John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 6
30.	They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work?	Dixerunt ergo ei : Quod ergo tu facis signum ut videamus et credamus tibi ? quid operaris ?	ειπον ουν αυτω τι ουν ποιεις συ σημειον ινα ιδωμεν και πιστευσωμεν σοι τι εργαζη
31.	Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.	Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto, sicut scriptum est : Panem de cælo dedit eis manducare.	οι πατερες ημων το μαννα εφαγον εν τη ερημω καθως εστιν γεγραμμενον αρτον εκ του ουρανου εδωκεν αυτοις φαγειν
32.	Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.	Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : non Moyses dedit vobis panem de cælo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de cælo verum.	ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν ου μωυσης δεδωκεν υμιν τον αρτον εκ του ουρανου αλλ ο πατηρ μου διδωσιν υμιν τον αρτον εκ του ουρανου τον αληθινον
33.	For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.	Panis enim Dei est, qui de cælo descendit, et dat vitam mundo.	ο γαρ αρτος του θεου εστιν ο καταβαινων εκ του ουρανου και ζωην διδους τω κοσμω
34.	They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread.	Dixerunt ergo ad eum : Domine, semper da nobis panem hunc.	ειπον ουν προς αυτον κυριε παντοτε δος ημιν τον αρτον τουτον
35.	And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.	Dixit autem eis Jesus : Ego sum panis vitæ : qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet umquam.	ειπεν δε αυτοις ο ιησους εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης ο ερχομενος προς με ου μη πειναση και ο πιστευων εις εμε ου μη διψηση πωποτε

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

30. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

32. Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

AUGUSTINE. (xxv. 12) To eat then that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, is to believe on Him. Why dost thou make ready thy tooth and thy belly? Only believe, and thou hast eaten already. As He called on them to believe, they still asked for miracles whereby to believe; They said therefore unto Him, What sign shewest Thou then, that we may see and believe Thee? What dost Thou work?

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xlv. 1) Nothing can be more unreasonable than their asking for another miracle, as if none had been given already. And they do not even leave the choice of the miracle to our Lord; but would oblige Him to give them just that sign, which was given to their fathers: Our fathers did eat manna in the desert.

ALCUIN. And to exalt the miracle of the manna, they quote the Psalm, As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xlv. 1) Whereas many miracles were performed in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert, they remembered this one the best of any. Such is the force of appetite. They do not mention this miracle as the work either of God, or of Moses, in order to avoid raising Him on the one hand to an equality with God, or lowering Him on the other by a comparison with Moses; but they take a middle ground, only saying, Our fathers did eat manna in the desert.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xxv. s. 12) Or thus; Our Lord sets Himself above Moses, who did not dare to say that He gave the meat which perisheth not. The multitude therefore remembering what Moses had done, and wishing for some greater miracle, say, as it were, Thou promisest the meat which perisheth not, and doest not works equal to those Moses did. He gave us not barley loaves, but manna from heaven.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xxv. 1) Our Lord might have replied, that He had done miracles greater than Moses: but it was not the time for such a declaration. One thing He desired, viz. to bring them to taste the spiritual meat: then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. Did not the manna come from heaven? True, but in what sense did it? The same in which the birds are called, the birds of heavenk; and just as it is said in the Psalm, The Lord thundered out of heaven. (Ps. 17) He calls it the true bread, not because the miracle of the manna was false, but because it was the figure, not the reality. He does not say too, Moses gave it you not, but I: but He puts God for Moses, Himself for the manna.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xxv. 13.) As if He said, That manna was the type of this food, of which I just now spoke; and which all my miracles refer to. You like my miracles, you despise what is signified by them. This bread which God gives, and which this manna represented, is the Lord Jesus Christ, as we read next, For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

BEDE. Not to the physical world, but to men, its inhabitants.

THEOPHYLACT. He calls Himself the true bread, because the only-begotten Son of God, made man, was principally signified by the manna. For manna means literally, what is this? The Israelites were astonished at first on finding it, and asked one another what it was. And the Son of God, made man, is in an especial sense this mysterious manna, which we ask about, saying, What is this? How can the Son of God be the Son of man? How can one person consist of two natures?

ALCUIN. Who by the humanity, which was assumed, came down from heaven, and by the divinity, which assumed it, gives life to the world.

