Daily Gospel Reflection for May 8, 2025

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Reflection by Connie Beckman

Today's Gospel: John 6:44-51

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world."

I love John’s Gospel chapter 6—The Bread of Life Discourse. I never get tired of listening to it and reading it. It is Jesus who gives us His Body and Blood, and it is He that quenches the spiritual thirst in our souls.

The Bread of Life Discourse is especially meaningful to me since a number of years ago, I decided I knew better than Holy Mother Church and ventured out into Protestant churches. I was raised Catholic but never really knew Jesus. I went through the motions of learning the basic prayers and growing up, received all the sacraments. But I never continued to learn the deep truths of our Catholic faith which left me very vulnerable.

As an adult, I was lured away by some fallen-away Catholics who convinced me that the Catholic Church had false doctrine. In these Protestant churches, they had great praise and worship music and great preaching on the Word of God, but I always left there feeling a deep thirst and kind of an empty feeling. What that was I could not identify right away, but my heart continued to thirst.

I am so grateful for my dedicated Catholic friends. They prayed with me, instructed me, and loved me back into the Church again. I realized what I was deeply thirsting for was Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receiving the body, blood, soul, and divinity of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Since that time, I have been on a mission to learn more and more about my Catholic faith. I never, ever want to leave or be deceived again. The Catholic faith is like a never-ending gold mine. As I continue on my journey, I discover yet another golden nugget of the truths of the Catholic faith. 

Ponder:

When was the last time you read and meditated on the Bread of Life Discourse or shared it with your fallen-away Catholic and Protestant friends?

Pray:

“May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones.”  (Ephesians 1:18)

Copyright 2025 Connie Beckman

Connie Beckman resides in Helena, Montana, with her husband and is a member of Saints Cyril & Methodius Parish. Her desire as a writer is to encourage Catholic spiritual growth by sharing the truths of the faith through the written word addressing a variety of subjects.