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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me look for things to shake up boring summer days - even back-to-school stuff! Amen.

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven," Jesus said. "The bread that I give you is myself, and if you eat it, you'll live forever." The people got angry. "How can He give us Himself to eat?" they asked. Jesus answered: "If you don't eat my body and drink my blood, you will have no life in you."

Summer can make you feel like you're slowing down. Instead of school, sports, music lessons and more, you're probably sitting around, texting and watching bad TV a lot. You may not want to go back to school, but you're definitely sick of being bored at home! Even the back-to-school sales and school supplies in stores start to make you just a little bit excited.

This week's Gospel (John 6:51-58) is like shaking up a bunch of bored kids in the middle of summer. Jesus has been teaching people about God a lot, and some of them are probably tuning Him out. Then He says something that makes them sit up and listen.

Jesus calls Himself "living bread from heaven" and says that if people eat that bread, they'll live forever. It's like taking a bored kid down an aisle of school supplies: You may not like what you see, but you're suddenly less bored!

Jesus' remark doesn't make much sense to people at first. They're probably like kids in summer: zoned out, not paying much attention. Jesus has to explain that He means His teachings and communion - the body and blood of Christ - will bring people closer to God, so they can go to heaven someday.

It's good to check out some back-to-school stuff. Remembering that something new is coming can help shake up the last, long days of summer - just like understanding that Jesus was sent from heaven shakes up people's entire lives![[In-content Ad]]

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