'Tis the Thursday of the Third Week of Easter (Latin: Pascha, meaning "Passover"): Pascha-link & Wikipedia-link Paschaltide.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter eight, verses twenty-six thru forty;
Psalm Sixty-six (R/. one; or, "Alleluia"), verses eight & nine, sixteen & seventeen, & twenty;
The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verses forty-four thru fifty-one.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." The bread is referred to as living. Bread is good, but it’s not alive. Instead, when we take it in, and it is turned by our bodies into fat or muscle or bone, then it comes alive.Video reflection by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers (U.S. Conf. of Catholic Bishops): Paschal Reflection.
But it is just the opposite with the living bread of Christ. This we take in and we become alive in a way that we were not before. And this is why Jesus says that he is bread come down from heaven.
What is heaven? St. Paul says, "Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what God has prepared for those who love him." Paul’s pithy remark gives us a clue: "those who love him." Whatever heaven is, it is the realm of God, and therefore it is a realm of love.
What is the Eucharist, this heavenly food, but a participation in the love between the Father and the Son? In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ is made present, and the sacrifice of Christ is the fullest expression of the love of the Father and the Son.
Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Paschal Reflection.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"We believe we are free because we liberate ourselves from what we have learned, because we get away from obedience & rules, because we entrust ourselves to the new & unknown. But we often fail to notice that we are becoming followers of others' ideas & imitators of fashion imposed by others."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)
"When we had our children, our ideas changed somewhat. We lived only for them. They were all our happiness, & we never found any except in them. In short, nothing was too difficult, & the world was no longer a burden for us. For me, our children were a great compensation, so I wanted to have a lot of them in order to raise them for Heaven."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Zélie Martin (1831-1877, feast: 12 July)
"Jesus has a deep & personal longing to have you for Himself."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Theological insights are gained not only from between two covers of a book, but from two bent knees before an altar. The Holy Hour becomes like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul & fetid atmosphere of the world."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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