Our Lady Of Good Counsel

The Bread of Life discourses starts this Sunday. The Gospel account on the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men last Sunday is a prequel to the events and discussions of Jesus’ teachings on the bread of life. This Gospel is one of those astonishing chapters and verses found in the Gospel of John. As the story goes, Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” If we are listening to these words of Jesus in His time, it will make us wonder what will it mean for us. We may take it as something so wonderful to hear, but in our mind, we will just be thinking about the bread to eat. But in truth, the statement leads us into a deeper reflection of Jesus’ act of performing the “sign” which is the multiplication of the five barley loaves and two fish.

After the miracle, the crowd wants to make Jesus king. For them, it is a sign of high expectation that someone among them can provide food. Jesus slips away from them. The people did not understand the “sign.” They continue to pursue Him that He may give everyday food for them. Though He freed Himself with His disciples from the crowd, they still find Him. They seek Him out only for one reason: they have been given a lot of bread, gratuitously and without cost, and they hope to continue being fed like this for long without having to work. This is not supposed to be how things would go. What Jesus tries to instill in the minds of the people is to recognize within them the gift that they have are meant to be shared for everyone. We remember that a boy shares his five barley loaves and two fish.

Jesus knew what the crowd or the people had in mind, so He took this moment to teach them about the Real Food that satisfies hunger. Thus, the discussion goes to an extent. The people seek the bread that gives life to the world. They plead to him to give this bread always. Thus, Jesus says the words, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” The people wondered what would this mean for them, but Jesus knows that they seek only the physical hunger that can be satisfied by eating something, bread, for that matter. They find Jesus just for the bread and maybe the fish too that they did not get the whole picture of what He did for them.

For our reflection this Sunday, we may ask ourselves what do we seek from the Lord? Do we look for him to answer and provide all our needs? Do we find him for the right purpose? Do we understand the meaning of the sign of the bread? Or, are we like the crowd who keep looking for Jesus only for the food that gives temporary satisfaction?. ╬