Friday of the Third Week of Easter
May 10, 2019
Today, in Mercy, John gives us the core teaching of the Eucharist.
For many, it is a hard teaching. How can Jesus give us his flesh and blood to nourish us? How can mere bread and wine embody this gift?
Have you ever been profoundly hungry? For most of us, probably not in a physical sense. But what about your heart and soul?
Have you ever longed to be loved, understood, accepted, or valued?
Have you ever felt famished for peace, rest, comfort, security, or solitude?
Have you ever longed to be delivered from gnawing anxiety, depression, fear, sorrow or loneliness?
Jesus recognizes all our hungers. He desires to enfold them in his Healing Mercy. He unites us to himself in the sacred reality of Eucharist, made visible to us in bread and wine.
In Eucharist , these fruits of the earth are not simply symbols pointing to another reality. By the power of God, they become sacraments embodying the reality themselves.
This mystery is one that must be embraced by the heart and soul, not one only to be analyzed by the mind. By opening the deep hungers of our spirit to the healing presence of Christ in Eucharist, we will be fed in ways we could never have imagined. In Mercy, we will become sources of nourishment for the broken world around us.
Music: Bread of the World in Mercy Broken – Reginald Heber
Lavish Mercy 