Good morning, good people. May the Risen Lord bless and protect you.
It is on 18th April 2024. We reflect on Acts 8:26-40 and John 6:44-51.
How often do we lead people to Christ?
We can only lead others to Christ when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and regularly reflecting and reading the Sacred Scripture.
When our lives are full of worldly worries and our minds mesmerized by material things, we will not be able to listen to the voice of the Spirit of Truth within ourselves nor lead someone who wishes to know about Christ.
In the first reading, we meet St. Philip who goes to meet an Ethiopian official who had difficulty understanding the Word of God. With so much conviction and faith, St. Philip explained the Word of God to the official and led him to the Sacrament of Baptism.
Are we drawn to the Eucharist, the bread of eternal life?
Jesus continues the discourse of the Bread of Life. The continuum of God’s life is found only in Christ. That is why Christ could boldly assure that His flesh is given for eternal life.
The life of grace comes from the participation and consumption of the Holy Eucharist worthily and daily. The bread of immortality is the Bread of life. Receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist fills us with God’s grace and unites us with the Father and with the Church. We are drawn to the Eucharist when we live and are guided by the Spirit of God.
What we eat so we become.
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Jn.6:51).
“Man does not live by bread alone, but . . . by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).
“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4).
Can God count on us to lead others to the Bread of life?
The new life we have received from the Sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation needs to be shared with someone looking for God and Jesus.
We are all needed by God to lead and to expound the Word of God to others.
In times like these, God counts on our openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in leading others to Christ, the Bread of life.
May you have a good day.
Fr. Peter Fernando, OFMCap.
Director, Office of Family Ministry, Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia (AVOSA).Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.♣Website:https://reflectionsofpeter.org/.♣Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/samarpet
St. Mary’s Catholic Church Dubai belongs to the Vicariate of Southern Arabia Arabia (AVOSA). Please follow this LINK to learn more about AVOSA: https://avosa.org/vicariate
To follow AVOSA’s Ordo, the annual calendar containing abbreviated directions for each day’s Mass and Divine Office, please follow this LINK: https://avosa.org/ordo