Fwd: JOHN 6:22-29: MONDAY'S GOSPEL FOR REFLECTION
Obi OBIEKWE
Subject: JOHN 6:22-29: MONDAY'S GOSPEL FOR REFLECTION
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Monday, May 8, 2000
3rd Week of Easter
From: John 6:22-29
The People Look for Jesus
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[22] On the next day the people who remained on the other side of the
sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not
entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone
away alone. [23] However, boats from Tiberias came near the place
where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. [24] So when
the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they
themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
The Discourse on the Bread of Life
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[25] When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to
Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" [26] Jesus answered them,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs,
but because you ate your fill of the loaves. [27] Do not labor for the
food which perishes, but the food which endures to eternal life, which
the Son of Man will give to you; for on Him has God the Father set His
seal." [28] Then they said to Him, "What must we do, to be doing the
works of God?" [29] Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God,
that you believe in Him He has sent."
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Commentary:
26. Our Lord begins by pointing out that their attitudes are wrong: if
they have the right attitude they will be able to understand His
teaching in the eucharistic discourse. "You seek me", St. Augustine
comments, "for the flesh, not for the spirit. How many seek Jesus for
no other purpose than that He may do them good in this present life!
[...] Scarcely ever is Jesus sought for Jesus' sake" ("In Ioann.
Evang.", 25, 10).
This verse marks the beginning of the discourse on the bread of life
which goes up to verse 59. It opens with an introduction in the form
of a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews (verses 26-34), in which our
Lord reveals Himself as the bringer of the messianic gifts. Then comes
the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47), in which Jesus presents
Himself as the Bread of Life, in the sense that faith in Him is food
for eternal life. In the second part (verses 48-59) Christ reveals the
mystery of the Eucharist: He is the Bread of Life who gives Himself
sacramentally as genuine food.
27. Bodily food helps keep us alive in this world; spiritual food
sustains and develops supernatural life, which will last forever in
Heaven. This food, which only God can give us, consists mainly in the
gift of faith and sanctifying grace. Through God's infinite love we
are given, in the Blessed Eucharist, the very author of these gifts,
Jesus Christ, as nourishment for our souls.
"On Him has God the Father set His seal": our Lord here refers to the
authority by virtue of which He can give men the gifts He has referred
to: for, being God and man, Jesus' human nature is the instrument by
means of which the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity acts. St.
Thomas Aquinas comments on this sentence as follows: "What the Son of
Man will give He possesses through His superiority over all other men
in His singular and outstanding fullness of grace. ...When a seal is
impressed on wax, the wax receives the complete form of the seal. So
it is that the Son received the entire form of the Father. This
occurred in two ways; eternally (eternal generation), which is not
referred to here because the seal and the sealed are different in
nature from one another; what is referred to here is the other manner,
that is, the mystery of the Incarnation, whereby God the Father
impressed on human nature the Word, who is the reflection and the very
stamp of God's nature, as Hebrews 1:3 says" ("Commentary on St. John,
in loc.").
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Set your mind on God's kingdom +
+ and His justice before everything else, +
+ and all the rest will come to you as well. +
+ (Matthew 6:33) +
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