures while not nourishing ourselves with Him, with His way of managing and sharing our earth's resources, is not eating Him, it is giving up on life. Nourishing ourselves with Him in His Word while not nourishing ourselves with Him, with His way of teaching His message and striving to reach people's hearts, is not eating Him, it is giving up on life. Nourishing ourselves with all of Jesus does not mean being perfect, but it means having clearly understood that no science, culture, politics, economy, direction or choice in life can bring light and happiness, true progress and strength, if  we do not nourish ourselves only and always with Him.