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Gospel: John 6:24-35
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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I lived in Rome for five years while studying for the priesthood. During three of those years, I ran a bible study in a local prison.
Over time, the guards allowed me to bring in clothing for prisoners who, otherwise, had only the clothes on their back.
I remember one man, in particular, from central Africa. He was a towering figure with a lazy left eye. Once he asked me for a beanie to cover his bald head as he became cold at night.
So, the following week I brought a beanie for him into the prison. Seeing that he wasn’t in his cell, I went to look for him in the rec yard. (Yes, that’s how lax the security was!) After handing out a few articles of clothing, I heard yelling behind me.
“What are you doing out here?” the guards frantically asked.
“Handing out clothing!” I said. Then pointing to the man with his new beanie, I asked the guards “Like him, how can you believe in God with a cold head?”
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It’s hard to believe in a God who cares for us in the afterlife if we haven’t seen Him or his followers provide for us in this present life.
It’s why Jesus fed a crowd of twenty-thousand people in the multiplication of the loaves, which we heard in last week’s Gospel. The crowds needed their stomachs filled before they could consider deeper, more existential questions.
Can’t you just imagine them wondering: “Who is this Jesus? What does he have to do with me? What is the real meaning of his words?”
Having fed them with bread, the Lord is now pushing them to see that deeper hunger, the one beneath the surface, where we all need more than food – or a beanie – to be satisfied.
As Bruce Springstein famously sings, “Everybody’s got a hungry heart.”
Today the Lord promises the crowds that he will satisfy it. “Whoever comes to me will never hunger,” he says, “and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
That’s a bold claim – not only in first century Palestine – but also today when we have almost anything available at our fingertips.
These day you can Amazon almost anything. Imagine being able to put “human happiness” into your shopping cart. Buy now with one click!
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If only it were so easy.
Money can’t buy happiness.
Even those who have plenty of it eventually come to realize there’s a hunger that transcends the stomach. It’s the hunger for meaning, for purpose, for love. Things which make us authentically human, satisfying our hungry hearts.
Ultimately, the Lord is the source of that fulfillment. As the prophet Jeremiah once proclaimed, “When I read your words, I devoured them, O LORD. They became my joy and the happiness of my heart.”
That doesn’t mean that we can pray once, attend Mass once, or read the bible once in order to be forever satisfied. Just as food fills our stomach for a time, so the Lord satisfies our hearts for a time – but then we must continually return for more.
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We find this dynamic unfolding in our first reading.
The Israelites have been wandering in the desert; they’re hot and hungry. God hears their cries and promises to provide for all of their needs – both physical and spiritual.
Each day, he will rain down manna – “bread from heaven” – upon them. But they are instructed to take only enough food for each day.
This gesture of gathering their daily bread becomes a type of prayer, as their hunger drives them into constant contact with God.
Jesus later builds upon this idea when he teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day, our daily bread.” We not only ask God to provide us with physical food from the earth, but also the Eucharist, food for our souls.
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Do I live the Lord’s Prayer? Like our ancestors who wandered in the desert, do I come into daily contact with God? If so, what does that look like?
It may include spending a few quiet moments in prayer; attending daily Mass; reading the bible or a daily devotional; or listening to religious music on the way to work.
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Remember that man from central Africa – a towering figure with a lazy left eye. He not only needed a beanie to warm his head at night, but also the love behind the gift. I reminded him that, like us, his heart would be restless, until it rests in the Lord.
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Image credits: (1) Medium (2) The Players’ Tribune (3) Refreshing Moments with Sharon Fletcher