Gospel:
When the crowd saw that
neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and
came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea
they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them
and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because
you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for
food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the
Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So
they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus
answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in
the one he sent." So they said to him, "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 him, "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."
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My
Reflections:
There’s
a saint named Catherine of Siena, she was badly sick during the latter part of
her life that she would spew out every kind of food that she swallowed. What
sustained her during that crucial period of her life was her daily reception of
Jesus through Holy Communion. She was sustained for a number of years by the
Bread of Life until she eventually died.
Jesus
in our gospel for this Sunday boldly tells us that He is our true bread of life
that we must look for, the true bread of life that we must always hunger for.
Why? Because once we find Jesus we will never hunger and thirst any longer for
the material things of this world which in reality is very fleeting and can be
taken away from us anytime.
There
are people who treat material possession, money, power, influence and the like
as their own bread of life. However this is not the real bread of life but the
bread of the world. There’s no satisfaction with this bread of this world
because the more that we possess it the more that we crave for it. We will
continuously hunger and thirst for this bread of the world until it completely
possess and destroy us.
There’s
a true story of a woman who complained about her pressure packed work. She
grumbled that since her re- employment she is now often sick with high blood
pressure, ulcer and other sickness caused by her pressure packed work. Her friend
asked her why she keeps on working when she can comfortably live for the rest
of her life with her deposited money in
the bank.
Her curt reply was this: she wants to save some more because she will buy a much bigger house. This is always the scenario once we allow ourselves to be enslaved by the bread of this world: We will endlessly crave for things and possession even if we actually don’t need it anymore.
Her curt reply was this: she wants to save some more because she will buy a much bigger house. This is always the scenario once we allow ourselves to be enslaved by the bread of this world: We will endlessly crave for things and possession even if we actually don’t need it anymore.
But
what if we seek the true Bread of Life that is Jesus? We will be satisfied with
whatever we have, we will not crave for material possession or wealth we will
not experience so much pressure. We will instead be serene and peaceful because
Jesus the true Bread of Life is with us.
Let
us always hold close in our hearts this very powerful statement of Jesus:
"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and
whoever believes in me will never thirst." (John 6:35)