THEOPHYLACT. But this bread, being essentially life, (for He is the Son of the living Father,) in quickening all things, does but what is natural to Him to do. For as natural bread supports our weak flesh, so Christ, by the operations of the Spirit, gives life to the soul; and even incorruption to the body, (for at the resurrection the body will be made incorruptible.) Wherefore He says, that He giveth life unto the world.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xlv. 1) Not only to the Jews, but to the whole world. The multitude, however, still attached a low meaning to His words: Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. They say, Give us this bread, not, Ask Thy Father to give it us: whereas He had said that His Father gave this bread.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xxv. 13) As the woman of Samaria, when our Lord told her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall never thirst, thought He meant natural water, and said, Sir, give me this water, that she might never be in want of it again: in the same way these say, Give us this bread, which refreshes, supports, and fails not.

6:35–40

35. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xlv. 2) Our Lord now proceeds to set forth mysteries; and first speaks of His Divinity: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He does not say this of His body, for He speaks of that at the end; The bread that I will give you is My flesh. Here He is speaking of His Divinity. The flesh is bread, by virtue of the Word; this bread is heavenly bread, on account of the Spirit which dwelleth in it.

THEOPHYLACT. He does not say, I am the bread of nourishment, but of life, for, whereas all things brought death, Christ hath quickened us by Himself. But the life here, is not our common life, but that which is not cut short by death: He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and He that believeth on Me shall never thirst.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xxv. 14) He that cometh to Me, i. e. that believeth on Me, shall never hunger, has the same meaning as shall never thirst; both signifying that eternal society, where there is no want.

THEOPHYLACT. Or, shall never hunger or thirst, i. e. shall never be wearied1 of hearing the word of God, and shall never thirst as to the understanding: as though He had not the water of baptism, and the sanctification of the Spirit.

Catena Aurea John 6

Life of Bernadette Soubirous, Saint Bernadette

All that we know of the Apparitions and the Message of Lourdes came to us from Bernadette. She alone saw the Lady and all depends on her testimony. Who is she, then? Three periods can be distinguished in her life: the obscurity of her childhood, a “public” life at the time of the Apparitions and of giving testimony; finally, a “hidden” life as religious at Nevers.

Before the Apparitions

When one describes the Apparitions, Bernadette is often presented as a poor, frail and ignorant girl, living in miserable conditions in the Cachot. True, but it was not always thus. When she was born on 7th January, 1844, at the Boly Mill, she was the first child and heiress of Francois Soubirous and Louise Casterot who married for love. Bernadette grew up in a close-knit family in which she was cherished. Ten years of happiness in the decisive early years of her childhood made her strong and surprisingly balanced. The descent into the unhappiness which followed could not erase this human richness. Bernadette, at 14 years of age, stood only 1 m. 40 tall. suffered from bouts of asthma. She had a lively, spontaneous and generous nature; she was witty and incapable of deception. She was proud, which didn’t escape Mother Vauzou in Nevers who described her as having“ a closed character, very touchy.” Bernadette’s faults distressed her and she fought them with energy. A strong personality but unsophisticated. No school for Bernadette: she had to help her aunt Bernarde. No catechism: her memory refused to retain the abstract phrases. At 14, she couldn’t read or write, and she suffered at being excluded. Then she reacted. In September 1857, she was sent to Bartrès. On 21st January, 1858, she returned to Lourdes. She wanted to make her First Communion. This she did on 3rd June, 1858.

The public life

This is how the Apparitions took place. In the midst of ordinary daily tasks, going to search for firewood, Bernadette was confronted by a mystery. A sound “like a gust of wind”, a light, a presence. Her reaction? She showed her common sense and a remarkable discernment. Believing herself mistaken, she used all her human resources: she looked, she blinked, she tried to understand. At last, she turned to her companions to check their impressions: “Did you see anything?” She turned then to God: she took up her rosary. She turned to the Church and took advice in confessing to Father Pomian: “I saw something white in the form of a Lady.” Questioned by the commissioner Jacomet, she replied with a confidence and prudence and a firmness which was surprising in a young uneducated girl: “Aquero, I didn’t say ‘the Holy Virgin’… Monsieur, you’ve changed it all.” She reported what she had seen with a detachment, an astonishing freedom: “I’m charged with telling you, not with making you believe.”

