Ordinary Time - Week 18b
The Bread of life
(From Conversation with God, Fernandez Carvajal)Following the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes, the enthusiastic multitude went again in search of Jesus. When they discovered that He and his disciples had already departed, they got into their boats and sailed for Capharnaum. According to Saint John in today's Gospel it was there that the revelation of the Holy Eucharist took place.
With the miracle of the previous day, Jesus had awakened the crowd's deepest hopes and longings. Thousands of people had left the comfort of their homes to come and hear him. They wanted to make him their king. But the Lord departed from them. Upon meeting them again, Jesus says to the people, Trudy, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Saint Augustine comments: You seek me for worldly motives, not for spiritual ones. How many people there are who seek Jesus solely for worldly ends! Rarely does someone look for Jesus for the sake of Jesus. We want to be among those few.
This attachment to earthly goods is not what Jesus is looking for in men. With great courage and an infinite love, He presents to the people the ineffable treasure of the Holy Eucharist, in which He becomes food for us. It does not matter to him that many of his loyal followers will abandon him as a result of this revelation. Jesus begins the discourse by hinting at the great mystery: Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you. Then they said to him, 'What must we do, to be doing the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent'.
In today's First Reading we are shown how Yahweh manifested his Providence to the Israelites in the desert. He sent down manna from heaven to feed them. This bread is a symbol and figure of the Holy Eucharist which Christ first announced in this small city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus Christ is the true food which transforms us and gives us the strength to live our Christian vocation. Pope John Paul II has pointed out in this regard: It is only by means of the Eucharist that we are able to live the heroic virtues of Christianity, such as charity to love one's enemies, the love which enables us to suffer, the capacity to give one's life for another; chastity at all times of life and in all situations; patience in the face of suffering and the apparent silence of God in human history or our very own existence. Therefore, strive to always be eucharistic souls so as to be authentic Christians.