Holy Innocents Catholic Church!

July 29, 2021

Dear Friends in Christ,

In this second Sunday of the Bread of Life discourses, Jesus responds to the crowd’s hunger by declaring himself to be the bread of life, saying that the one who comes to him and believes will never hunger or thirst.  Pope Francis reflected on this mystery a few years ago on Corpus Christi:

The Gospel of John presents the discourse on the “bread of life”, held by Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum, in which he affirms, “I am the living bread come down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn 6:51). Jesus underlines that he has not come into this world to give something, but to give himself, his life, as nourishment for those who have faith in Him. This our communion with the Lord obliges us, his disciples, to imitate him, making our existence, through our behavior, bread broken for others, as the Teacher has broken the bread that is truly his flesh. Instead, this means for us generous conduct towards our neighbor thereby demonstrating the attitude of giving life for others.

Every time we participate in Holy Mass and are nourished by the Body of Christ, the presence of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit acts in us, shaping our hearts, communicating an interior disposition to us that translates into conduct according to the Gospel. Above all, docility to the Word of God, then fraternity amongst ourselves, the courage of Christian witness, creative charity, the capacity to give hope to the disheartened, and to welcome the excluded. In this way the Eucharist fosters a mature Christian lifestyle. The charity of Christ, welcomed with an open heart, changes us, transforms us, renders us capable of loving not according to human measure, always limited, but according to the measure of God. And what is the measure of God? Without measure! The measure of God is without measure. Everything! Everything! Everything! It’s impossible to measure the love of God: it is without measure! And so we become capable of loving even those who do not love us: and this is not easy. To love someone who doesn’t love us…. It’s not easy! Because if we know that a person doesn’t like us, then we also tend to bear ill will. But no! We must love even someone who doesn’t love us! Opposing evil with good, with pardon, with sharing, with welcome. Thanks to Jesus and to his Spirit, even our life becomes “bread broken” for our brothers. And living like this we discover true joy! The joy of making of oneself a gift, of reciprocating the great gift that we have first received, without merit of our own. This is beautiful: our life is made a gift! This is to imitate Jesus. I wish to remind you of these two things. First: the measure of God’s love is love without measure. Is this clear? And our life, with the love of Jesus, received in the Eucharist, is made a gift. As was the life of Jesus. Don’t forget these two things: the measure of the love of God is love without measure. And following Jesus, we, with the Eucharist, make of our life a gift. POPE FRANCIS

Next Saturday night August 7th  is Vino with a View at Holy Innocents, a wonderful evening of good food, wine and fellowship.  I hope to see you there.  Click on the link for more information and to purchase your tickets. 

Blessings on your week!

Fr. Johnson