Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Intention: That God’s peace and wisdom will touch the hearts of all whose lives are ruled by confusion, anger, or fear.
Today’s Gospel | John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “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.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
From the Tenth Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
Consider that the purpose of the coming of the Son of God into this world was to destroy sin. This must also be the main purpose of the establishment of the Christian Schools and, therefore, the first object of your zeal. It must lead you to allow nothing in the children under your guidance that could displease God. If you observe in them something that offends God, you must immediately do all that you are able to remedy the problem.
Prayer
Eternal Father, your Son taught that in life we will have to make choices between believing and not believing. In those moments when complacency or cynicism overtake us, help us to reassert our faith in you. May we summon the courage to rise to the challenges in our lives with creativity and with trust, unafraid to search through darkness for your saving light. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.