Reflecting on the readings for this weekend, the theme that keeps resonating with me is nourishment. 

In our first reading we hear encouragement to get up and be nourished. We hear of an angel encouraging Elijah to get up and eat and drink when he is discouraged. God gently and quietly is encouraging, showing a caring love. It is like when I encourage my daughter to get up and try again when she may struggle with something or reminding her to eat or rest (which she doesn’t like to do). How is God whispering to us, reminding us of what we may need to be nourished, to carry on?

In our Gospel, Jesus offers nourishment for a very long journey, the one to eternal life. God’s sacrificial love for us is there if we only accept it. Do we respond each week with love and gratitude receiving the Bread of Life in Communion? How do we respond to God’s love? Here is how St Paul puts it in the second reading: “So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” [Ephesians 5:1-2]

Let us be nourished this week and respond authentically and gratefully to God’s abundant love.