St. Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, virgin
H. Emmanuel Toro, L.C.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ, our King, Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord Jesus, I ask that I seek nothing else but You. I need You in my life to fulfill Your will. Give me the means and the strength to walk with You on the path of this world.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 6:22-29
After the multiplication of the loaves, when Jesus had fed five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the lake. The next day the multitude, who were on the other side of the lake, realized that there was only one boat there, and that Jesus had not embarked with his disciples, but that they had gone out alone. Then other boats came from Tiberias to the place where the multitude had eaten bread. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they embarked and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, you are not looking for me because you have seen signs, but because you have eaten your fill of those loaves. Do not work for the food that is running out, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you; for God the Father has marked him with his seal.
They said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent.”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
This Gospel is the beginning of the discourse on the Bread of Life, which continues for the next six days. After the multiplication of the loaves, the people follow Jesus. They had seen the miracle; they had eaten and were satiated and wanted more. They did not bother to look for the sign or the call of God that was contained in all this. When the people met Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum, he had a long conversation with them, called the Bread of Life Discourse, which explains the meaning of the multiplication of the bread, symbol of the new exodus and of the Eucharistic Supper.
People seek Jesus because they want more bread. People follow Jesus. They see that he did not get into the boat with the disciples and, therefore, they do not understand what he did to reach Capernaum. They did not even understand the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. People see what has happened, but they cannot understand all this as a sign of something deeper. They only stop at the surface; at being satisfied with the food. They seek bread and life, but only for the body. According to the people, Jesus does what Moses did in the past: feed all the people in the desert. According to Jesus, they wanted the past to repeat itself. But Jesus asks the people to go a step further and move forward. In addition to working for the bread that perishes, they should work for the imperishable food. This new food will be given by the Son of Man, indicated by God himself. He brings life that lasts forever. He opens for us a new horizon in the meaning of life and in God.
What is God's work? People ask: what must we do to carry out this work of God? Jesus answers that the great work of God asks us to «believe in the one sent by God». That is, to believe in Jesus!
«Every day we need him, our daily bread. He is the bread of life, who makes us feel like beloved children and who relieves all our loneliness and orphanhood. He is the bread of service: who, breaking himself to become our servant, asks us to serve one another. Father, as you give us our daily bread, nourish in us a longing for our brother, a need to serve him. As we ask you for our daily bread, we implore you also for the bread of memory, the grace to strengthen the common roots of our Christian identity, indispensable at this time when humanity, and the younger generations in particular, risk feeling uprooted in the midst of so many liquid situations, incapable of cementing existence.»
(Homily of H.H. Francis, May 31, 2019).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Make an examination of conscience and review what things do not help me to maintain a personal relationship with the Lord.
Farewell
We thank You, Lord, for all Your benefits, You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
