Tuesday 16 April 2024

Today is Tuesday 16 April, in the 3rd week of Eastertide.

Diana Gameros with The Porter’s Gate sings, ‘Jesus, Bread Of Life’.

Jesus bread of life, manna from heaven;
broken for the world, offered up for everyone.
Feast of angels becomes food for the weary,
and hungry hearts are filled
when you open up your hand,
when you open up your hand.
O Lord, come fill us with your love.
This table laid for us.
There is more than enough.
Jesus, bread of life.
Sister, take what you need, anything I own.
There is no famine here: Jesus' love will multiply.
Brother, what's mine is yours, you are not alone.
There is no shortage here: Jesus' love satisfies,
Jesus' love satisfies.
O Lord, come fill us with your love.
This table laid for us.
There is more than enough.
Jesus, bread of life.




Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John.

John 6: 30-35

So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
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.

John’s Gospel is about life! Food is central to life; we need food to survive… We hear Jesus today proclaim that he is the bread given to us. What does this mean for you?

Can you recognise the ways that the Lord has fed you on your spiritual journey? Perhaps a particular moment stands out…

The people fed in the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes say, ‘In the past God gave manna, what sign are you going to give us?'

Is there a sign you have asked God your Father for? How did it go? Perhaps you are still waiting…

As you listen to the passage again, reflect on what you perhaps replace the ‘bread of life’ with in your day-to-day life…

“Sir, give us this bread always.” The life of God has come down from heaven to give life to the World. As we reach the end of this time of prayer, give thanks to Jesus for being the bread which brings sustenance and abundance of life to you.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.