Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you are the source of eternal life and the bread come down from heaven. I believe that you are the Holy One of God, truly present in the Eucharist. I want to live your life of grace. I do not want to abandon you to seek myself.

 

Petition: Set my heart on fire with love for you. Grant me a deeper love for you in the Eucharist and a more eager desire to live the life of grace to the full.

 

Gospel: Jn 6:60-69

 

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

 

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you are the source of eternal life and the bread come down from heaven. I believe that you are the Holy One of God, truly present in the Eucharist. I want to live your life of grace. I do not want to abandon you to seek myself.

 

Petition: Set my heart on fire with love for you. Grant me a deeper love for you in the Eucharist and a more eager desire to live the life of grace to the full.

 

1. Spirit and Life.

 

You must eat my flesh and drink my blood in order to have eternal life. Imagine hearing this for the first time! These words are hard words, almost ludicrous - words that only the gift of faith can allow us to accept, but they are words that truly breathe new spirit and life into us.

 

The Catechism states Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 154). To accept the Eucharist Lord, the first step is faith. This faith then opens the doorway into a new spirit and life. This is the spirit and life received at Baptism that is nourished and is increased in Communion.

The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1279).

All these incredible gifts, O Lord, hinge upon faith. Deepen my faith in your spirit and life. Teach me a greater appreciation of the gifts that I possess only by faith. I would still be dead in sin, I would still be shackled in slavery, I would still be lost, if you had not poured your life into my heart. Now I am your adopted son. Now I have a chance to love you forever in heaven. May I never lose your spirit and life!

 

2. "Many Turned Back."

 

Without faith, many of those who eagerly had followed Christ, turned their back upon him. Their trust was shaken to the foundations because they could not imagine living beyond their senses. This temptation to doubt is nothing new in human history, nor am I exempt from this temptation, even after Baptism. The quest to live this new spirit and life can fall under the same shadow of doubt.

 

Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1426).

 

Every day I struggle with the effects of my fallen nature. It is not easy. It is tedious and exacting labor to reject sin, selfishness and my passions, to believe in a life I cannot perceive with my senses. There is the further challenge of perseverance.  Will I tire of the effort? Will I turn back when the sacrifice is greater? No, Lord, I want to remain faithful. I want to keep fighting for your Kingdom in my life. I do not want to betray your love and lose the life of grace, which was bought at the price of your blood. Give me strength for the task.

 

3. "To Whom Shall We Go?"

 

Christ then turns towards his apostles, piercing their hearts with the question, "Will you also leave me?" Their doubts wrestled with their faith. Their sincere love for Christ grappled with the seeming impossibility of his Eucharistic proclamation. Eat his Body? Drink his Blood...? Amidst the storm of confusions, Peter once again steps out to walk upon the water. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life. Peter cant figure it out, but he knows he can trust Jesus.

 

Christ is our only answer. Without trusting him, there is no eternal life. There may be at times difficulties in understanding the faith, but as Cardinal John Henry Newman said, Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt." To find lifes answer, there is no way but Jesus.

 

Lord, as if it were not enough to have made me an adopted child of God, you give me yourself as food to sustain and nourish that life within me. Who else could I go to, to receive the Bread of Life?

What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh 'given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,' preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum" (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1392).

Conversation with Christ: Here in the Eucharist I discover what your life is all about; love, boundless love. Grant me the gift of honest awe and wonder at your generosity in coming to be with me in the Eucharist. Teach me to look at everyone you put in my path with eyes of generosity and love, like you.

 

Questionnaire:  This optionnal questionnaire is intended to help you evaluate you life in light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you spent with him in prayer.

 

1. Do I ask for to strengthen my faith in prayer? Can I say my faith directs my life? Do I feel and - more importantly - act like an adopted child of God?

 

2. When do I tend to turn my back on Christ? 

 

3. How often do I receive Christ in Communion and how much time do I spend with him?