Jesus always ‘drew life’ from the Father. Every day he drew apart to pray to his Father, seeking from him strength, energy and fresh inner resources. In these quiet times he begged his Father for the wisdom, vitality and power that he needed to undertake his Father’s work. Then, filled with new life from his Father, Jesus preached, taught, healed the sick and cast out demons. Jesus always sought strength, knowledge and discernment from his Father.
In our turn, we need to ‘draw life’ from Jesus. Jesus does not want us to live in our own strength, wisdom and power. Rather, he wishes to be himself ‘our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption’. For this reason, he offers us himself so that we can draw life from him by feeding upon his flesh and blood. Above all, he invites us to feed upon his body and blood in the Eucharist. This demands that every day we ‘come to Jesus’ in our own quiet times to ‘draw life’ from him. Foolish people look only to themselves and their own resources. Wise people know their own resources. Wise people know their own resources are not sufficient and that they need to be given new resources are not sufficient and that they need to be given new resources ‘from above’. They seek out the Lord’s courage, strength and wisdom for everything they undertake. They are intensely conscious of their need ‘to draw life’ from Jesus. We also must continue to draw life from the Body & Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.