April 23, 2015
Thursday, 3rd
Week of Easter
1st Reading: Acts 8:26–40
Gospel: Jn 6:44–51
Jesus said to the crowds, “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to me. “For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
“I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread which comes from heaven so that you may eat of it and not die. “I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel
in the Assimilated
Life Experience)
We work so hard for food to survive, yet we are told that it can sustain only temporal life. Food, they say, is necessary but not hereafter. Beyond death when we shall cross life’s border, we shall all be nourished by that beatific vision of the Father. “Eat and drink today, and drown your sorrow; you shall perhaps not do it tomorrow. Best while you have it, use your breath; there is no drinking after death” (Adapted from John Fletcher, et al in “The Bloody Brother”).
But if by food we refer to the soul’s nourishment, such food is necessary to mankind even after interment. Consider the sacraments, for example. They strengthen our power to resist when devils cajole. The grace derived from these sacraments keep our souls healthy, assuring the person that through heaven’s gates he will gain entry.
According to Ludwig Feuerbach, “Der Mann ist was er isst”. “Man,” he wrote, “is what he eats”. From all appearances this statement is an exaggeration. Yet this is not without basis, we can validate this without need for scholarly investigation. Eat pork and become as pigs-a-sleeping; eat sea foods and become as fish-a-swimming. Here is one classic example: eat “camote” but keep your distance from other people. At the spiritual level Feuerbach’s statement is no exaggeration. We should become what we eat at every Holy Communion. We ought to be more loving, thoughtful and forgiving after every Eucharistic celebration.
In heaven this ideal is brought to perfection as we become part of the dream of the One and Triune. This dream Jesus revealed when he prayed: “That they may be one as we are one” (John 17:6-19). So let us strive to make every Holy Communion a real event of transformation as we become Christ’s representation. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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