We can each make our own those words of Saint Paul. Far from standing in Gods way, Jesus lived and died to bring to pass what God wanted, a great coming together of all the children of God. We cannot manage the Holy Spirit. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. Indeed, we can all take heart from it, because there is something of Thomas in all of us. We are much more security conscious than we were in the past. Doubt no longer but believe. Thomas replied, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him: You believe because you can see me. Indeed, it could be argued that the current is flowing in the opposite direction. Even some of his own disciples would walk away because of this teaching on the Eucharist. The power of the Lords faithful love to recreate people, to transform them with new life, is at the heart of the Easter message. Our communion with the Lord in the Eucharist calls us to this ongoing form of communion. However, Jesus as the gate calls out to us because he is also the shepherd who knows each of us personally, by name. As they prayed, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and in the strength of that Spirit they proclaimed the word of God courageously. Catherine remained faithful to Urban, in spite of his faults, because he had been duly elected. That in turn led on to our receiving the Eucharist. Sometimes, it is our very weakness that gives the Lord scope to work through us most fully, whereas when we are overconfident and too sure of our own ability and success we can block the Lord from working through us. The one whom they had been following, and in whom they had put so much hope, had been crucified by the Romans. To believe is at the same time to wait in joyful hope. The Ethiopian eunuch was journeying away from Jerusalem when Philip, one of the missionaries of the early church, joined them and opened up the Scriptures for him. Because we do not yet see him face to face, our faith is always a faith that hopes. Jesus will do all in his power to keep us united with himself and to prevent us from being taken away from him or falling away from him. The bread of the word prepares us for the bread of the Eucharist. The question that people ask in todays gospel reading is a perfectly understandable one, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? The notion of eatings someones flesh is abhorrent. One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lords personal call to each one of us is, it will always be a call towards life. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Fathers hand. so whoever eats me will draw life from me. In this mornings gospel reading Jesus identifies himself as the one who can satisfy these deeper hungers in our hearts, the hunger for God, for a love that is faithful, for a life that endures beyond this life. If the wind is blowing from the north, we cannot make it blow from the south. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Paul and Barnabas went on to spend twelve months together in that church. Yet, Jesus does not qualify what he says but, rather, he goes on to say something even more shocking. There will always be an element of unease about our faith, some restlessness that moves us to keep seeking the Lord. At that time Jesus responded: I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Catherine was one of the great mystics of the church. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. abandons the sheep and runs away how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things? On one occasion, Jesus says of himself: I am the light of the world. Catherine remained loyal to Urban, judging that for all his faults he had been validly elected.
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