Food that endures for eternal life
Published May 2, 2022 12:05 am
REFLECTIONS TODAY
The sixth chapter of the Gospel of John contains Jesus’ important teaching about the bread of life that comes from heaven. The people follow Jesus, not because they have grasped the significance of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, but because they had their fill. They look to satisfy their bodily hunger for food without realizing that Jesus offers them more than ordinary food. Jesus seeks to satisfy human longings, not temporarily but eternally. The human being is destined for eternity. Therefore, the food he offers them is food that nourishes them for eternal life.
While the concern to procure for our daily needs is valid, our consciousness that we are not only “citizens of this world” but also “citizens of heaven” leads us to seek not only the temporal goods of this world but also the things that last for eternity. How do you balance your quest for the “things of the world” and the “things of heaven”?
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 2022,” 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.
The sixth chapter of the Gospel of John contains Jesus’ important teaching about the bread of life that comes from heaven. The people follow Jesus, not because they have grasped the significance of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, but because they had their fill. They look to satisfy their bodily hunger for food without realizing that Jesus offers them more than ordinary food. Jesus seeks to satisfy human longings, not temporarily but eternally. The human being is destined for eternity. Therefore, the food he offers them is food that nourishes them for eternal life.
While the concern to procure for our daily needs is valid, our consciousness that we are not only “citizens of this world” but also “citizens of heaven” leads us to seek not only the temporal goods of this world but also the things that last for eternity. How do you balance your quest for the “things of the world” and the “things of heaven”?
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 2022,” 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.