As Catholic disciples, we have received the most precious gift we could ever have with Jesus’ proclamation that He is the Bread of Life who takes away the sins of the world and offers to each of us everlasting life, if we say yes and follow Him. He has proven this to be true by all that He did while in the flesh on earth by teaching, healing, dying and rising in obedience to the will of God, the Father, and out of love for those the Trinity created. What more do we need from God to believe and trust in Him? The simple answer: Nothing!
And yet in St. John’s Gospel from last week and today we read of mixed responses about Jesus being the “Prophet” due to His miracles to doubt because they want to hold on to their past beliefs of what happened during the time of Moses as shown in our first reading from the First Book of Kings. In essence, they have taken Jesus actions and words and obfuscated them so only confusion remains.
What also seems disconcerting is that not much seems to have changed in almost 2,000 years after Christ lived on earth. In fact, if it is possible, we seem to have become so cynical that we don’t believe we need God, no matter what He is offering us? Based on a 2020 population statistics of 7.79 billion people, 31.11 percent are Christian of which 1.3 billion are Catholic, 15.58 percent are non-believers and all others are of non-Christian beliefs.
The simple answer of “nothing” to what more does God need to do for us to believe is true. The better question for us is: What do we need to do so that God is alive in our heart, mind and soul? The answer is in St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians when he writes that they need to eliminate their old life and follow Godly ways.
To do this, we must become active in our thoughts, words and actions. We must have a prayer life that creates a strong relationship throughout the day; making sure we rely on God for all our needs. We must be positive in our words giving hope to those in doubt. We must be present to people in our actions, whether it is with one person or with many. Also, we must be one with God in body and spirit through reception of the Eucharist at Mass.
God created us for the purpose of spreading the Gospel message as Jesus
did. To do this, we must use the gifts
and talents He has given us by reaching out to all those in need, whether they
are baptized like us or need a path to salvation. By doing this, we learn of God’s goodness and
how His way brings clarity to the lives we live. With such openness, we can accept Jesus as
the Bread of Life who brings us a path to everlasting life as true followers by
our “yes.”
Reading 1: Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15
Reading 2: Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24
Gospel: John 6: 24-35
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