Thought for the week of 8th August 2021

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  John 6 : 35; 51

Bible reading : John 6 : 35, 41 - 51

Thought for the week

I have to say I enjoy my visits to a certain local supermarket. You never know who you’ll meet in the soup or fresh fish aisle! I do like to browse the shelves (I am the one who needs a slow lane for their shopping trolley!). But there is a huge array now of everything.

It is a reminder of how much today feeds us. We are vulnerable to the voices, information, advice, and warnings we hear each day. We are susceptible to influences, patterns of thinking, and our expectations, even our values and priorities can be affected by what we see and hear.

So Jesus tells us plainly. He is the bread from heaven. The one who sustains us from His heart of love and His grace. He is the one who can be trusted and relied on each day to fill us, help us grow, find resources for each day. More than this, Jesus promises to feed us within each day, with the Life that leads to eternity.

Jesus tells us He is the living bread who brings us to eternal life.

Let’s look more and more each day to the Living bread to sustain us through this life. Jesus who has given Himself to us, with the promise to help us grow in Him, and have life eternal when we believe.

Rev Paul

Prayer for this week (from Thomas Merton) based on Psalm 23

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956, 1958 by The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani.