April 26, 2004 - Monday, 3rd Week of Easter

WHY DO WE SEEK JESUS?

Readings:
Acts 6:8-15; Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30; Jn 6:22-29

Introduction

Today and in the next few days two unrelated scripture texts run parallel - Stephen's martyrdom, presented as an imitation of the martyrdom of Christ, and the eucharistic discourse of Jesus as given in John 6 after the multiplication of bread.

Jesus confronts us today with the question: "Why are you looking for me?" Why are we looking for God, for Jesus? Is it merely for the things he gives us? We receive much from God, but do we look for Jesus himself, for what he means in our lives? Let us look to get closer to him and to become more like him. He asks us for faith in his person and mission.

Opening Prayer

Our living God,
we hunger for lasting life and happiness
and the fulfillment of all our hopes.
Satisfy all our hungers
through your Son Jesus Christ,
who is our bread of life.
And when he has filled us with himself,
may he lead and strengthen us
to bring to a waiting world
the food of reconciliation and joy,
which you alone can give to the full.
We ask this thorough Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Acts 6:8-15

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyreneans, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

Then they instigated some men to say,
"We have heard him speaking blasphemous words
against Moses and God."
They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes,
accosted him, seized him,
and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They presented false witnesses who testified,
"This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law.
For we have heard him claim
that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place
and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him
and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30

R (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R Alleluia.
Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R Alleluia.
I declared my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
R (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R Alleluia.
Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
R (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R Alleluia.

Gospel Reading: Jn 6:22-29

Next day the people who had stayed on the other side realized that only one boat had been there and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples; rather, the disciples had gone away alone. Bigger boats from Tiberias came near the place where all these people had eaten the bread. When they saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Master, when did you come here?"
Jesus answered, "Truly, I say to you, you look for me, not because you have seen through the signs, but because you ate bread and were satisfied. Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for he is the one the Father has marked."
Then the Jews asked him, "What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?" And Jesus answered them, "The work God wants is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent."

Commentary

A sign points away from itself, but people weren't interested in looking beyond, he said. This is a distinctive theme of John's gospel. Miracles, here, are not so much acts of compassion (as in the other gospels) as signs of the glory of Christ. John's gospel was written many years after the others, and his aim was not just to recount the deeds that Jesus did (they were already familiar from the other gospels) but to try further to discern their meaning. When John recounts a miracle by Jesus he follows up with a long discourse to clarify its meaning. The feeding of the five thousand, for example, is followed in today's (and tomorrow's) reading by a discourse on the Bread of Life. The healing of the blind man goes with Jesus' claim to be the Light of the World (ch. 9). The raising of Lazarus goes with his claim to be the resurrection and the life (ch. 11).

The single incident has a meaning for all time. Jesus is forever feeding the hungry, illuminating the path, raising the dead. In the 4th century, St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote, "I believe Bethlehem, Golgotha, the Mount of Olives and the resurrection to be truly in the heart of the one who has found God."

General Intercessions

We now pray for all the things that matter, and say, Lord, hear our prayer.

- For the Church, that its leaders and ministers may nourish the People of God with the solid food of the gospel, we pray:

- For divided Christians, that soon we may break together the one bread of the one Lord, we pray:

- For all Christian communities, that we may learn to appreciate the tremendous value of the eucharist and draw from it the strength to commit ourselves to the needs of our neighbors far and near, we pray:

Lord, hear our prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
for this meal of thanksgiving
we bring before you bread and wine,
the gifts you yourself have given us.
They express our life and our struggles.
Let them become the living signs
of the presence among us of your Son,
that he may sustain us on our journey
to a full and lasting life and to joy
and dispose us to give ourselves with him
for the life and happiness of all your people.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the Gifts

Our loving Father,
in the bread broken for us here
we recognize him who is the light of life,
your Son Jesus Christ.
Give us this bread always,
let him be our daily bread,
which tastes better when it is shared
with those who hunger for it in any way.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Blessing

"Do not work for food that perishes but for the kind of food that gives life," says Jesus. In life, then, let us seek the Lord and the things of lasting value. May the Lord bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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