GOSPEL POWER l MAY 5, 2022 - THURSDAY

3rd Week of Easter

Gospel: Jn 6:44-51  

Jesus said to the crowd, 44“No one can come to me unless drawn by  the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last  day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by  God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes  to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is  from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever  believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate  the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that  comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I  am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of  this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life  of the world is my flesh.”

 Is the Father’s act of drawing people selective? Does  it exclude anyone? Other parts of John’s Gospel can  enlighten us on this. In 3:16, Jesus declares that “God so  loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes  in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Even if the world is portrayed in this Gospel as opposed to God, it remains to be the  object of God’s all-encompassing love. No one is excluded. And in  12:32, Jesus says, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all  people to myself.” Again, no one is excluded. It is the way we, human  beings, respond to God’s loving initiative, the way we exercise our  freedom, that will bring about either our inclusion or exclusion. God  never stops drawing us to Jesus, but will we allow ourselves to be  drawn? Lord Jesus, keep our freedom, our choices, and decisions always oriented toward you. Amen.