DAILY GRACE
April 29, 2020, Wednesday in the Third Week of Easter
Scripture: John 6:35-40
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
For what do you most hunger? The hunger and thirst that Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel are obviously not a physical need for food and drink, but rather a need or desire on the spiritual level. Each of us has this deep desire, a longing for more. Yet how often we try to satisfy this spiritual longing with material things. We convince ourselves that if we only could have more money, or that flashy car, or that dream house, or that newest digital gadget, or get that promotion —- then we will be satisfied. But when we attain each goal, we notice that the satisfaction only lasts a short time. Before long, the yearning that we thought was satisfied returns and makes us desire one more thing. Where does this cycle of longing come from?
Today’s Gospel opens our eyes to the reality that deep within we are seeking the infinite —- that which lasts forever. Much in our society today is focused on self-interest, encouraging us to do everything for our personal gain and satisfaction. But part of us, deep inside, will neve be completely satisfied with earthly things.
When Jesus says that anyone who comes to him will never hunger or thirst, he is identifying himself (as the second person of the Trinity) with God, the Infinite One, who satisfies all our longings. We receive Jesus as the Bread of Life, and inwardly, mystically we are transformed and strengthened. In the process, our deepest hungers and thirsts are satisfied.
Prayer
O Lord, you touch my deepest longing for the eternal. By your grace, may I grow in awareness of the life communicated to me, the Bread of Life that nourishes and sustains me. I come to you.
Contemplation
Come to me.