Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 20, 2021
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.”
History repeats itself in today’s gospel reading. The crowd not-so-subtly put Jesus to the test, just as the Israelites put God to the test in the desert after leaving Egypt (Exodus 16). By this time, Jesus had already begun to reveal himself as the Son of God, multiplying the loaves and fishes just one day before.
As a Catholic, I know that Jesus is the Bread of Life present in the Eucharist, and that the Eucharist serves as a tremendous source of grace. Christ promises that this bread from heaven will give us life not only in this world, but in the next. Yet, how often do I find myself prioritizing my work or my own personal agenda over this bread from heaven given to us by God? If I really took this promise seriously, shouldn’t I be doing whatever it takes to take advantage of this gift?
The crowd implores Christ, “Sir, give us this bread always.” The reality is that God does provide us with this bread always—in the Eucharist at Mass and in the numerous graces that God showers upon us each and every day. I often fail to seek this bread out, however, or am so focused with my daily routine that I fail to see the grace of God around me. Today, let us be thankful for the gift of the Eucharist and pray for an increased desire for this saving bread.
Prayer
We give you thanks, Jesus, for your bountiful generosity. You fill us, the starving, with good things, and you know the hunger we have to know you more deeply. When our faith is weak, or when we demand a sign, send your Spirit to break through our daily routines in the form of bread and wine to remind us of the sacrifice and love we re-present and share in every time we are at Mass. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Agnes of Montepulciano became well-known for the supernatural signs that accompanied her growth in holiness.
She was born 1268 to a wealthy family. She joined the convent in her hometown as a very young girl, and vigorously applied herself to prayer and formation. She was wise, even as a youth, and was entrusted with the role of housekeeper for the convent when she was 14.
When a new convent was opened nearby, Agnes was among those who departed to help begin the new community. She inspired a number of other young women to join that new convent, and she was chosen to lead the community as abbess. She was only 15 and had to receive special permission from the pope to take on that role at such a young age.
With such a great responsibility at hand, Agnes practiced a strict discipline with herself—for the next 15 years, she lived on bread and water alone and slept on the ground with a stone for a pillow. Only when she faced a serious illness did she relent these disciplines.
She became well-known for her holiness, and special signs accompanied her prayer. She received several visions—holding the infant Jesus in her arms at one point, and receiving Communion from an angel in another. The nuns in her community saw her lifted two feet off the ground when she was praying. When the convent ran out of food, she could feed the whole community with a handful of bread after she had blessed it.
Most interesting of all, though, was the appearance of manna about her body when she prayed. She would sometimes be consumed in rapturous prayer, and a white, frosty-looking manna would appear on her cloak and in the place where she was kneeling. Her sisters reported that in these instances she looked like she had been outside in a heavy snowstorm.
The people of her hometown, Montepulciano, wanted her to return to them, so she returned to found a new convent and asked that it be placed under the order established by St. Dominic. They built the convent building on a site that had previously held a brothel.
She lived at this new convent until she died, and served as its prioress. Signs of holiness continued to follow her, including prophecies and healings—she miraculously resuscitated a child who had drowned. The community thrived under her guidance until she fell gravely ill at the age of 49.
When it was clear that she would die, her community became distressed, and she told them, “If you loved me, you would be glad because I am about to enter the glory of my Spouse. Do not grieve over my departure—I shall not lose sight of you. You will find that I have not abandoned you.”
Her tomb became a pilgrimage site, and Agnes’ body remained incorrupt there. The great St. Catherine of Siena visited her tomb, and it is said that when she bent down to kiss the foot of Agnes’ body, it lifted itself to meet her lips.
Relics of St. Agnes rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica on campus.
St. Agnes of Montepulciano, you were the prayerful nun who showed supernatural signs of holiness, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Agnes of Montepulciano is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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