Acts 8: 1b-8, Psalm 66:1-3a.4-5.6-7a,
John 6:35-40 Full Readings
Believing in the Son is believing in the Father
After all attempts by prophets, Jesus himself and the apostles as well as disciples of Jesus, to convert the Jews to listen to the Gospel, failed, the mission was transferred to the Gentiles. In the first reading today, we see that because of persecution, all disciples and apostles ran to different places and there they proclaimed the gospel and many people believed. Do you allow the gospel to pass over you or you accept it and believe in Jesus? Do you take part in persecuting those Jesus has chosen for his mission, or you support them in any way possible.
In the Gospel today, Jesus continues to emphasize on the fact he is the bread of life and adds another aspect that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Jesus came into this world so we may have life and have it in abundance. This was the Father's initiative to save humanity and save all souls from eternal hell but to give them eternal life. It enables all human beings to attain salvation through the Son. St Augustine of Hippo says that "they enter where enters the good and faithful servant to whom the Lord will say, 'Enter into the joy of your Lord' and where they will be fully satisfied. But the crowd that saw him did not recognize him as the Son of God and did not believe in him. Often our seeing is similar; our fleeting look fails to see in depth, and so we do not grasp the real meaning of what we see. Jesus who 'alone has seen the Father' (Jn 6:47) has come to enable us to see God. Those who are pure of heart see God in him, and he guarantees that they will be raised to eternal life." It follows therefore it is only the belief in Jesus that we can attain eternal life.
Jesus carried out this mission of granting eternal life by doing the will of the Father in the world, giving himself as true bread from heaven that whoever eats this bread will never hunger, and gathering together all the people without losing anybody as it is the Father's will that He should lose nothing of all that the Father has given to him.
Jesus explicitly says that whoever comes to him, he shall not turn him or her away, in short, he or she will not be abandoned/rejected. “I will not reject anyone who comes to me” is a statement that appears many times in St. Faustina’s Diary of Divine Mercy and it’s a statement that many people need to hear because of many feelings of rejection among the people today. Brethren, these feelings of rejection may be from failed relationships, hurts from family members, friends, and others. We often hear that " I will never love again, All men or women are the same" and many such statements.
This really makes us feel abandoned and rejected but Jesus today gives us hope that when we come to him he will not abandon us. It is true that we can come to Him, open our hearts to Him, become completely vulnerable to Him, and He will treat us with the utmost tenderness, respect, kindness and care. Jesus will treat us with more care than we even treat ourselves! Know that you are not abandoned, Jesus is always there for you.
Let us Reflect on the words of Jesus today which are both inviting us to believe in him and an encouragement to us that whenever we come to him he will welcome us, we are not rejected. Let us ask the intercession of St Catherine of Siena, who really experienced Jesus with even stigmata and with many miracles like seeing Jesus alive in the host and many others, to pray for us that we may be able to put all our trust in Jesus and experience him as she did.
Let us pray.
May my love for you Lord increase as each day passes and may I always find love, care, tenderness and acceptance when I feel all have abandoned me. Through the intercession of St Catherine may I always long to experience you every second of my life and in all my daily experiences. Amen.
Be blessed forever and Happy Easter season.
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