THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Monday of the third week of Easter, 2022

Acts 6:8-15

Ps 119

John 6:22-29

Memorial of St. Athanasius

Food that endures for eternal life

There tends to be restlessness in all of us. That restlessness drives us to make contact with other people; it often leads us to set out on a journey of one kind or another, whether it is a physical journey or an inner journey. There is something of the searcher, the seeker, in us all. At the deepest level of our being, we are searching for God. It was Saint Augustine who said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. 

In the gospel reading this morning, (Jn 6:22-29) the people of Galilee set out to look for Jesus. He had fed the multitude in the wilderness; this had made a great impression on them. Jesus was pleased that they came looking for him, but he wanted to refine their search. They looked for him as the giver of bread; Jesus wanted them to look for him as the giver of food that endures to eternal life. As Christians, we are all searching for Jesus in some sense. The gospel reading invites us to pay attention to why we are searching for him. What are we looking to him for? What do we expect from him? Perhaps, like the people of Galilee, our expectations are too small. 

What Jesus can offer us, more than anything else, is eternal life, a sharing in God’s own life. This sharing in God’s life begins here and now for those who turn to Jesus in faith and come to fullness in the life beyond death. 

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you alone can satisfy the deepest longing and hunger in our hearts. May we always hunger for the imperishable bread, that we may be satisfied in you alone as the True Bread of Heaven. Amen.

+Remain blessed