Her accounts of the Apparitions were precise, never adding or retracting anything. At one time, taken aback by the severity of Father Peyramale, she added a word: “Father, the Lady always asks for a chapel….even a very small one.” In his pastoral letter on the Apparitions, Mgr Laurence emphasized “the simplicity, the candour, the modesty of this child…she recounts it without affectation, with a touching innocence…and to all the questions put to her, without hesitation, she gave clear, precise responses, impressed with a strong conviction.” Unaffected both by threats and attempts to bribe her with advantageous offers, “Bernadette’s sincerity is irrefutable: she has not wanted to make a mistake.” “But has she herself been mistaken? Victim of an hallucination?” the bishop wondered. He recalled her calmness, her good sense, the absence in her of any exaltation and also the fact that the Apparitions did not depend on Bernadette. They happened without Bernadette expecting them, and in the fortnight, twice, when Bernadette went to the Grotto, the Lady was not there. Bernadette had to respond to the curious, to admirers, journalists and others, to appear before civil and religious commissions. She found herself thrown into the glare of the news; a “media storm” battered her. She needed patience and humour to stand firm in this storm and to preserve the purity of her testimony. She accepted no payment. “I want to remain poor.” She did not bless the rosaries thrust at her: “I don’t wear a stole.” She did not sell medals: “I’m not a merchant.” And faced with images of herself costing ten ‘sous’: “Ten ‘sous’, that’s all I’m worth!”

In these circumstances, life in the Cachot was no longer possible. It was necessary to protect Bernadette. Father Peyramale and the mayor Lacade were in agreement: Bernadette would be admitted as “a sick poor person” to the hospice managed by the Sisters of Nevers. She arrived there on 15th July, 1860. At 16, she learned to read and write. One can still see today, at the Bartres Church, the writing practice strokes she made. Later, she wrote often to her family and even to the Pope! She visited her parents who had been rehoused in the “paternal home”. She looked after the sick, but above all she was seeking her vocation: good for nothing and without a dowry, how was she to become a religious? At last, she joined the Sisters of Nevers “because they did not try to attract me.” From that time on, a truth impressed itself within her spirit: “My mission in Lourdes is finished.” Now, she had to withdraw in order to give all the space to Mary.

The hidden life at Nevers

She herself used this expression: “I came here to hide myself.” In Lourdes, she was Bernadette, the visionary. In Nevers, she became Sister Marie Bernard, who would be saint. One often hears about the severity of her superiors towards her, but it has to be understood that she was a unique case: she had to be shielded from curiosity, to be protected, and the community also had to be protected. Bernadette gave her account of the Apparitions before the assembled community on the day after she arrived; thereafter it was not to be spoken of. She was kept in the Mother House where she loved to care for the sick. On the day of her Profession, no particular office/work had been prepared for her: the bishop declared that her work would be “the work of prayer”. “Pray for sinners”, the Lady had said. She remained faithful to this. “My weapons,” she wrote to the Pope, “are prayer and sacrifice.” Her own illness made her a regular patient in the infirmary, and then there were endless parlour visits. “These poor bishops, they’d do better to stay at home.” Lourdes was a long way off… she would never return to the Grotto. But every day she made her pilgrimage in spirit. She did not speak of Lourdes; she lived its message. “You will become the first to live the message,” said her confessor Father Douce to her. And in fact, after having been assistant infirmarian, she entered bit by bit into sickness herself. She did “her work” in this, accepting all crosses, for sinners, in an act of perfect love. “After all, they are our brothers.” During long sleepless nights, uniting herself with the Masses celebrated throughout the world, she offered herself as a “living crucified” in the tremendous combat between light and darkness, bound, with Mary, to the mystery of the redemption, eyes fixed on the crucifix: “That is where I find my strength.”

She died at Nevers on 16th April, 1879, aged 35. The Church proclaimed her a saint on 8th December , 1933, not for having been chosen for the Apparitions , but for the way in which she responded to that grace

Some quotes by Bernadette:

“My job is to inform, not to convince.”
“The simpler one writes, the better it will be.”
“When you don’t want anything, you always have what you need.”
“If the Good Lord allows it, you cannot complain.”
To the question “Are you suffering?”,
she answered: “All this is good for Heaven”.

