ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR GOD’S FOOD?

“God’s bread comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” –John 6:33

Mass Readings: April 17
First: Acts 7:51–8:1; Resp: Psalm 31:3-4,6-8,17,21; Gospel: John 6:30-35

Listen to the Mass Readings

The Israelites were stuck in the desert without food. In His mercy, God sent heavenly bread, which the Israelites called manna, to feed His people for forty years until they could eat of the produce of the promised land. The manna, Jesus explained, is a foreshadowing of what God the Father was doing through Jesus. Jesus was sent from heaven to give life to the world (Jn 6:33). Jesus taught the Israelites that He was the Bread of Life (Jn 6:35), that the Father sent Him to feed His people and thereby give them life in this world until they join the eternal banquet in the heavenly promised land.

The Israelites needed to eat the manna in the desert or else starve to death. However, most of us will not starve today if we don’t receive the Eucharist – or so we think. Let us place ourselves amid the Israelites in the desert. Jesus bluntly states that if we don’t eat the heavenly manna, the Eucharist, we have no life in us (Jn 6:53). Be as hungry for the Eucharist as if you were starving in the desert.

PRAYER: Father, change my desires so I only want to eat according to Your menu.
PROMISE: “I Myself am the Bread of Life.” —Jn 6:35
PRAISE: Many saints’ lives were sustained by eating only the Holy Eucharist.