Apr 30, 2025 Written by 

The Father draws and sends

In this part of chapter 6 of the Johannine Gospel it is emphasised by Jesus that no one can go to Him unless the Father draws him.

Whoever listens and learns from the Father goes to Jesus.

 

Francis, always listening to the Word and instructed by the Spirit, one day told his brothers the following:

"The Order and the life of the Lesser Brothers resembles a little flock, which the Son of God, in this last hour, asked of his heavenly Father, saying:

"Father I wish that you would raise up and give to me in this last hour a new humble people, different in their humility and poverty from all the others who have gone before them, and happy to possess only me alone." And the Father answered his beloved Son:

"Son, what you have asked is done".

Francis then added that the Lord wanted the brothers to be called 'Minor', because this is precisely the people asked by the Son of God to his Father, and of them it says in the Gospel: Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the Kingdom; and again: What you did to one of the least of my brothers (minors), you did to me.

'Although here the Lord speaks of all who are poor in spirit, yet he intended to refer in a special way to the Order of Friars Minor, which would flourish in his Church' (FF 1617).

And Clare, in the enclosure of the Damianite walls, writing to her spiritual daughter Agnes of Prague:

"Fill yourselves with courage in the holy service which you have begun by the ardent desire of the poor Crucified One. He for all of us bore the torment of the cross, snatching us from the power of the Prince of Darkness, who held us in chains as a result of the sin of the first man, and reconciling us with God the Father'" (FF 2863).

These two saints testify with their lives that for them the Bread that comes from God is the Word of Jesus and the ultimate self-giving Act of Him, transformed into everlasting salvation for us all.

The prayer dear to Francis, and often repeated by him before the Crucifix, is an externality of listening and faith at the same time, of footsteps directed to communion with the Father and his Son Jesus in the Spirit.

""Most high and glorious God, / illumine the darkness of my heart. / And give me straight faith, / certain hope and perfect charity,/ wisdom and knowledge, / Lord, / that I may do your holy and true commandment. Amen"" (FF 276).

 

«No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him» (Jn 6:44).

«He who believes has the Life of the Eternal One» (Jn 6:47).

 

 

Thursday of the 3rd wk. in Easter  (Jn 6:44-51)

68 Last modified on Wednesday, 30 April 2025 05:36
Teresa Girolami

Teresa Girolami è laureata in Materie letterarie e Teologia. Ha pubblicato vari testi, fra cui: "Pellegrinaggio del cuore" (Ed. Piemme); "I Fiammiferi di Maria - La Madre di Dio in prosa e poesia"; "Tenerezza Scalza - Natura di donna"; co-autrice di "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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What does bread of life mean? We need bread to live. Those who are hungry do not ask for refined and expensive food, they ask for bread. Those who are unemployed do not ask for enormous wages, but the “bread” of employment. Jesus reveals himself as bread, that is, the essential, what is necessary for everyday life; without Him it does not work (Pope Francis)
Che cosa significa pane della vita? Per vivere c’è bisogno di pane. Chi ha fame non chiede cibi raffinati e costosi, chiede pane. Chi è senza lavoro non chiede stipendi enormi, ma il “pane” di un impiego. Gesù si rivela come il pane, cioè l’essenziale, il necessario per la vita di ogni giorno, senza di Lui la cosa non funziona (Papa Francesco)
In addition to physical hunger man carries within him another hunger — all of us have this hunger — a more important hunger, which cannot be satisfied with ordinary food. It is a hunger for life, a hunger for eternity which He alone can satisfy, as he is «the bread of life» (Pope Francis)
Oltre alla fame fisica l’uomo porta in sé un’altra fame – tutti noi abbiamo questa fame – una fame più importante, che non può essere saziata con un cibo ordinario. Si tratta di fame di vita, di fame di eternità che Lui solo può appagare, in quanto è «il pane della vita» (Papa Francesco)
The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving [Pope Benedict]
L'Eucaristia ci attira nell'atto oblativo di Gesù. Noi non riceviamo soltanto in modo statico il Logos incarnato, ma veniamo coinvolti nella dinamica della sua donazione [Papa Benedetto]
Jesus, the true bread of life that satisfies our hunger for meaning and for truth, cannot be “earned” with human work; he comes to us only as a gift of God’s love, as a work of God (Pope Benedict)
Gesù, vero pane di vita che sazia la nostra fame di senso, di verità, non si può «guadagnare» con il lavoro umano; viene a noi soltanto come dono dell’amore di Dio, come opera di Dio (Papa Benedetto)
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Gesù, che ha partecipato a Simone la sua qualità di “pietra”, gli comunica anche la sua missione di “pastore”. È una comunicazione che implica una comunione intima, che traspare anche dalla formulazione di Gesù: “Pasci i miei agnelli… le mie pecorelle”; come aveva già detto: “Su questa pietra edificherò la mia Chiesa” (Mt 16,18). La Chiesa è proprietà di Cristo, non di Pietro. Agnelli e pecorelle appartengono a Cristo, e a nessun altro (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Praying, celebrating, imitating Jesus: these are the three "doors" - to be opened to find «the way, to go to truth and to life» (Pope Francis)
Pregare, celebrare, imitare Gesù: sono le tre “porte” — da aprire per trovare «la via, per andare alla verità e alla vita» (Papa Francesco)
In recounting the "sign" of bread, the Evangelist emphasizes that Christ, before distributing the food, blessed it with a prayer of thanksgiving (cf. v. 11). The Greek term used is eucharistein and it refers directly to the Last Supper [Pope Benedict]

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