Sue O’Donnell. 11.11.20
“ ‘I, I AM the Bread of Life’ proclaimed Jesus. ‘The one who comes to Me will never be hungry; (s)he who continues to believe in Me will never be left thirsty’.” (John 6 v 35)
Is the Lord Jesus foretelling the Holy Eucharist?
It certainly sounds like He is.
The Bread from Heaven and the Chalice of Holy Blood
Will satisfy and sanctify us eternally.
Each celebration of this unique sacrament
Is preparatory for us as God’s family, adopted through Jesus.
In this incredible sacrament we are to be given,
Graciously given, because we do not merit this,
The eternal divine heart of love which belongs to the Trinity.
“The world and all the desires it inspires, are passing away; but the (wo)man who obeys God’s will by putting His words of love into action lives forever.” (1 John 2 v 17 The Truth)
Our Father comes to us in the Person of Jesus,
Who comes to us hidden, but nonetheless real,
By means of the faith building Holy Spirit.
We are in receipt of the all loving Trinity of mercy,
That no longer need we hunger nor thirst.
Holy communion is the blessed, sanctified union
Which combines humanity with divinity.
It is by this highest gift of mercy we can
In all dependency, confidently, say as we pray:
“Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me.” (Psalm 7 v 8)
“Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. My defence is of God, who saves the upright in heart.” (Psalm 7 v 9, 10)
Dearest Father of mercy, how I thank and praise You for looking upon us as having been made righteous in Your sight when we belong to the Lord Jesus. There is no fuller nor higher way of belonging than to receive
directly from Him in Holy Communion during the Mass.
Thank You for the Holy Spirit who prepares our heart, mind, will and conscience to make us ready to receive the amazing grace of Jesus’ body and blood freely gifted to us. Herein we have such hope of reaching heaven.
Thank You too, for allowing Your beloved Son to live to give us an example of the best way to live; to die to take the punishment due to us upon Himself; then to rise again miraculously.
Thank You that our Saviour Brother, He who manifests truth to us, tells us “ ‘I tell you the truth, (s)he who believes in who I AM, already has eternal life. I, I AM the Bread of Life’.” (John 6 v 47, 48 The Truth)
“ ‘I, I AM the living Bread that has come from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, (s)he will live forever. This Bread is My body, which I will give for the salvation of all mankind’.” (John 6 v 51 The Truth)
“By Him all things consist” (Colossians 1 v 17) and we are fed holy bread for the purpose of sanctification, the Lord Jesus having redeemed us from sinfulness by dying at the †to win forgiveness for us. What a truly
amazing grace! Thank You so much dearest Father of every mercy. “Christ has set us free to live in freedom.” (Galatians 5 v 1) Holy communion, receiving of the body and blood of Your Son, the perfectly holy One, means we are being enabled to stand firm in the freedom won for us at the †.
No longer are we in bondage to satan, praise be! No longer need we hide away, ashamed of our fallen mortality, praise be! No longer need we fear a final separation from mercy, being banished from You when we die, praise be!
“It is by the Spirit that we eagerly await the hope of our eternal acceptance by faith.” (Galatians 5 v 5 The Truth) Thank You that the Holy Spirit convinces us of the love and mercy that we have been graciously
gifted.
It is as a result of our purification and sanctification, the ever blessed work of Your Spirit, Father God, the very same Spirit as fills the Lord Jesus, we learn that what really matters in life is that our faith is expressed by love of the Trinity, as shown by love for each other.
Fed on the Bread of Life satisfies our need to seek to find the meaning of life, and answers the question as to whether or not we have an eternal destiny. Also, no longer do we need to make any false gods, no more idols are necessary. For the Lord Jesus is life to us.
This life is led in the fullness of His promise. We experience the hope of life here becoming better, brighter and well worth living, when we inhabit Jesus’ Kingdom of love as set up for this very purpose.
In this kingdom love is the currency, the motto, the aim and the gain. How truly marvellous! The mercy of love has very far reaching godly results, all to our benefit. Thank You for such a rich blessing addressing our everyday.
Receiving of the Lord Jesus in Holy communion, means we live with hope. However tough life gets, however many challenges, setbacks and disappointments, we are a people of hope and hope strengthens our faith.
We experience a sense of peace too, knowing we are forgiven and restored by grace to favour, no longer needing to feel ashamed because we have repented and returned to trying to live as the Lord Jesus asks of us.
It is this very sense of hope and peace which lead us to feel the joy of faith, especially the joy of becoming united with You Lord, as a Trinity, when we come to Holy Communion, a most wondrous celebration.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons but one God, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore,” (Psalm 16 v 11) for nothing other than our own wilful sinning will ever separate us once more.
Yes, in You is all our hope, peace and true joy. “For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things to make Your servant know them’,” (2 Samuel 7 v 21) just as You did of old and still do.
“ ‘Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears’,” (2 Samuel 7 v 22) we can say, echoing King David.
Lord, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, You are to be praised for all You have done for us. You have given us a new birth through the great mercy” (based on 1 Peter 1 v 3) of the † and the Holy Communion we receive at Mass.
You have given us a living hope so we can look to our future expectantly, as Jesus has risen from the dead. We have a Holy Brother, who is our forever Saviour and we rejoice!
You also allow Your Spirit to come to us to shield us, and to help us maintain holiness. How gracious is Your love towards us. How beneficial is Your mercy. May we ever avail ourselves of the Bread of Heaven, and
thereby delight and honour You, Father of love, ever merciful.
Life is so very different when we come to accept Jesus as Saviour, our hope now and for the future, the peace between You and us and our eternal joy. Thank You for this happy discovery, always changing life for the better.
“For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living,” (Psalm 116 v 89) full living. This is the fullness the love of the Lord Jesus gifts to us, asking us to spread His good news far and wide.
“What shall I render to You LORD, for all Your benefits towards me,” (based on v 12) towards all who believe in Jesus as Saviour and Redeemer. “I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of
the LORD,” (v 14) the Lord God of mercy.
Fed on the Bread of Life, I hope to be sufficiently strengthened and supported in my belief, that “I will pay my vows to You LORD, now in the presence of all Your people.” (based on v 14)
I hope for holiness to be my daily aim and gain, for “Precious in Your sight, LORD, is the death of any of Your people,” (based on v 15) especially as we have every opportunity to be made holy, as long as we
devote ourselves entirely to our Saviour Brother.
“O LORD, truly I am Your servant,” (v 16) all thanks ever be to the Trinity. “You have loosed my bonds,” (Cont) my captivity to satan. I am a free person! “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon Your name,” (based on v 17) the name of love and mercy.
All praise, all thanks, all glory ever be, as we are fed on the Bread of Life, so as to be one family who are the Lord Jesus ’good works in progress. His holiness is our highest, fullest, richest happiness. Amen.
Images by Artist Christine Garwood
http://www.christinegarwoodartist.co.uk/
Season
Key Themes
BELIEF
SANCTIFICATION
