Praying the Third Week of Easter

This can be a very good week to grow in a sense of and practice with the notion of being a “contemplative in the midst of action.” We have practically a whole week of gospels about Jesus' gift of himself to us as the “Bread of Life.” This gives us the opportunity to let that mystery be in the background of our consciousness every day this week, as we go about our everyday tasks. What makes it “contemplative” is that we will be asking for graces each morning, and we will let our desires and our activity interact.

We can begin reflecting upon how often we “work for food that perishes.” The pay-off, the success, the accomplishment, the reward we receive for what we do is often quite passing and unsatisfying. It would be important to be able to sense anything that appears to be food that doesn't last and name it as such this week. The real food, the life-giving nourishment that our Lord offers us is himself.

If we can't celebrate the Eucharist daily this week, we can make what we used to call a “spiritual communion” simply by opening our hearts and desiring to receive our Lord, so that he remain in us and we remain in him. We can practice consciously choosing union with Jesus, our Risen Lord and only Savior, and experiencing how that would affect the choices we need to make throughout our day. If we begin each day, asking for the grace of this union, and renew the desire at brief moments we have at various times in the day, our focus and attention begins to change. We will experience a peace and a gifted lack of hunger and thirst for so many of the things that draw us away from him, from loving, from mercy, from consciousness on those in need.

If the background focus of each day this week is to desire to be fed by a closeness with my Lord, it doesn't matter how busy I am, or how many conflicts I have to face, or what suffering I or my loved ones must endure. His flesh and blood are real food and drink because they are the real sacrifice that takes away the power of sin and death itself. United with his surrender to the Father, we set free from whatever can take away the life he gained for us. For this gift, for this faith, we can give thanks for every night, as we review our union with our Lord each night

Source: Daily Reflection Calender