GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, “
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
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 gospel of the Lord.
Being Attractive
We are an indivisible union of body and soul. Today, there’s a lot of focus on the body, but how does our soul look? Personally, I’m much more attracted to the state of the soul than the state of the body. Those who focus on their bodies seek to draw attention to themselves, while those who focus on nourishing their souls draw others toward God. So, who do I want to be attractive for?
Body diets vary according to the desired outcome: some are more energizing, others healthier, others more indulgent. But when it comes to nourishing the soul, there is only one menu: Christ. Nothing else fills the soul, only Him. The nourishment of the body determines earthly life, and the nourishment of the soul determines eternal life.
As Saint John Paul II said, we discover that the invisible determines us more than the visible. Marriage is a relationship of love, and as such, it is more conditioned by the state of the soul than by the body, even though it is common to focus more on the body in relationships between men and women. But marriage is much more conditioned by the soul than by the body, and the best nourishment for marriage is the Eucharist.
Spouses, strengthen your souls, and you will see how your marital relationship improves.
Applied to married life:
Andrés: Many people ask me what we did to fix our marriage and why we are now living it as something new.
Marga: What do you tell them?
Andrés: It’s clear that we had to make an effort, but what truly changed our marriage was introducing the Grace of God into it. When we started living the Eucharist daily, that is how our transformation stated.
Marga: Our marriage went from being something almost exclusively physical and earthly to a plane where the most important element was introduced: the spiritual. Our mere attraction was transformed into the strength of the Holy Spirit, who is the only one who can make us one. Since we have had the Lord present in our marriage, everything human has been enveloped in a Divine halo, which elevates it, beautifies it, and makes it stronger than death.
Mother,
What a gift from God to be able to receive Christ in the Eucharist. He transforms us and makes all things new. Through Christ, with Him, and in Him, to you, Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory, forever and ever. Amen.