“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him”.
PROPOSAL
SCHEDULE
09:45 a.m. .......................... ARRIVAL
10:00 a.m. ........................ GUIDANCE AND REFLECTION TIME
10:30 a.m.-12:30 ............... SILENCE AND DESERT
12:30 p.m.-13:30 ............... LUNCH IN SILENCE
13:30 p.m.-15:00 ............... SHARING TIME
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him”.
Brief development of the subject matter:
Jesus, who knew that he had to die, wanted to remain Himself as the necessary food for our salvation. For, how else could we be able to sustain ourselves in faith, hope and love but remaining in him, who is our Life? And how else could we remain in Him without faltering but by eating his own flesh and drinking his blood? Because communion is an intimate union, and when receiving him in the Eucharist we become one same with Him: intimate communion with Christ.
Christian´s life implies abiding in Christ, because he communicates Life, that is the sanctifying grace that prepares us to the definitive encounter in the Kingdom of God.
Let´s contemplate what the Gospel tells us:
I am the living bread
Whoever eats this bread
Will live forever.
The bread is my flesh
Has eternal life
I will raise him on the last day
He remains in me and I in him.
Questions for a further reflection:
Jesus assures that when we receive him in the Eucharist we already have Eternal Life in us. Can I realize that the Kingdom of God truly inhabits me every time I receive him?
What is, for me, to remain in Jesus?
Do I remember having intimately felt this actual presence of Jesus in me?
What things help me live in God´s presence?
In what things do I especially experience the sanctifying grace?
Exercise:
I let Jesus come to me and I open myself to a frank dialogue with Him.
