Fr Kevin Kilgore

***

Gospel: John 6:52-59

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” 
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you. 
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink. 
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. 
This is the bread that came down from heaven. 
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

In the Book of Genesis, how do Adam and Eve break their communion with God?

Through an act of eating.

As Satan the serpent slithers in the Garden of Eden, he convinces Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, which she then shares with Adam. 

This act of disobedience breaks the command given by God to Adam: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it, you shall die.”

Christians understand this to be the origin of sin – and by extension the evil that is still present in our world. Once humanity’s relationship with God was severed, “all hell broke loose,” as it were.

***

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals how our relationship with God can be restored.

Just as Adam and Eve lost communion with God through a disobedient act of eating, so we are brought back into relationship with our Father through an obedient act of eating.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. 

In the Eucharist, we eat from the Cross, the tree of life.

***

What are we to do with such a great gift?

***

Saint Augustine said, “Become what you consume.”

Be the hands, the face, the voice of Christ in the world through acts of prayer, charity, and self-sacrifice. 

What might that look like for me today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) Celadon Books (2) Galeries (3) Denver Catholic

***

Gospel: John 6:44-51

Jesus said to the crowds:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father. 
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life. 
I am the bread of life. 
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die. 
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

Why is it so hard for some to believe? Or why do we who already believe struggle at times?

***

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him.”

This word, “draw,” implies a type of resistance. 

It’s the same word that John later uses to describe Saint Peter dragging a net of fish ashore. Think of the resistance offered by the fish themselves, then the water, then the sand.

Peter literally pulls that net with all of his might.

***

Similarly, God is constantly drawing us to himself, yet we resist Him, much like a fish caught, flapping furiously in a net.

***

Some may resist the truth that Christ is fully present in the Eucharist. 

He tells us plainly in today’s Gospel, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

We hear the Lord. Yet how often do we gaze upon Him with incredulous eyes? We question. Doubt. Try to rationalize.

Others may resist Christ’s invitation to, “Follow me.” 

Like the rich young man, who walked away from the Lord “sad, for he had many possessions,” fear can paralyze us. God draws upon our heart and feet, yet we drag them in the sand.

We convince ourselves that if we take Jesus at his word then somehow we’ll lose out on life; we are better off making our own decisions.

***

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him.” 

Where do I resist the Lord?

***

May we give up the fight, surrendering ourselves into the hands of Jesus, “who has loved us and given himself for us.”

***

***

Image credits: (1) Going by Faith (2) Reddit (3) RChiips.org

***

Acts: 8: 1-8

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

The Word of the Lord

***

***

The Acts of the Apostles, which we’re reading from throughout the Easter Season, describes the life and liturgy of the early Church, answering questions like: 

“What did the first Christians do after the resurrection? How did they worship Christ? What were their lives like?”

Often, it wasn’t pleasant. 

As we just heard:

“There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside, except the Apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church.”

Life for these early Christians was hard and often dangerous.

***

But we also see responsiveness of the Holy Spirit.

***

Because these Christians were persecuted for their faith, many fled to new, sometimes distant lands. As a result, by the end of the first century, the Gospel message spread as far east as India.

Meanwhile, the Apostles stayed put for the time being as they continued preaching the resurrection in spite of serious threats against their lives.

Their example reminds us that nothing can stop the growth of the Church, which is sustained by the Holy Spirit and the courageous witness of ordinary believers like us.

***

Think of ways we continue to witness to our faith today.

***

Almost every week, I meet people at church who were invited by others to “come and see.”

Plenty of others participate in Bible study, are catechists, soup kitchen cooks and drivers, ministry leads, intercessors, and so on.

May we continue to build upon the tradition of the early Christians, who proclaimed in word and deed, Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

***

***

Image credits: (1) Relevant Community Church (2) Bible Gateway (3) Sharing Horizons