Food that endures for eternal life
Published Apr 19, 2021 12:35 am
REFLECTIONS TODAY
After the crowd had eaten of the bread that Jesus multiplied, the people thought, “This is truly the Prophet,” recalling Moses who gave them manna and quail to eat. Though a miracle food, manna was perishable; it melted away the following day (Ex 16:21). Moreover, those who ate it died on their way to Canaan.
The crowd follow Jesus because they ate the loaves and were filled. They are focused on the material and the physical aspects. Jesus invites them to look for another kind of food, one that “endures for eternal life.” Food for the belly is perishable, good for earthly life that ends with death. But the food that Jesus offers is nourishment for another kind of life—life with God that finds its fullness in the life beyond death. This is “eternal life.”
Eternal life is not just a reality beyond this earthly life. It already begins here on earth when we strive to live a “Christlike” existence and we are nourished at the Eucharistic banquet.
GOSPEL • JOHN 6:22-29
After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea. 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.”
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
After the crowd had eaten of the bread that Jesus multiplied, the people thought, “This is truly the Prophet,” recalling Moses who gave them manna and quail to eat. Though a miracle food, manna was perishable; it melted away the following day (Ex 16:21). Moreover, those who ate it died on their way to Canaan.
The crowd follow Jesus because they ate the loaves and were filled. They are focused on the material and the physical aspects. Jesus invites them to look for another kind of food, one that “endures for eternal life.” Food for the belly is perishable, good for earthly life that ends with death. But the food that Jesus offers is nourishment for another kind of life—life with God that finds its fullness in the life beyond death. This is “eternal life.”
Eternal life is not just a reality beyond this earthly life. It already begins here on earth when we strive to live a “Christlike” existence and we are nourished at the Eucharistic banquet.
GOSPEL • JOHN 6:22-29
After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea. 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.”
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.