Key dates of the life of Bernadette Soubirous

1843 – January 9: marriage of François Soubirous and Louise Castérot.
1844 – January 7: birth of Bernadette at the Moulin de Boly.
1844 – January 9: baptism of Bernadette.
1846 – birth of her sister Toinette.
1851 – birth of her brother Jean-Marie.
1854 – bankruptcy of the Moulin de Boly run by François Soubirous.
1855 – birth of her brother Justin: Bernadette was affected by the cholera epidemic that hit Lourdes and its surroundings.
1857 – the Soubirous Family lived at the “Cachot”. Bernadette was a sheep-keeper at Bartrès and sometimes she helped with service at her aunt’s cabaret at Lourdes.
1858 – January 17: Bernadette left Bartrès.
1858 – February 11: first apparition at the Grotto of Massabielle.
1858 – June 3: Bernadette made her first communion.
1858 – July 16: last of the 18 Apparitions.
1858 – July 17: Bernadette met a bishop (that of Montpellier) for the first time.
1860 – February 5: confirmation of Bernadette and first meeting with Mgr. Laurence, Bishop of Tarbes.
1861 – Bernadette’s first photo shoots.
1862 – Bernadette’s health worsened and she received extreme unction.
1863 – Bernadette met the sculptor Joseph Fabisch for the creation of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes.
1864 – Bernadette expressed her wish to join the Sisters of Nevers.
1866 – Bernadette was present in the middle of the crowd for the inauguration of the Crypt; she left Lourdes on July 4.
1867 – Bernadette’s religious profession with the Sisters of Nevers, where she was entrusted with “the work of prayer”.
1875 – from that year onwards, Bernadette was increasingly ill.
1878 – Bernadette was almost permanently bedridden in her room in Nevers.
1879 – April 16: death of Bernadette
1925 – June 14: beatification of Bernadette
1933 – December 8: canonization of Bernadette

lourdes-france.org

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

First Reading:

From: Acts 7:51-8:1a

Stephen's Address to the Sanhedrin
----------------------------------
(Stephen addressed the Sanhedrin,) [51] "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. [52] Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, [53] you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

The Martyrdom of Stephen
------------------------
[54] Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him. [55] But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; [56] and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." [57] But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. [58] Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. [59] And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." [60] And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Persecution of the Church
-------------------------
[1a] And Saul was consenting to his death.

***********************************************************************
Commentary:

55-56. "It is clear", St. Ephraem comments, "that those who suffer for Christ enjoy the glory of the whole Trinity. Stephen saw the Father and Jesus at His side, because Jesus appears only to his own, as was the case with the Apostles after the Resurrection. While the champion of the faith stood there helpless in the midst of those who had killed the Lord, just at the point when the first martyr was to be crowned, he saw the Lord, holding a crown in His right hand, as if to encourage him to conquer death and to show that he inwardly helps those who are about to die on his account. He therefore reveals what he sees, that is, the heavens opened, which were closed to Adam and only opened to Christ at the Jordan, but open now after the Cross to all who share Christ's sufferings, and in the first instance open to this man. See how Stephen reveals why his face was lit up: it was because he was on the point of contemplating this wondrous mission. That is why he took on the appearance of an angel--so that his testimony might be more reliable" ("Armenian Commentary, ad loc.").

57-59. The cursory trial of Stephen ends without any formal sentence of death: this Jewish tribunal was unable to pass such sentences because the Romans restricted its competence. In any event no sentence proves necessary: the crowd becomes a lynching party: it takes over and proceeds to stone Stephen, with the tacit approval of the Sanhedrin.

Tradition regards Stephen as the first Christian martyr, an example of fortitude and suffering for love of Christ. "Could you keep all God's commandments," St. Cyprian asks, "were it not for the strength of patience? That was what enabled Stephen to hold out: in spite of being stoned he did not call down vengeance on his executioners, but rather forgiveness.... How fitting it was for him to be Christ's first martyr, so that by being, through his glorious death, the model of all the martyrs that would come after him, he should not only be a preacher of the Lord's Passion, but should also imitate it in his meekness and immense patience" ("De Bono Patientiae", 16).

Martyrdom is a supreme act of bravery and of true prudence, but to the world it makes no sense. It is also an _expression of humility, because a martyr does not act out of bravado or overweening self-confidence; he is a weak man like anyone else, but God's grace gives him the strength he needs. Although martyrdom is something which happens rarely, it does show Christians what human nature can rise to if God gives it strength, and it establishes a standard, both real and symbolic, for the behavior of every disciple of Christ.

"Since all the virtues and the perfection of all righteousness are born of love of God and one's neighbor," St. Leo says, "in no one is this love more worthily found than in the blessed martyrs, who are nearest to our Lord in terms of imitation of both His charity and His Passion.

"The martyrs have been of great help to others, because the Lord has availed of the very strength as He granted them to ensure that the pain of death and the cruelty of the Cross do not frighten any of His own, but are seen as things in which man can imitate Him....

