The First Leap

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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."

---

Reflection

For most of us, we would not believe until we see it for ourselves. The people who saw Jesus multiply bread were looking for Him because they saw that He could do wonders. Jesus had to point out to them the purpose of those wonders. Jesus had to remind them that His purpose is much higher than feeding people and establishing a utopian society. Jesus came to share with us the fullness of life.

Christianity is all about entering into that fullness of life. Such is the work of God, to bring His children into His Life. But to achieve that fullness one must make the first leap - the leap of faith. This episode of the Gospel reminds all Christians of the fundamental requirement of their faith - the belief in Jesus as the Bread of Life, who came from the Father in order to feed us His very own Life. To be Christian means to believe that Jesus did come down from heaven from the Father, in order to unite Himself more fully with humanity by giving them His own Life.

As Catholics, we celebrate this in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Sacrament is our celebration of Jesus’ own promise of the Bread of Life. Ours is not only taking in His teachings but most of all, that communion with Him in the most physical, most profound, and most human way - taking Him as our Bread from heaven, His Body and Blood, in the form of bread and wine. Our Catholic life takes its vitality from this first leap of faith.

Numbers and Signs

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:1-15.

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. 
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples. 
The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 
When Jesus raised his eyes
and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip,
"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" 
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do. 
Philip answered him,
"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little." 
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?" 
Jesus said, "Have the people recline." 
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. 
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted." 
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments 
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat. 
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." 
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

---

Reflection

Numbers run the risk of limiting value. This beautiful episode from John is a parable of the great things that Jesus can do with the little good that we can offer. Numbers pepper the story, detailing the need and urgency of the moment. Jesus, who knew the need but also has the situation in control, have to remind his disciples that faith goes beyond numbers.

It may be a story of generosity, or a story of how God can multiply what we offer but it is also a reminder that Jesus as the Prophet promised of old has more than enough to meet our needs. When Jesus feeds, He feeds to the full. He is not one who magically multiplies food, but in the same way that he takes, gives thanks, and distributes food in the Eucharistic Meal, He gives Himself as the Sign of God’s love.

People who saw the numbers saw the prophet who could do wonders but mistook the message. We who see the Sign, received and believed, sees Jesus the God-man who gives Himself that we may want for nothing. He exceeds in value to what we can count in numbers. Jesus does not work with numbers, He works in self-giving.

The Deserted Places

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6:30-34.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught. 
He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” 
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat. 
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. 
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. 
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.

---

Reflection

They were doing so well it was overwhelming. The apostles who were sent to share in the mission of Jesus were filled with joy at what they had accomplished through Jesus’ authority. Even with the great good they have done, more still was left to be desired. People were coming and going in great numbers they did not even have the time to eat.

Jesus asked His apostles to retreat to a “deserted place” in the midst of all these activities. Even Jesus recognized that working for the Kingdom must be matched with a well-deserved rest. Deserts in the Bible are always places of encounter with God. The silence and solitude of the desert leads one to focus on the one thing necessary in the Kingdom.

When we begin to think that Christian life is all about doing works of charity, let this Gospel reading remind us of the more important thing. Christian life, as stressed by Jesus, is all about encountering God first. We have to be aware of where our deserted places are, so that from time to time, even in the midst of incessant activity, we can retreat and recharge in God. So that having encountered God in our desert, we too, like Jesus, return to the mission, hearts ready to be moved and limbs reading to take on the task of leading and teaching people towards their own deserted places.