Jn 6:44-51
No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Draw Close to Love
If the father of love sends us, then we will come to Jesus. Whenever we choose to love we are drawn ever closer to Christ and the kingdom of heaven. Love is what allows us to commit our lives to each other forever, whether that be in marriage, friendship, religious life, or many other lifelong commitments. When we come to Jesus with love in our hearts for others, we already have gained a taste of that bread that always fills us. This is the true bread that we need forever.
What a joy it is, what an overwhelming and good thing it is to be loved and to love. Yet, our love is incomplete in this life. It will always contain alternative motives and preferences. It is the joy of heaven that we may be absorbed into love and see God’s face for the first time. So draw close to love, draw close to Christ.
—Alex Hale, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic from the Midwest Province studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.
Prayer
Father, you have given us many good gifts, we ask you to bless each of them. However, we know that more than this, you have given us great love. We ask you to bless this love, that it may fill up our souls and overflow to others. In this filling up, may we draw ever close to your son and through him back to you. Amen.
—Alex Hale, SJ