Thursday 27 April, 2023 | Thursday of the Third Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 65(66):8-9,16-17,20; John 6:44-51 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
We all know the importance of eating a healthy and balanced diet. However, food which has been branded ‘miracle foods’can come with bold claims for life changing and life-saving effects. Professor Duan Mellor from the University of Nottingham and a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association said, “There is no scientific evidence to suggest that if you top up your diet with any ‘miracle’ or special food that you’ll get any of the promised effects. The idea is almost entirely a marketing vehicle, but when people start reading claims online, they start to think differently and can start believing it.”
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is speaking to the people who have sought him out simply because he fed them on the hillside and where they experienced the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. They wanted more of this miracle food, and more of this man and what he appeared to offer. However, he recognised their motives and knew it was only the food they were interested in. In conversation, he began to lead them from here to eternity. He used an image which was familiar to them: when God fed the people in the desert with manna from Heaven, a miracle food which enabled them to survive in the desert, and a sign to them of God’s providential care.
‘I am the Bread which has come down from Heaven,’ said Jesus. The gospel of John is full of Eucharistic language, and here our minds are turned to the Bread which Jesus gives. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus offers us the gift of himself. Sometimes, we may take this gift for granted or be so disposed that we fail to experience it as a loving encounter with Jesus, the Bread of Life. We become a little like those people fed on the hillside, compelled to come to Jesus, but missing the point of who he is and what he provides. “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,” said Jesus. “Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” It is a bold claim indeed, but one in which we have been compelled to believe. He has given himself for the life of the world. The Eucharist then is our miracle food. It is the means through which we receive all the benefits of Christ’s saving death, and at which we come to Jesus recognising our need of him, and only him.
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MINISTRY AREA MASS
Mass today (Thursday 27 April, 2023) is celebrated at SS Dyfrig and Samson at 9.30am, Mary’s Church, Butetown at 10am and S Saviour’s Church, Splott at 5.45pm | If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button
South Cardiff Ministry Area 