Thank you to Guild of Saint Jude member, Deacon Hugh Parry, for sharing this reflection:
Gospel Reading - John 6:35-40
Jesus said to the crowds, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."
Reflection
Today’s Gospel is a culmination; feeding the 5000, walking on the sea to calm the waves and Jesus being sought out, have all been covered in recent days.
Jesus, as he so often does, uses commonplace things, to make his point. Hunger when he fed the multitudes; fear of death when he brought his disciples safely to shore in the storm. To make His point about their superficial understanding of the points he was making, when he is sought out by the people to get more of His teaching, he points out they only did so when they had full stomachs.
He then gives them a quick history lesson pointing out that it was not Moses who had fed them the bread of heaven, but God, His Father. The people accept this with such enthusiasm that they clamour to have this bread always.
Today’s Gospel makes it clear that Jesus knows that they still do not fully understand what He is saying Still less do they know who He really is, but he persists with the theme of bread, the commonplace to make His point.
He shows what he can do with everyday things, He challenges them and us to consider who He really is. If these powers are not His as a man, whose can they be but God His Father. In our current difficult times when we are naturally focussing on the everyday in terms of food and fear of so many things, let us remember Our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel “whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away…..”
May the God of everyday life Bless and keep you all safe.
SAINT JUDE, PRAY FOR US