Category: Verse for the day

“Many of His disciples broke away.” —John 6:66 The beginning of the persecution of the Church caused many of the disciples to “go out” into the world (see Acts 8:1). This intense persecution was an opportunity to spread the Gospel (Acts 8:4). Unfortunately, in the Gospel passage for today’s Mass, other disciples also went out; they “broke away [from Jesus] and would not remain in His company any longer” (Jn 6:66). The hard words of the Lord were “too much for them” (Mk 6:3). St. Peter would not leave Jesus (Jn 6:68-69), but Peter also “went out,” going into the...

“Thereupon Jesus said to them: ‘Let Me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.’ ” —John 6:53 Jesus promised He would give us His flesh to eat (Jn 6:51). This is very difficult to understand and even offensive, especially to Jews. Therefore, “the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can He give us His flesh to eat?’ ” (Jn 6:52) At this point, Jesus did not modify or explain His statement. Rather, He repeated it four times (Jn 6:53, 54, 55, 56)....

“Saul, for his part, concurred in the act of killing. That day saw the beginning of a great persecution of the Church.” –Acts 8:1 We can be witnessing for the risen Christ by preaching (Acts 2:14ff), healing (Acts 3:7), rejoicing (Acts 3:8; 8:8), worshiping (see Jn 20:28), suffering (Acts 5:40), and dying (Acts 7:60). We can also witness for the risen Christ by continuing to serve the Lord, especially during hard times. For example, “devout men buried Stephen, bewailing him loudly as they did so. After that, Saul began to harass the Church. He entered house after house, dragged men...

“Next He was seen by James; then by all the apostles.” –1 Corinthians 15:7 The risen Christ “was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. After that He was seen by five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have fallen asleep. Next He was seen by James; then by all the apostles. Last of all He was seen by” Paul (1 Cor 15:5-8). These are only a few of many eyewitnesses who saw Jesus risen from the dead. Moreover, well over a billion people from all nations for about two thousand years have believed...

“What must we do to perform the works of God?” –John 6:28 Since we have been raised up in company with Christ, we set our hearts on what pertains to higher realms (Col 3:1). “The old order has passed away; now all is new!” (2 Cor 5:17; cf Rv 21:5) For example, now that we have been baptized into Jesus’ death and Resurrection, we look at work in a new, risen way. We no longer work “for perishable food but for food that remains unto life eternal” (Jn 6:27). We do “the work of God,” that is, we “have faith...