“Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:35

       In a scene from the movie Major League, two teammates are on a plane together: Eddie, a Christian, and Pedro, a recent convert to the occult. It’s a rough flight due to a thunderstorm. Loud thunder shakes the plane, and Pedro, fearing the worst, makes the sign of the cross. Seeing this, Eddie utters, “Oh, now you come around!”

       The scene was hilarious. But it also unwittingly portrayed a somber reality. It’s not uncommon that there are people who only reach out to God when they need to be saved from a bad situation; or when they are totally helpless, begging for a miracle; or worse, on their last days. The rest of their lives, they simply forget God.

       For sure, our ever merciful God will minister to them as He pleases. But these people are missing out on what it means to have a real life relationship with God — one built on faith, hope and love. It’s a grace available to them 24/7 and made possible only through Jesus.

       Let’s pray and work that they get to know and receive Him before it’s too late. Erwin Roceles (erwin_roceles@yahoo.com)

Reflection: “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning.” (Rick Warren)

Dear Jesus, I’m forever grateful for all that You are to me. And most of all, thank You for the gift of eternal life. I pray that others will get to know and receive You — so that they, too, may be saved.

St. Adalbert of Prague, pray for us.

Saul sent Christians to prison for their faith. He persecuted the fledgling faithful with authority from his Jewish confreres. Little did he know that there will be a great change in his life. The grace of conversion comes at unexpected times and from the most unusual sources.

1 There broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. 3 Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment. 4 Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. 6 With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. 7 For unclean spirits crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured. 8 There was great joy in that city.

Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7

R: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

1 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, 2 sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. 3 Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!” (R) 4 “Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you, sing praise to your name!” 5 Come and see the works of God, his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam. (R) 6 He has changed the sea into dry land; through the river they passed on foot; therefore let us rejoice in him. 7 He rules by his might forever. (R)

To continue His Eucharistic teaching, Jesus affirmed that the Father’s desire is to save us through Him. He said that to believe in Him, the Bread of Life was necessary for salvation. The term “bread” already brings to mind the idea of a meal. There is also the promise that believing in Jesus means we will never hunger or thirst again.

Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day, says the Lord.

35 Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. 36 But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. 37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, 38 because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 39 And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”

think: The Father’s desire is to save us through Jesus.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Numbers 22-24

GOING ABOUT PREACHING THE WORD

While Saul was busy “dragging out men and women,” and “handing them over for imprisonment,” others also “went about preaching the Word.”

       In our times, many individuals and groups are as busy as can be trying to destroy the Catholic Church and disparage the faith of millions. Mainstream media is one of them. One only needs to scan the various reports from all over the world to see how many of them are biased against the Catholic Church, and how they can twist facts and put a spin to anything that Pope Francis says.

       Last year, I was blessed to meet a German couple, both alumni of  our school in Benedikbeuern, Southern Germany. Kristian and Nicola Maier have been missionaries in Bontoc-Lagawe doing what they call the “apostolate of presence” with the natives of Bontoc, Mountain Province.

        I was in awe. I felt blessed and grateful to God for making me realize and see first hand how so many lay people are busy “going about preaching the Word.” There are times when I feel sorry about the haters and naysayers. It is no secret that the object of their hatred is the Church and what She stands for. To make matters worse, they seem to be very busy, like Saul was, “trying to destroy the Church, entering house by house, and dragging men and women” to their culture of unbelief.

         We ought to do better than the likes of Saul, version one. He was rabid and relentless. But Saul, version two, was a totally different man. He was zealous, committed, passionate and dedicated to the mission.

      Some of us have not yet gotten into the groove of the new evangelization. Now that there is a veritable persecution of the Church everywhere, we could rethink our being Catholics. Have we remained in version 1 — the version we got from the day we were baptized many years ago?

         We need to join “ministry version F,” and do like Pope Francis does! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you doing your share in spreading the Word of God? Or are you one of those who are busy trying to silence it through secular materialism?

Stir up my heart, Lord, that I may have the passion and the commitment to spread Your Word wherever I may be.