Prayer

Acknowledgement of Country 

We acknowledge and pay respect to the original and ongoing custodians of the land upon which our offices are situated.  We commit to actively working alongside First Nations people for healing, reconciliation and justice.

The Catholic education faith community is inclusive and acknowledges that we are all made in the image and likeness of God and we are created in love. People of all faiths, genders, sexualities, abilities and cultures are therefore respected equally in the Sandhurst Catholic community.  

We acknowledge the pain and suffering of all who have been hurt in body, mind and spirit by those who have betrayed the trust placed in them.

May we all stand tall, stand firm, grounded in truth, together as one. 

Celebrating The Word of God

A Reading from the Gospel of John 6:51-58

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The Gospel of the Lord 

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Spiritual Reflection

Bread is one of the most basic yet essential elements of the human diet. It nourishes, fills and combats the desperate hunger experienced by the poorest across our globe. In John’s Gospel bread is one of the key metaphors used by the author to explore Jesus’ identity and his relationship with the Johannine community. This text clearly reflects the eucharistic context of early Christianity where faith communities were grappling with their emerging identity as followers of Jesus Christ.

This important eucharistic text invites the reader to place Christ at the centre of their lives through partaking in the essential ritual involving bread and wine. We are reminded that this personal commitment will lead to life, not simply for individuals but for the whole world. This new horizon of meaning requires us to acknowledge human vulnerability, sin and the possibility of transformation that will ultimately lead to a new creation of love and inclusion. 

Concluding Prayer

Living bread of loving grace,

Dwell in us for all our days.

Living bread of loving grace,

Transform our darkness into light for this world.

Living bread of loving grace,

Invite us to live as people of compassion and inclusion always.

Amen