November 20, 2022
May 5, 2022
Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
John 6:44 -51
Jesus said to the crowds:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
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.”
Today we get introduced to the idea of the Holy Eucharist. As Catholics, it is so important for our belief in what Jesus instituted at the Last Supper when he told the Apostles, “. . .This is my body that is for you. . . ” (1Cor 11:24)
Jesus, today, is introducing to us that he is truly present in the Eucharist. We could spend a whole homily on what he is saying and why we believe – but because of what is happening in current events I want to take this in another direction – respecting at the same time the importance of the words spoken about him being the bread from Heaven.
Our Gospel reading opens with a very important thought.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.”
Anywhere you go in the World, America is recognized as a Christian Nation due to the vast majority of its citizens professing to be Christian. We profess to believe in Jesus – not all – but again, a large majority.
And yet, in 1973, we allowed a real tragedy to be perpetrated upon us. We were told by 7 justices of the Supreme Court it was okay to kill the most innocent of lives in the womb. And with that decision we as a country lost our soul.
If you are paying attention, God has been calling us to Jesus and finally we are listening. A leaked draft by Justice Alito states that the ruling in 1973 should never have been made. The decision on abortion should have remained in the State Government and should return.
It isn’t a victory over abortion, but it is, or appears to be, a positive step for our Holy Innocents – 63 million precious lives lost since that decision in 1973. They never had a voice. They never had a vote. Sacrificed to the vanity of a population wanting to not be bothered by consequences of decisions – frivolous decisions – made in a moment.
I am not here to tell you how – that’s a lie – I am here to tell you if you believe your comfort is worth more than that precious life, then, you are wrong. I pray that this country can reclaim its soul after 50 years of a lost identity.
We are each called by the Father. Let us each now approach Jesus without the stain of hedonism and narcissism that has cost so many precious lives.
God, forgive us our selfishness.
What I Heard Him Say 