April 24, 2026 Friday of the Third Week of Easter Optional Memorial of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest and martyr Gospel: John 6:52–59
Today is Friday of the Third Week of Easter. The Church commemorates Saint Fidelis today. The passage from the Gospel of John continues Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life.
At times, like the Jews of old, we too try to understand Jesus’ words about His flesh and blood using merely worldly logic—for our human reason is limited. Even today, many Christians say: “What is in the tabernacle is not truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, but only a symbol.” Others claim: “It is only when the priest takes the host out of the tabernacle and places it upon the altar that the bread becomes the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Still others say: “This is nothing more than ordinary bread and wine.”
If our understanding of the Blessed Sacrament resembles that of these brothers and sisters who argue amongst themselves before the Eucharist, then we are no different from the Jews in Jesus ‘time. We fail to grasp the true meaning of His words. For they thought Jesus meant He would literally cut flesh from His own body to give them to eat.
The “flesh” and “blood” of which Jesus speaks carry profound biblical meaning. His flesh and His blood refer to His entire life. Whenever we receive His Body and Blood, we receive His very life. Just as our perishable bodies require perishable food to sustain them, so too does our spiritual life require nourishment from the Body and Blood of Christ. When we receive Him, He remains in us and we in Him—bound together inseparably. Thus: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” (cf. Gal 2:20)
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who have come to know the grace of the Lord’s Resurrection, may, through the love of the Spirit, ourselves rise to newness of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.Amen.
April 23, 2026 Thursday of the Third Week of Easter Or Optional Memorial of Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr Or Optional Memorial of Saint George, Martyr Gospel: John 6:44-51
Today is Thursday of the Third Week of Easter. The Church commemorates two martyr saints—Saint Adalbert of Prague and Saint George. The Gospel according to Saint John continues to present Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life.
The life of a Christian is often marked by opportunities to come to church to participate in Holy Mass and to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of the Eucharistic celebration. But what draws us to the church? Is it the sacred images that attract us? Or the hymns resounding in praise of the Lord? If so, then we are not among those whom “the Father draws” (cf. John 6:35). Yet when we come to church with the desire to hear the Word of God, to deepen our relationship with Him through the sacraments, and to be reconciled with God—resolutely approaching to receive the Body and Blood of Christ under the forms of bread and wine—then we are truly those drawn by the Father. When we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are enabled to see the face of God the Father as He truly is, and we receive eternal life. For Jesus says: 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. (cf. John 6:51)
Almighty ever-living God, let us feel your compassion more readily during these days when, by your gift, we have known it more fully, so that those you have freed from the darkness of error may cling more firmly to the teachings of your truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
April 22, 2026 Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter Gospel: John 6:35-40
Today is Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter. We continue to listen to Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of Life.
We are often anxious about our daily food. At times, we must expend much sweat to earn enough to support ourselves and our families. This is because we are concerned with our earthly life and with perishable food—the sustenance that allows us to subsist in this fleeting world—rather than with that Bread which comes down from heaven and endures unto eternal life, as Jesus teaches us (cf. John 6:26–27).
We frequently regard what we receive from the hands of the priest during the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as merely ordinary barley bread and common wine. This is because we view the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ—consecrated by the priest in obedience to the Savior’s command and in continuity with His teaching—through merely human eyes. Thus, our thinking mirrors that of the crowd who approached Jesus in today’s Gospel: our knowledge of God remains superficial, not supernatural. Consequently, we perceive only ordinary bread and wine in the Eucharist, failing to see beyond them to the reality that grants deliverance from death.
In truth, when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, the God who creates and governs all things comes to dwell in our hearts. He desires to converse with us in the depths of our soul. The Christ who comes down from heaven into our hearts does not seek His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him (cf. John 6:37). He enables us to live within the fullness of His grace, to renounce sin courageously, to reject the devil—the source of all evil—and all his works, and to clothe ourselves in humility, following Christ completely, so that through faith in Him we may attain eternal life.
Be present to your family, O Lord, we pray, and graciously ensure those you have endowed with the grace of faith an eternal share in the Resurrection of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
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