Spiritual Diet

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 9:1-20 ~~~ Psalm 117 ~~~ John 6:52-59 ~~~

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day.

The idea of eternal life and being raised up on the last day
are so foreign to our fast paced instant culture.

We basically do not like waiting.
How do you tolerate waiting in line to pay for your groceries?
As we approach the check out lines we are scoping out the shortest one;
we even dare to change lanes if one seems to be moving faster.

Why do we like our microwave ovens?
They cook the food much faster;
we do not have to wait an hour to have our baked potato.
We are willing to sacrifice flavor for speed.

So are you spending you wait time?
Every day you wake up in the morning
you are waiting for your eternal life.

Eating the Bread and drinking the Blood
makes the waiting easier.
We have no clue as to when our eternal life will begin,
but we long for that day.

There is no reason to be impatient,
because we have this time to make ourselves
more ready for this eternal life.

Waiting gives us the time
to gather more of God's grace;
to secure our place in line to be raised
 up on the last day.

Eternal life varies for each person depending on when you die.
The last day will be the same for all of us...
we will all be raised up together.
Then we will all be in the greatest love of all...
the love of eternal life.

It is his love for us that wants us to be
 raised up on the last day;
to spend all of eternity with him in heaven.

There will be no more waiting when we get to heaven.
There will be no need for us to keep track of what is passing.
There will be no need to keep our eyes on our goals or dreams.

He has given us our spiritual diet for life eternal,
His Flesh and His Blood.

Do not ever think that you are not loved.
Blessed to be waiting for eternal life.
Patient Grace.
Peace.

One 4-Letter Word...LIFE

~~~ Isaiah 49:8-15 ~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~ John 5:17-30 ~~~

I have heard people say that they do not know God,

but in reality we can know God through

his son, Jesus.

Jesus is the visible flesh and blood of God.

Jesus is the substance and essence of God the Father.

...the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what

 he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also.

God the Father models everything good for the Son to exhibit to us.

Jesus is one with the Father in all ways.

Their connection is way more than the traditional

 genetic father son bond.

God the Father is manifested

 before our very eyes in the person of Jesus.

Amazed is such a weak word to describe what is happening 

between the Father and the Son.

...the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that he himself does,
and he will show him greater works than these,
so that you may be amazed.

Jesus knows without a doubt that he is loved by the Father.

He heard the words as he emerged from the waters of the Jordan...

This is my beloved son, whom I love...

The goal of many types of entertainers is to amaze you;

to make you say 'wow, how did he do that?'

Jesus did indeed work many miracles that we are still amazed and wowed.

There is nothing plain and ordinary about what God does.

God is God; how can we not be amazed?

Jesus has all of the same powers as the Father to use at his discretion.

The Father has given the Son the foundation of his love for us

so that the Son can freely chose when and how

to demonstrate his love.

...For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.

The great mystery of the Trinity;

condensed into one four letter word

LIFE.

Lent is about change...

Lent is about Life....

Not only life in this world, but eternal life.

Our salvation must be something that continues to amaze us.

Why would God go to such extravagant means to save us?

He wants to give us a share in life eternal with him

in the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed with the gift of Life

 here and in eternity.

Peace.

Corpus Christi: Jesus Shares Himself

Corpus Christi

The Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Exodus 24: 3-8 ~~~ Psalm 116 ~~~ Heb. 9: 11-15 ~~~ Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 ~~~

I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?

These words from psalm 116 are so beautiful. There is no way that we can truly make a return to the Lord. The Lord wants us to believe and to follow as best as we can in his footsteps of love, compassion, and forgiveness.

The best we can do is to be forever thankful for all that he has done for us.

The gospel today reads like a screenplay for a movie...

Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying s jar of water.

Follow him.

When they do arrive at the chosen house they are led to a large upper room furnished and ready. Everything has been prepared ahead of time for the feast of Passover; for Jesus and his disciples were devout Jews.

Tucked into this annual Passover celebration was the nucleus of what we believe.

Jesus pronounces the words of consecration of the Eucharist.

Our ministers today are still using those very words spoken many years ago in this upper room. Words which Jesus intentionally uses to institute the the Bread and Wine into his very being.

"While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, 'Take it, this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many'."

As we recite during the Mass...

'When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death,

Lord Jesus Christ, and your rising to eternal life.'

Jesus is the Bread of Life whoever believes has eternal life.

Jesus himself says, I am the Bread of Life. 

Today we rejoice in the Eucharist...

the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ

that was given up;

sacrificed for our salvation.

He alone was the perfect sacrifice offered for the atonement of our sins.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life because he is the conduit

through which we pass to our promised eternal inheritance.

We have been saved and nourished through the mystery of the Body

and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Each time we take and drink from the cup and each time we take and eat the bread we enter into this great Divine Mystery. We become part of the mystery;

because we consume this precious Body and Blood.

This bread and wine are processed into our bodily cells for food.

Physically and spiritually we are fed. He gave himself to us as bread and wine for the journey. The journey; returning back to him where we belong. 

  

Prepare your upper room for the Lord wants to remain in you.

Believe that you might have life eternal.

Jesus shares his very essence with us each time we eat and drink

at his table. Your 'Amen' is your verbal conviction to his presence.

It is by Faith that we Believe.

Pray for God to decrease any disbelief you may harbor silently within.