Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
Intention: That we may be a people of life, speaking for the dignity and needs of all people, especially the poor, the oppressed, the exploited, the misunderstood, and the forgotten.
Today’s Gospel | John 6:35-40
Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”
From the Fourth Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
In carrying out your service to children, you will not fulfill your ministry adequately if you resemble Jesus Christ only in his guidance and conversion of souls. You must also enter into his purposes and goals. He came on earth, as he said, only that people might have life and have it to the full. This is why he said, in another place, that his words are spirit and life. By this he meant that his words procure the true life, which is the life of the soul, for those who hear them and who, with gladness over what they have heard, act on them with love.
This must be your goal when you instruct your disciples, that they live a Christian life and that your words become spirit and life for them. Your words will accomplish this because 1) they will be produced by the Spirit of God living in you, and 2) they will procure the Christian spirit for your disciples.
In possessing this spirit, which is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, they will live that true life which is so valuable to us because it leads surely to eternal life.
Prayer
Eternal Father, Jesus taught us that to live well, we must learn to do your will. There are days when this is not easy, when our lives are a puzzle that we do not know how to put together. Help us in those moments to be still and look to see your face through our struggles and doubts. Thank you for leading us to the right paths, especially those that we might never find on our own. Open our minds and our hearts to your presence everywhere, and inspire us to give our hands and hearts to the building of your Kingdom. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.