A reading from the holy
Gospel according to John (6:44-51)
Jesus said to the crowds: "No one can come to me unless the
Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert,
but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came
down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will giveis my Flesh for the life of the world."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Jesus came to do two things:
1) Forgive sins
2) Give us eternal life
By the pouring out of Jesus' blood on the cross our sins are forgiven; our sins are removed from the eyes of God never to be seen again. Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without the resurrection we cannot have life. Because the sins of the entire world were taken away at the cross, the life Jesus gives is eternal.
By coming to Jesus for His life and trusting in His death, burial, and resurrection you have partaken of the body and blood of Jesus by "feasting" on His eternal life. If one thinks that the act of communion (drinking red wine and eating consecrated hosts) one can be saved is silly and a misunderstanding of what Jesus was really telling us. Those who do not understand these spiritual truths have not come to Him. Jesus was referring to a spiritual act, not a physical one. And it is the Spirit that gives Life. You must receive His Spirit and eternal life in order to "feast" upon Him. Those who "feast" upon Jesus abide in Him, and abide in His Word and in turn, Jesus abides in them.
How do you feast upon Jesus' blood and flesh?
Answer: By abiding in Jesus!
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