"No example is more useful for the instruction of the people of God than that of the martyrs. Eloquence is effective for entreating, argument for convincing; but examples are worth more than words, and it is better to teach by deeds than by speech" ("Hom. on the Feast of St. Laurence").

The Second Vatican Council has reminded us of the excellence of the martyrdom as a form of witness to the faith. Although there are heroic ways of imitating and following our Lord which do not involve the drama of bloodshed and death, all Christians should realize that confession of the faith in this way is not a thing of the past and is sometimes necessary.

"Since Jesus, the Son of God, showed His love by laying down His life for us, no one has greater love than he who lays down his life for Him and for his brothers (cf. 1 John 3:16; John 15:13). Some Christians have been called from the beginning, and will always be called, to give this greatest testimony of love to all, especially to persecutors. Martyrdom makes the disciple like his Master. [...] Therefore, the Church considers it the highest gift and supreme test of love. And although it is given to few, all must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.

"Likewise the Church's holiness is fostered [...] by the manifold counsels which the Lord proposes to His disciples in the Gospel" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 42).

The Liturgy of the Church sums up the asceticism and theology of martyrdom in the preface for Christian martyrs: "Your holy martyr followed the example of Christ, and gave his life for the glory of Your name. His death reveals Your power shining through our human weakness. You choose the weak and make them strong in bearing witness to You."

Like Jesus, Stephen dies commending his soul to God and praying for his persecutors. At this point St. Luke brings in Saul who cooperates in the proceedings by watching the executioners' clothes; Saul will soon experience the benefits of Stephen's intercession. "If Stephen had not prayed to God, the Church would not have had Paul" (St. Augustine, "Sermons", 315, 7).

Stephen has died, but his example and teaching continue to speak across the world.

Gospel Reading:

From: John 6:30-35

The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation)
-------------------------------------------------
[30] So they said to Him (Jesus), "Then what sign do You do, that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? [31] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, `He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.'" [32] Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven; My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. [33] For the bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world." [34] They said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

[35] Jesus said them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

***********************************************************************
Commentary:

28-34. This dialogue between Jesus and His hearers is reminiscent of the episode of the Samaritan woman (cf. John 4:11-15). On that occasion Jesus was speaking about water springing up to eternal life; here, He speaks of bread coming down from Heaven to give to the world. There, the woman was asking Jesus if He was greater than Jacob; here the people want to know if He can compare with Moses (cf. Exodus 16:13). "The Lord spoke of Himself in a way that made Him seem superior to Moses, for Moses never dared to say that he would give food which would never perish but would endure to eternal life. Jesus promises much more than Moses. Moses promised a kingdom, and a land flowing with milk and honey, good health and other temporal blessings [...], plenty for the belly, but food which perishes; whereas Christ promised food which never perishes but which endures forever" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 25:12).

These people know that the manna--food which the Jews collected every day during the journey through the wilderness (cf. Exodus 16:13ff)—symbolized messianic blessings; which was why they asked our Lord for a dramatic sign like the manna. But there was no way they could suspect that the manna was a figure of a great supernatural messianic gift which Christ was bringing to mankind--the Blessed Eucharist. In this dialogue and in the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47), the main thing Jesus is trying to do is bring them to make an act of faith in Him, so that He can then openly reveal to them the mystery of the Blessed Eucharist--that He is the bread "which comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world" (verse 33). Also, St. Paul explains that the manna and the other marvels which happened in the wilderness were a clear prefiguring of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:3-4).

The disbelieving attitude of these Jews prevented them from accepting what Jesus revealed. To accept the mystery of the Eucharist, faith is required, as Pope Paul VI stressed: "In the first place we want to remind you that the Eucharist is a very great mystery; strictly speaking, to use the words of sacred liturgy, it is `the mystery of faith'. This is something well known to you but it is essential to the purpose of rejecting any poisonous rationalism. Many martyrs have witnessed to it with their blood. Distinguished Fathers and Doctors of the Church in unbroken succession have taught and professed it. [...] We must, therefore, approach this mystery, above all, with humble reverence, not following human arguments, which ought to be hushed, but in steadfast adherence to divine revelation" ("Mysterium Fidei").

35. Going to Jesus means believing in Him, for it is through faith that we approach our Lord. Jesus uses the metaphor of food and drink to show that He is the one who really meets all man's noblest aspirations: "How beautiful is our Catholic faith! It provides a solution for all our anxieties, calms our minds and fills our hearts with hope" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 582).

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Readings at Mass

'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'

It is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven