From Bread To Belief

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟔:𝟖-𝟏𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟗:𝟐𝟑-𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟔-𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟎 “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟔:𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟗

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “…𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟗) 

           When I was preparing this reflection on 𝐉𝐍 𝟔:𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟗, I pictured myself as one of the people who were searching for Jesus after the miracle that we saw in Bethsaida where some 5,000 people were fed and had their fill.

           Having witnessed a miracle, the people found Him on the other side of the lake, but Jesus instead unwraps a deeper motivation than physical hunger. The people were looking for more bread, yet Jesus invited them to instead seek what truly lasts – eternal life.

           The response of Jesus to those who were looking for him exposed their motivation especially when he spoke and said: “𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥." (𝐯.𝟐𝟔)

           Similarly, there are also moments in my own spiritual journey when I recall the many times when I come to God with a list of needs rather than the desire to spend those precious moments with Him.

           Many times, I come to Jesus to ask, to hope and my heart was more focused on the bread than on the Giver. As with the crowd at that time and in the here and now in my case, Jesus gently corrects this desire.

           He teaches that the true work of God is not merely on doing more, but in believing more which means trusting him more. Remember too that faith is not just taking action, but it yielding to a supreme being who is greater than anything. It is allowing God to reshape what we truly hunger for.

           And slowly this is where Grace begins to work in my situation – when I move from asking “Lord, what can you give me?” to “Lord, let me remain in you.”

           As we have said many times, choice is something we have to live with from the time we stepped into the age of reason to the time we are finally called to our dwelling place.

          In many a tombstone we see the date when the dead lying in the grave was born and the date of his death and this is separated by a dash. And it is said that the dash is the most important element in the tombstone because it brings to mind the kind of life a person lived between his birth and death. What the person has become at the time he meets his Creator is determined by the kind of choices that he made in his life.

          Choice stares us in the face the moment we wake up and we could either pray our morning prayers and pray for God’s Divine intervention for the concerns we may face during the day or we can forego with that and simply rely on our own strength and abilities.

          We go through life for a purpose and many times frustrations set in when we could not find any meaning in life. We apply what we learn from school and rely on our wealth of experience in search for material possessions, peace, health, love, and all the perks of what a good life represents.

          In other words, hunger is something that people feel and it doesn’t just refer to feeling hungry for food but being hungry for something that will make our lives better and there are times when we think of God only terms of what He can give us. After all, we know God to be generous, kind and compassionate.

          Didn’t Christ Himself said ask and you will receive, seek and you shall find and knock, and the door will be opened to you? (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟕:𝟕). And didn’t He also say he will give us anything we ask the Father in His Name? (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟑).

          And that’s precisely the point of this Gospel passage today when the people who were among the 5,000 who were fed kept following Jesus up to Capernaum. In fact, Jesus arrived in that city ahead of the large crowd who wondered and asked him: "𝐑𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?" (𝐯.𝟐𝟓)

           The reaction of the people was very human. They had their fill and experienced a miracle and it was natural they wanted more. But Jesus sees through the movement, he sees their motivation. They were looking for him but not seeking him.

          Jesus answered them saying: "𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐦𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟔) The point that John the Evangelist was trying to point out in this Gospel was that the feeding of the 5,000 that everyone believed to be a miracle has been engraved in the minds of the people that they looked and followed Jesus not for what He was but for the miracles that He could perform.

          This is what makes the Bible a truly amazing book because what happened some 2,500 years ago is still happening now as some people are drawn to Jesus not because they worship Him, but because of what He can do and what they can get from Him.

           In our present age, we pray, we ask, we follow but many times our faith is tied to the blessings received rather than a relationship we embrace. Jesus does not rebuke the crowd, but he invites them to a higher level when he said: “𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 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." (𝐯.𝟐𝟕)

          And this is the mystery of life as we sometimes spend our money and the blessings we have received from God for things that will make us good in the eyes of men but probably not in the eyes of God.

Sometimes this is caused by our lack of a clearer vision of the purpose and meaning of life. There are two kinds of hunger – physical which food can satisfy and a spiritual hunger that no food can ever satisfy except the break that comes from heaven.

          We are like the 5,000 who were fed by Jesus. We have been blessed and yet we look for more and the insatiable appetite for that good life has become a life-long quest for some. Hunger is inevitable for as long as life exists but there is a kind of hunger that can only be satisfied by God – hunger for the abundant life that He promised (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟎).

          And this hunger of the human heart and soul for food that do not perish can only be satisfied by God. This food is the truth that God brings. This means that by way of the Sacred Scriptures we are to believe everything that Jesus said for these are the truths that bear the seal of God.

          In ancient times, it was not only the signature of a person that made an agreement binding but the seal that will attest to the truthfulness of the agreement and or the signature of the person. The Jewish Rabbis often say, “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.”         

Thus, our preoccupation as Christians should not be to spend our lives searching for the physical food that will whet up our appetites for the good life but to fix our gaze upon Jesus, believe what He says because Jesus carries the seal of God. Jesus was the Word incarnated and He was with God from the beginning and the Word was God (𝐉𝐧 𝟏:𝟏).

          As with the people who followed Him, we too in this present life will probably also ask: "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨, 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝?" (𝐯.𝟐𝟖) What Jesus said to them He is still saying to us now: "𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭." (𝐯..𝟐𝟗)

          To believe in Jesus is to follow Him all the days of our lives and Jesus by His death on the cross offers us a new kind of relationship with God that springs from the new life we now have.

And this life must be spent to know God (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟕:𝟑) through the Scriptures, to love Him (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟑:𝟑𝟕) by accepting Him in the Holy Eucharist, to serve Him (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟐:𝟐𝟔) as shepherds, sharers or teachers in the Church or Community, that we may be happy in eternity (𝟏𝟔:𝟐𝟐).

Then Jesus ends by teaching the crowd saying the work that God desires is not complicated or burdensome. It is simply to believe, to trust, to surrender. If is placing our entire life in the palm of his hands.

          To believe in Him also means a life lived in constant forgiveness of others that compares with God's mercy and kindness, a life lived in holiness that approximates the holiness of God and, a life filled with wisdom that should lead us to total submission to God.

          At the end of the day, it is Jesus alone who can satisfy the deepest longing and hunger in our hearts. Our life-long prayer thus is to satisfy ourselves with the imperishable bread that comes from heaven – Jesus the True Bread of Heaven. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 20, 2026)