The people in
today’s Gospel reading had to work hard to find Jesus. They wanted more loaves and fish, and put
themselves out to get it. Jesus addresses the difference between the food that
they sought and the food that they need. They sought a food that would
eventually leave them hungry. He could provide a food that would fill them
forever. He Himself is that food, the
Bread of Life. He will give Himself. He is the food that hungry people really need[1]. What is the food
that we are seeking? Certainly, all of
us want to be happy. Sane people
throughout the world have this as their goal.
But most of our happiness is merely temporary pleasure. It is fleeting. Where can lasting happiness
be found?
St. Ignatius of
Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, asked himself this question as he lay in a
convent recuperating from a war injury. Ignatius was a Spanish soldier living a
wild life, an immoral life. Then his leg had been crushed by a canon ball. In those
days, the 16th century, people would often die from infection after a wound
like this, but Ignatius survived. He was
bedridden in the convent for months.
When he was able to read, he wanted to read the stories of legendary heroes
and adventurous knights. He always loved those and used to read them avidly. But
the good sisters didn’t have any of those sorts of books in the convent. All
they had was a life of Christ and the lives of the saints. That is all Ignatius could read. After a while he became enthralled. He wondered if he could ever be a hero in the
Church like St. Francis or St. Dominic or any of the saints. But, he writes, he would often go back to
thinking about the books of adventure he used to read. He liked thinking about them. For a little
while, anyway. But he noticed that even the pleasure he felt when he remembered
those books was fleeting. He then
thought about how he felt when he reflected on the books the sisters provided. This
pleasure was not fleeting. Ignatius
eventually used this as the basis of his spiritual exercise on the discernment
of spirits. Basically, he was seeking
that which could give lasting happiness and found it in Jesus Christ.
“The problem with you folks,” Jesus says in
the gospel reading, “is that you are looking for bread that will perish. Instead, I can give you bread that is for all
eternity.” He is talking to us. We work so hard, we do so much for that which
is transitory, passing. And we put so little effort into that which really
matters, that which lasts forever.
Consider this:
what is the definition of a successful life?
Too many, if not most people in our country, the degree of a person’s
success is in direct proportion to the amount of that person’s possessions. So
by the standards of the world the person who works hard all of his or her life
to afford the best of everything is seen as a success. But all this passes
away. Don’t squander your time the Lord is saying. Work for bread that lasts, not bread that
perishes.
What is the
bread that lasts? What is that which
contains within it the element of eternity?
Eternity can only be found in that which contains within it the presence
of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the eternal
one. Actions which bear his imprint are
forever. Actions which are separate from
the Lord are a waste of time, a waste of energy and a waste of the potential we
have for greater happiness.
Nothing matters
in life, nothing, except that which flows from the Lord and that which leads to
the Lord. All the rest is a squandering
of our time and energy.
This morning we
pray that we might make the best use of the time and talent the Lord has given
us so that we can live for that which provides eternal happiness: the Bread of
Life •
[1] 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
(B), August 2, 2015. Readings: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Responsorial Psalm 78:3-4,
23-24, 25, 54; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35.
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