Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
They had seen the signs enough to recognize that extraordinary and possibly supernatural things were happening around the person of Jesus. But although this motivated them to pursue Jesus it did not sufficiently motivate them to pursue truth. The signs were meant to point to a greater reality. But the crowds were content to have signs endlessly multiplied to supply their wants, or at least to supply some interesting entertainment. And there is sometimes a similar challenge for modern disciples of Jesus. We too often content ourselves with stopping at the surface, or of only having interest in what we can get from God in order to fill the contours of a life we have otherwise planned without reference to him. We may treat Scriptures as mere historical curiosities with occasionally interesting anecdotes rather than a power before which our very souls and open and accountable. We may treat the Eucharistic gathering more like a social club, the songs of praise as designed to boost our mood rather than lift God up in exultation. We are all too able to receive miraculous blessings like healings and then get right back to business as usual, forgetting the giver of all good gifts until the next time we are in need.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
A good way to interrupt our tendency to focus narrowly within the horizon of temporary existence is to ask ourselves whether what we are seeking can truly last. We may sometimes be overly invested in things that come with an eventual expiration date. It is true that most things in this mortal life will come to an end. And that does not mean that we are not permitted to find some enjoyment in suchlike. We are. But we are meant to invest our energy in this world with reference to heaven. We are meant to recognize that whatever good we find here exists in full and lasting measure only in God himself. When we know this we can receive the good things of earth with thanksgiving as they come to us. We can let them go without too much disappointment when they are taken. Like Job we learn to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (see Job 1:21). Then even the goodness of temporary things becomes signs that actually point us ever closer to God, rather than becoming a distraction and a hindrance.
How does the food that endures for eternal life differ from mere earthly loaves? It is something that can be built up indefinitely, without the normal fear of loss due to corruption, disintegration, and entropy that marks all created things. It is something with which ever increasing growth is possible, as with our ability to give and receive love. And as we receive bread of this kind we become more rooted in that which is eternal and transcendent. It is like the heavenly treasure that is impervious to rust and inaccessible to thieves. And by desiring such treasure and seeking it our hearts come even now to abide in heaven, where alone such treasure is found.
"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
The crowd assumed that to seek such treasure they must expend effort in many different directions, in an effort to complete all of the good works of God that might be expecting of them. But what they were could do and what there own efforts could accomplish was not the correct place to begin. It is true that alone and unaided one could never do enough. But joined to Christ in faith we in some sense receive the same "seal" of approval as the Son himself, and actually "become the righteousness of God" (see Second Corinthians 5:21). It is on the basis of what Jesus does within us by faith that we hope to accomplish all the myriad of good works to which we are called. It is his power at work in us that makes them possible. As members of his body we need not be overwhelmed by the multitude of options, since we are a small part of a larger whole, connected through the nervous system of the Church to the guidance of the head, Jesus himself. How else could there ever have been a single martyr? If they felt like they had to do everything themselves they could never let themselves be killed with work still remaining. But as we see in our first reading, Stephen was able to do his part and entrust the rest to God, his face all the while "like the face of an angel", his heart at peace.
John Michael Talbot - I Am The Bread Of Life
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