Daily Gospel Reflection for August 5, 2018 - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Gospel: John 6:24-35 - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time When I found out my Gospel Reflection was going to be from John, Chapter 6, I was delighted. Because this Gospel reading is at the heart of everything we believe as Catholics! Jesus IS true food and true drink for our bodies, minds and our souls! We have a "best friend" who is with us ALL the time through the gift of the Holy Eucharist! WOW. With all of life's sadness and disappointments, the true gift of Christ in His Body and Blood is a sacrifice which gives us hope and love. Jesus tells His listeners "not to work for food that perishes". He knows that life is filled with much work, but the work we do today will soon be forgotten. He knows that what He offers to us will last forever. After Jesus tells the crowd about this "bread from Heaven", they say to him "Lord, give us this bread always" (John 6:34). Somehow in their hearts at that moment they knew that Jesus was telling the truth about the gift of Himself that He was giving to them. Even later on in John 6, many of his followers turned away because his teaching was just to hard to accept and to understand. But some DID believe. It's a good sign for us to read that although some of His followers left Him when he revealed the Eucharist to them, some stayed close to our Lord. Let's hope and pray that as we live our lives we will stay close to Jesus and the gift of His Body and Blood. He will nourish every part of our bodies, minds and souls as we receive Him. Let us pray that we can recognize even more fully that His "flesh is true food and His blood true drink" for the refreshment of our whole selves. Thank you Lord Jesus for this tremendous gift!

Ponder:

Do you ever ponder the true gift of the Holy Eucharist? Do you fully believe that the Eucharist is truly Jesus' body, blood, soul and divinity?

Pray:

Lord Jesus, help us to know how much You love us through the gift of Your body and blood. Help us to believe even more in the awesome gift You continue to give us each day and each moment in the Holy Eucharist.