Guest Meditations:
Eternal Goodness, I shall contemplate myself in you.
By this light I shall come to know that you, eternal Trinity, are table and food and waiter for us.
You, eternal Father, are the table that offers us as food the Lamb, your only-begotten Son.
He is the most exquisite of foods for us, both in his teaching, which nourishes us in your will, and in the sacrament that we receive in Holy Communion, which feeds and strengthens us while we are pilgrim travelers in this life.
And the Holy Spirit is indeed a waiter for us, who serves us this teaching by enlightening our mind’s eye with it and inspiring us to follow it, and who serves us charity for our neighbors and the salvation of the whole world for the Father’s honor.
Catherine of Siena
This crowd that tracked Jesus down had initially followed him because of the “signs that he was doing for the sick” (6:2). Jesus healed members of this crowd and then fed them, testing his disciples to show them he can provide the impossible (6:5–15). In his actions, then, Jesus acknowledges and provides for the physical needs of this crowd. His ability to do so sparks their allegiance. Jesus, more than any governor, bureaucrat, or emperor, provided for them on that day. No wonder they wanted him to be their king!
Like his earlier evaluation of enamored groups, Jesus doesn’t trust this crowd; instead, as 2:23–25 informed us, Jesus “knows what is in humanity.” Jesus knows that this crowd has followed him and worked to do so. But while they might be searching for the right one, they are doing so for an insufficient reason. No matter how good it is to cure and feed a needy crowd, Jesus says he has been sent to give something even greater: himself.
Jesus says He is the “bread of life” given so that all who consume him—who believe, remain with, trust him even when he says scandalous things—will participate in God’s type of life…God certainly knows our daily needs, but through Jesus, God also shows us that our preoccupation with our needs can prevent us from seeing the “greater things” God is doing (1:51) and that God wants to do through us (14:12). God’s will isn’t for temporary sustenance, but for ongoing life. And this living only happens when we allow our expectations to be reshaped and we receive the living bread given to us.
Alicia Myers
Introduction:
Today is the second of five Sundays with gospel readings from John 6, the first four of which focus on Jesus as bread of life. What we have, what we bring to Jesus’ table seems like it is not nearly enough to meet all the needs we see around us. But it is not the adequacy of our supplies or our skills that finally makes the difference: it is the power of Jesus working in the littlest and least to transform this world into the world God desires, a world where all the hungry are satisfied.
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
A food crisis becomes a faith crisis for the Israelites in the wilderness. The hungry people forget God’s saving work in the exodus, and they wish for the food they had in Egypt. Nevertheless, God miraculously meets their needs, with manna for bread and quail for meat.
Ephesians 4:1-16
Christians share fundamental unity and diversity. Our unity consists in the one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. Our diversity is expressed in various forms of ministry, whose goal is equipping the saints and building up Christ’s one body.
John 6:24-35
Many of the five thousand people Jesus fed in the wilderness continued to follow him throughout the countryside. Jesus challenges them to consider the real nature of their quest.
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