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I AM THE BREAD OF
LIFE
"I am the Bread
of life. You who come to me shall not hunger,
and who believe in me
shall not thirst.
No one can come
to me unless the Father beckons."
Refrain
"And I will
raise you up, and I will raise you up, and I will raise you up on
the last day."
"The bread that
I will give is my flesh for the life of the world,
and if you eat
of this bread, you shall live forever, you shall live forever."
(Refrain)
"Unless you eat
of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood,
and drink of his
blood, you shall not have life within you." (Refrain)
"I am the
resurrection, I am the life.
If you believe
in me, even though you die, you shall live forever." ( Refrain)
Yes, Lord, I
believe that you are the Christ,
the Son of God,
who have come into the world. (Refrain)
Text: Suzanne Toolan,
RSM, b. 1927, based on John 6
Text © 1966, 1970,
1986, 1993 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL
60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358.
All rights reserved.
Used by permission.
When Roman
Catholics pray the rosary, they contemplate four sets of mysteries
in the life of Jesus: the joyous mysteries, the glorious mysteries,
the luminous mysteries and the sorrowful mysteries. The sorrowful
mysteries include the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the
scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of
the cross and the crucifixion.
As Lutherans, we
spend much of Holy Week contemplating these same mysteries. As
humans, we spend much of our lives contemplating our own pain.
Knowing Christ does not take away our pain. Yet, somehow, the
suffering of Christ can give us hope to live through the hard times.
Let’s face it —
whatever our problems, Jesus’ problems were worse: He was
illegitimate, poor, transient, homeless, misunderstood, pressured to
perform, unjustly accused, abandoned and killed.
Jesus’ life was
much harder than our lives. Even as we contemplate Christ’s
suffering, we know that his story did not end in suffering. And
neither will ours. Knowing Christ heals us.
The 20th
century theologian Frederick Buechner said, “The birth of Jesus made
possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of
living it.” Through his suffering, we are healed.
Lord Jesus, you
know our sorrows. In all our suffering, you are with us. That is
your promise. There is nothing we suffer that you do not know.
Through you, we gain strength and find hope to keep living. Thank
you.
Quinn Gorges,
Seminarian
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