The
next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only
one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the
boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the
place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. 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." (John 6: 22-29)
Introductory
Prayer: Lord Jesus,
on the third day you rose again … may these words be enough to fill me with
faith and hope today. You went about the world doing good, and so I pray to
follow your example with a heart that is ready for what is good and right
according to my Catholic faith.
Petition:
Give me, O Lord,
the grace to believe in you especially in those most difficult moments in my
life in which I would rather turn to myself.
1.
“You ate the loaves and were filled.” God versus the goods he bring to my life – have I learned to
distinguish them in the order of what I seek in prayer? Do I seek God only for
favors and benefits, or do I seek him for his own sake? Any material or
spiritual good that is not God himself is but a creature and one that I
sometimes permit myself almost imperceptibly to adore. Even my apostolic works
can lead me away from God if I have not centered my heart in true devotion to
him. God is first, absolutely so, and must come even before the work I do for
him in my life.
2. “Do
not work for food that perishes.” Seemingly good works done with the wrong intention can make
an otherwise good work bad, or at least render it sterile for my spiritual
life. Our hearts can drift into seeking out other purposes: our comfort, the
appreciation of others, the desire to prove myself right or better than others.
Such desires do not come from God but from our human weakness and egoism. Will
such works last? Will they truly fill me? Will they endure into eternity? We
must purify our hearts often, and let a more active prayer life give me the
holy purposes and light from above that will reap an enduring spiritual fruit
in my life.
St. Paul
exhorts, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on
things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. … Put to death, therefore, whatever in
you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed”
(Colossians 3:1-5).
3.
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” The authentic works of God in our
life, done by us, are works of supernatural faith, hope and love. These virtues
work by grace, a divine gift that we must fight for and strengthen in prayer
often. “If the Lord does not build the house in vain do the builders
labor”(Psalm 127:1). It was by grace that Peter realized that Jesus was the Son
of God, and it was also by grace that Peter’s nets were bursting with the catch
of fish. Is my faith vibrant enough that Christ can build on me as he built the
Church on Peter’s faith?
Dialogue
with Christ: O
Jesus, you give me bread from heaven to eat, and this bread fills my life with
good things. May your holy Body and Blood always teach me to believe in you
more wholeheartedly and center my desires completely on you, until I come to
meet you face to face.
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