St. Anselm, bishop & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 8:1b-8

Saul was there, approving his murder.

This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the apos­tles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. Saul meanwhile was trying to destroy the Church; he entered house after house and dragged off men and women and had them put in jail.

At the same time those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. 

For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralyzed or crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that town.

 

Ps 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 6:35-40

 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty. Nevertheless, as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen. Yet, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I shall not turn away. For I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the One who sent me.

 And the will of him who sent me is that I lose nothing of what he has given me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and be­lieves in him shall live with eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

The bread of life discourse is long. Jesus seems to allocate much time for this. He takes time to painstakingly explain his words. Perhaps it is because listening to the word and partaking of the bread would be the two halves of the Eucharist.

Thus, Jesus has to repeatedly explain that the bread from heaven par excellence is Him and no one else. His words and actions attest to His claim. But He has to fight for this truth to an audience whose consciousness has barely opened to this truth. He would win some and lose a lot during his lifetime.