Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel John 6:30-35
The crowd said to Jesus: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
So they said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Reflection The interesting thing about the crowds question Give us a sign. And then they go on to say that God gave us a sign. And why won't you give us a sign? And what an opportunity for Jesus to make a statement that is so profound when he says everything that pointed to something for life in the Old Testament is about me.
I am the one with the authority. If you witness me, you will receive all that you need. I am the sign. I am life. I'm the bread of life.
Closing Prayer Father, you have authority. You have within you the spirit of truth that you long to share with us. Help us get past all the times in which we're asking for more than we really need in order to enter into your life. Let it be always a decision, not necessarily a feeling or a logical conclusion, but let it be our desire to believe in you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:22-29
[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
Reflection Taking Salvation History from the first book of the Bible till the present day. We see this evolution in understanding of who God is and who we are with Him, and in Him, and for him. And what’s clear is that there had to be a major shift from Old Testament to New Testament, and there had to be a voice, a powerful voice that had authority to make this shift, to explain it, to do something that in a sense took away their need to work for. It is a gift. And to believe in that gift and to know what it is, is the key to the great transformation from Old Testament to New Testament.
Closing Prayer Father, you have revealed yourself in the person of Jesus. Open our hearts to fully understand who He is, and what it means for us that He is who he is so that we too can become that and continue his work of bringing life and hope and mercy to all who meet us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:16-21
When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.
Reflection
Nothing is repeated more in the Scriptures, in the words of Jesus, when he says, Do not be afraid. Fear is the awareness of something that is so strange and different that when we experience it, there is a sense that we are not in a place where we are in charge or in control. 
He invites us into a world that is so beyond our imagining. We're on a journey across the sea of darkness. And God has promised, if we do not fall into fear when we are in a place where what is happening to us doesn't make any sense. It's not something familiar. It's then that we are offered the chance to believe and to trust, and we reach our goal through faith.
Closing Prayer
Father, that which is not understandable, that which is mysterious is always a struggle for us to surrender to. And it's strange that there is something in us that when we don't live in a world that we know, we're afraid, we're uneasy, were unsure. We lose our confidence. Help us through those moments of fear to trust in you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Reflection
The God of the Old Testament demanded obedience. The God of the New Testament is not a demanding God, but a giving God, abundantly offering to us everything that we need, all the nourishment and encouragement we need by loving us without measure. 
And when the people saw the gifts that God was abundantly giving to the world, they wanted to make him king, as if He would then be worshiped as the one who gives this to them. And Jesus is saying, No it’s the father that gives all of this to you. I'm the model. I am a human being filled with divinity, being able to take care and nourish those around me.
That's who you will be. Not subjects to me, but receivers of the father that I offer you.
Closing Prayer
Father, awaken our hearts to this gift that you have promised to us. That we will be the source of life for the people around us that we love, that we will have within us, whatever they need. Because you are the source of what is given. Keep us free of any egocentricity about the gifts that we have. Keep us in that model that you have so beautifully witnessed. We are servants. Servants filled with the power of God to heal, to save, to free. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 3:31-36
The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Reflection
God's voice as it comes to us through Jesus, is a voice of enormous generosity, of a deep longing for everyone to receive everything that they need. 
He does not ration his gifts. One needs to realize how much God is offering to each of us, and all He asks is that we accept each thing as it comes to our consciousness and not resist it in any way, shape or form, because we don't fully understand it. We’re to live in mystery, and mystery is something that you can only say, I choose to believe rather than say, I know it's right, or I know how it works.
It's not knowing how it works, it’s believing that it works.
Closing Prayer
Father, awaken in us an understanding of your love, your generosity, your abundance and longing to give us everything that we need. Keep us from that narrow view of having to understand something fully before we can accept it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.