The gospels mention many times that countless people were looking for Jesus. If we are here today it means that we, too, are looking for him. Some were looking for Jesus because they needed healing, restoration, wholeness, but also grace, light, comfort, patience, courage. However, others, like the tetrarch Herod, were looking for him out of curiosity (cf. Luke 9:9); the Pharisees with the Herodians looked for him to embarrass him (cf. Matthew 22:16); the religious authorities looked for him to do away with him. (cf. John 5:18).
In the gospel passage (cf. John 6:24-35) for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we see the largest group of Jesus’ seekers. It is the group in which we might number ourselves whenever we see it as convenient for self-gain. It is the group of those who seek Jesus for personal gain:
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. (John 6:26)
Well, we do not have to be embarrassed if we realize that, at times, we look for Jesus for less than lofty, spiritual reasons. Remember that when Jesus was among his people physically, he was moved with intense pity also whenever they were hungry, exhausted or ill.
I am certain that Jesus understands if we seek his help when, individually or as a family, we struggle to make ends meet or we need the restoration of our wholeness. However, I also believe that this passage is offered to our consideration so that we may seek imperishable food for our souls and to place our faith in him.
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. (John 6:27)
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” (John 6:29)
And, to seek Jesus for the reasons set by the Father, we ought to read correctly the signs (miracles) that Jesus performs. In every age, some people deliberately refuse to read correctly the “signs” performed by Jesus lest they must act on them. In every age, others suffering from “spiritual myopia” stop at the sensational aspect of the signs. They wonder how they might profit from them and, thus, fail to interpret the message of life they are conveying. Finally, there are those who respond habitually to God’s grace with openness, docility and simplicity of heart. To these people the Lord grants the ability to gain insight into the vital message of the signs so that the Father can enrich them.
As for ourselves, should be few the times we are content with the essentials for life: adequate food, shelter, clothing and reasonable health. Even before our basic personal and family needs are met, we should work for food that endures for eternal life and we should place our faith in Jesus, the one whom the Father has sent among us. We should believe in him in such a way that our minds, hearts and souls can enjoy a good degree of serenity and self-confidence, enabling us to lead productive and fulfilling lives. Thus, the inevitable troubles and challenges of life will never be so severe as to shake our faith because we would be consciously aware of the Holy Trinity dwelling in us. (cf. John 14:23)
Yet, occasionally, our old self, the one unable to read correctly the miracles (signs) of all sizes performed by the Lord for us, will raise its ugly head and unsettle our heart. Our old self might even suggest that we seek Jesus, again, for food that perishes, as we sought before God’s grace raised us to much higher levels.
Now, there is a sign, a miracle, which has been performed by God before our eyes every time we participate fully in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Through Jesus’ words of institution uttered by the priest, a wafer becomes the flesh of our Lord, and a little wine becomes his blood. If our heart tells us that this special, love-filled sign does not move us deeply anymore, and we tend to be content seeking Jesus for self-gain, we must go to the Church, the Bride of Christ, so that she may give us again the Bread of life that came from heaven.
Some might be surprised that we must seek Jesus as the Bread of life through the Church and not directly.
This is because, by divine design, the Lord has made his Church, not the Bible, the pillar and foundation of truth: “But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15)
For over two thousand years, the Catholic Church has fed Jesus as the Bread of life to enlighten the minds and nourish the souls of true believers. Only through the teaching authority of the Church are we assured that our minds receive the truth of Jesus’ teachings. And only the Church has handed down to us the firm belief that our souls are nourished, not by a symbol, but by the real flesh and real blood of our Lord in sacramental forms.
All the many Eucharistic miracles confirming the real presence of Christ in the humble species of bread and wine show that the flesh of our Lord is from the muscle tissue of his heart and his blood type is AB.
Whenever the Lord seems distant from our pain, and we find it hard to rise to higher levels of trust and intimacy, we will find him again through the Catholic Church so that we will never hunger and thirst again.
