The Living Bread

April 22, 2021, Thursday
Thursday of the Third Week of Easter (White)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 276

Reading I
Acts 8:26-40

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,
“Get up and head south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” 
So he got up and set out. 
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace,
that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,
in charge of her entire treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.
Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip,
“Go and join up with that chariot.” 
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?” 
So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. 
This was the Scripture passage he was reading:
    Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
        and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
            so he opened not his mouth.
    In his humiliation justice was denied him.
        Who will tell of his posterity?
            For his life is taken from the earth.
Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,
“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?
About himself, or about someone else?” 
Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,
he proclaimed Jesus to him.
As they traveled along the road
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. 
What is to prevent my being baptized?” 
Then he ordered the chariot to stop,
and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water,
and he baptized him. 
When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing. 
Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news
to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Responsorial Psalm
66:8-9, 16-17, 20

R.    (1)  Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

or:

R.    Alleluia.

Bless our God, you peoples,
    loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
    and has not let our feet slip.

R.    Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

or:

R.    Alleluia.

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
    what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
    praise was on the tip of my tongue.

R.    Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

or:

R.    Alleluia.

Blessed be God who refused me not
    my prayer or his kindness!

R.    Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

or:

R.    Alleluia.

Alleluia
Jn 6:51

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Jn 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.”

REFLECTION:

We live two lives - the flesh and the spirit, earthly and eternal. Faith in God is life-giving. It gives energy to every day, to the commonplace. The struggle to do good and to live a gospel-centered life is nourished by our faith. Prayer is a time to be aware of the life that is eternal. Moments of prayer bring us in touch with the eternal within us, and the eternal around us, the atmosphere of the risen Christ.

Jesus lives in the shadow of eternity and calls on our faith that we will live forever. The call of love and the experience of love in life hints at something more than human, of a mystery totally linked to God. The bread of life is the gift of God's life on earth. In opening ourselves to the word of God and the bread of God we are gifted and graced with the love that lasts forever.

PRAYER:

Lord, you are starting to open to me what the Eucharist can mean: a pledge of eternal life, and nourishment for my daily journey, as well as the viaticum that will strengthen me for my last journey, to you.