REFLECTION FOR THIRD WEEK OF EASTER: SATURDAY

TODAY'S WORD

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

John: 6:67-68 "So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”  Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the Words of Eternal Life."


GOSPEL REFLECTION

This morning’s gospel reading begins with some of Jesus’ followers deciding that they would no longer follow him. 

They cannot accept the teaching he has been giving about his identity as the Bread of Life and on the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood. 

‘This is intolerable language’, they say. It seems that not everyone who started to follow Jesus remained his follower. 

It is a reminder to us that we cannot take our faith, our relationship with the Lord, for granted. 

The fact that we have been the Lord’s disciple in the past does not guarantee that we will remain his disciple into the future. 

Indeed, every day we have to renew our response to the Lord’s call. 

We have to keep on consciously deciding for him, choosing him. 

Faith is a gift but it also involves a decision on our part. 

That is why at the end of this morning’s gospel reading Jesus turns to the twelve and asks them, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too’? 

Jesus was asking them, ‘Do you want to join the others who have decided to follow me no longer?’ 

He was putting it up to the twelve to decide for him, to choose him as he had chosen them. 

The Lord puts the same question to us, ‘Do you want to go away too?’ 

He waits for our response. We can do no better than to make our own the response of Peter, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life’. 

Every time we come to Mass we are making our own Peter’s great act of faith. 

In choosing to come to Mass we are choosing the Lord as the Bread of Life; we are renewing our baptism. 


RESOLUTION

Let's resolve  to live out that choice of the Lord in our daily lives when we are sent out of the Eucharist, allowing that choice for the Lord to shape all the small and large choices that we make in the course of our day.

Have a wonderful weekend

God bless you all.