“I am the bread of life.” – John 6:48

              A successful entrepreneur has a wife who suffers from depression. She travels the world and buys everything she wants, yet she remains unhappy. She’s been depressed for many years. She goes to counseling and regularly sees a psychiatrist, but she’s still depressed.

        This is a sad reality. It happens to a lot of successful people all over the world. What’s the root cause? It’s spiritual malnourishment.

             One night, when the woman felt so sad, she started calling out to God. She fell down on her knees, cried buckets of tears, and  finally surrendered her depression to God. This was the turning point of her life. When she started having a relationship with God, she realized her purpose, and it gave her life new meaning. She started to use her money to help the poor. And she nourished her life with God’s Word, the Bread of Life.

            When we forget about God and our purpose, our life loses its meaning. A life without meaning is an unhappy one. Joel Saludares ( joelsaludares@yahoo.com)

Reflect: Are you so busy acquiring worldly riches that you have forgotten about the true Source of life?

Lord, may I always remember to partake of the Bread of Life. My life has no meaning without You.

St. Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us. 

Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch and then is miraculously brought to Azotus. Maybe God teaches us through this miracle how committed He is to bring the Gospel to the world. He wants everyone to hear the Good News. Let us pray for more men and women to be willing to serve in the Lord’s evangelistic work.

In today’s First Reading, Philip was inspired by the Holy Spirit to approach an Ethiopian eunuch who stumbled upon the book of the prophet Isaiah. An Ethiopian eunuch was a pagan, a nonbeliever. So Philip asked him whether he understood what he was reading and the Ethiopian eunuch replied, “How can I... unless someone explains it to me?” (Acts 8:30-31, NIV). Philip did, and right there and then, the Ethiopian eunuch asked to be baptized in the nearest body of water they chanced upon (see vv. 36-37).

This reminded me of this story. Every Sunday, John and Kevin go out of the door almost at the same time. John always goes to Mass while Kevin always goes to the golf course. Kevin always invites John to join him but John always replies, “No offense but the Mass is the most important thing to do for me on a Sunday.” One Sunday, after John declined his invitation for a game of golf, Kevin said, “If the Mass is very important, how come you never invited me to go to Mass with you?”

Many people do not get to experience the beauty of the Mass simply because no Mass goer has ever invited them. Sometimes, evangelization begins with a simple question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” or by a simple invitation, “Would you like to attend Mass with me?”

My interest to become a priest was aroused not because I heard an eloquent discourse on the priesthood. It all started from a simple invitation from a man who saw me serve at Mass and asked whether I wanted to be a priest someday.

Evangelization is achieved not so much by capability as by hospitality. Evangelization is served not so much by men and women who are capable but by men and women who are hospitable, that is, joyful Christians who want to share the joy of Christianity. Fr. Joel O. Jason

------- REFLECTION QUESTION -------

When was the last time you went out of your way to invite others to share the joy found in practicing your faith?

Enkindle in my heart the joy of the Kingdom and let me share it with joy to others. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _______________________________