Thursday - Third Week of Easter

Gospel   John 6:44-51

Soul Food

Mass at Cana

One of my ministries here at St. Robert’s is a Bible Study group affectionately known as “Soul Food.”  For the past 6 years, a small group of faithful and dedicated individuals have gathered on Thursday mornings to reflect on the Sunday Scripture readings, that is until March 15, 2020 when the pandemic shut everything down.

Throughout that difficult time, we managed with simple emails and Facebook posts to continue the tradition.  But it was certainly not the same as gathering together as a community of faith.  Thankfully after 14 months of separation and sickness, we met in May of 2021.  You can imagine the joy we shared together as we came together after such a long time apart. 

And I think it says something important directly related to the dedication of our group and especially our ‘name.”   Jesus today continues His discourse on the Bread of Life!  Bread!  And not simple bread, but bread that give us eternal life!  Over the course of the pandemic I learned to make bread and regularly make 2 loaves every week which, by my count, puts me over 100 loaves!  But the number is unimportant!  The bread I make satisfies but only temporarily.  I have to keep making it week after week. 

The Bread Jesus talks about satisfies not the body, but the soul!  And that is what my Bible Study group had been hungering for – food for the soul!  That is what we all hunger for – food that satisfies our spirit and gives us the promise of life eternal!  True Soul Food!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Tuesday - Third Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:30-35 Knead to Know Cooking Class Over the past month or so, I gathered together a couple groups of my altar servers for a cooking class!   They learned not only my recipe for zucchini chocolate chip muffins but how to make them from scratch!   And, YES, they took home their finished products, or at least the muffins they didn’t wolf down as soon as they came out of the oven!   It was a fun, wonderful (and messy) experience!   Who knew that cracking eggs and measuring out flour could be so ‘untidy’.   But it brought home the lesson that, in order to get those yummy muffins, it takes time, effort and a heaping cup of patience. And it reminded me not only of their loyal service but those long months of Covid when they missed their Mass ministry.   So from time to time during the pandemic, I stayed in touch with them by dropping off goodie bags filled with chocolate chip cookies, zucchini chocolate muffins and, of course, sampl
Read more
Image
Sunday – Feast of Holy Trinity Gospel – John 3:16=18 God Above, Beside, Within Church of All Nations, Gethsemane Today we celebrate the Feast of Holy Trinity, a key church doctrine – 3 Persons in 1 God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one of the great mysteries of our faith. We hear in today’s readings a description of those 3 persons.   The First Reading – God the Father, the Creator and Law-Giver.   The God so far above us all that we bow down before Him in reverence and obedience.   The Second Reading – the Holy Spirit – God who brings us peace and love and fellowship.   The Spirit or encouragement inside all of us by virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation.   And the Gospel - God the Son – Jesus Christ – who took on human form to redeem us of our sins and lead us to eternal life.   Jesus who walked the same earth as all of us. Essentially the Trinity is a relationship – the love between father and son and that love so intense that it is embodied in the Holy Spirit.
Read more
Image
  Friday – 7 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 21:15-19 Following a NEW path Hand in Hand!! Today is May 17 , a memorable day for my family, a mixture of joy and sadness.   If he were still with us, it would have been Bob’s, my father-in-law, 96 th birthday.   But sadly he passed away on April 22, just 6 days after Ginger’s Mom, Shirley, on April 16.   A day full of memories and love, a time of sorrow! And 9 years ago today, I was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Archdiocese of Chicago.   A celebration of joy and faith with our friends and family!   And a new path to follow in service and in hope! And exactly 50 months ago today (and every day since), I shared with you my first daily Gospel reflection.   A time of pandemic and death, a time of loss and separation! One single day packed with so many memories!   And isn’t that exactly what life is all about – moments of tears and moments of smiles, times of elation and times of sorrow, of loss and gain, of love an
Read more