Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers in Christ:

Today is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed of All Souls day. Today we should reflect on our own immortality and our desire to be united with Christ in our eternal life. Today we pray for those who have begun that eternal walk with Christ.

Gospel Reading: John 6:37-40

Jesus said to the crowds: “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.”

Today’s Gospel reading is a small excerpt from the Bread of Life discourse. Through the Bread of Life, we are given the divine nourishment which can sustain us for eternity. If we are truly united with Him in our earthly communion, then after our death, we will come into eternal communion with our Father in heaven. Jesus tells us that He came down from heaven not to do His will but the will of His Father. He came down to bring us eternal life. Within each of us is the desire for eternal life and happiness with our Father in heaven. To receive eternal life, we must come to Christ because “I should not lose anything of what He gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.” He tells us that if we are united with Him, we are united with His Father and if we are united with His Father, we will be raised on the last day. In this verse, Jesus says we must “see the Son” and “believe in Him” to enjoy eternal life. What must I do to see Him? “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). To see Christ, one must pray, one must seek out his glory and look for Him in the good of the world. One must seek to purify their own heart and to empty themselves of their earthly lusts. To see God, we must seek him. Only if we seek Christ can we find God. We seek Christ by fulfilling the purpose for which God created us. We see God when we have established a love affair with our Father in Heaven.

A Simple Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Bread of Life.

It is through our faith in you that we find the unending hope to defeat death and find eternal life.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon