August 11, 2024
St. Raphael’s Episcopal Church
Submitted by Janet Knipfing-Schult, Chronicle Contributor
John’s Gospel (6:35, 41-51) for the 12th Sunday after Pentecostcontinues from last week’s gospel. Jesus declares “I am the bread of life.” In his sermon, Fr. Tom Schneider reminded us that our human characteristic, need, and desire is not to have to wait. We pray, “Lord, grant me patience, and grant it to me now!” But in John’s gospel, Jesus tells us, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.” Fr. Tom underlined that our Lord isn’t speaking in the future tense, but very plainly in the present tense. He’s talking about right now. Eternal life is ours right now. Eternity is very simply the Kingdom of God. When we dwell consciously in the presence of God, we dwell with God in eternity. To know the presence of God is to have eternal life. Our access to eternal life is our belief, our faith, in Jesus Christ.
