THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD

At 6,8-15; Ps 118; Jn 6,22-29
16 APRIL
The Jews ate the bread given to them by Jesus. They were satisfied. They seek Christ to have bread again from him. But Jesus was not sent into the world to solve the question of bread for the body. His mission is divinely different. He is sent so that every man can nourish his soul and his spirit of their true nourishment, which is Christ. From the beginning and for anticipation we say, it is right to say that this true nourishment is not the Eucharist, but Christ Jesus in the totality of his mystery. Spirit and soul must be nourished by Christ, truth, grace, eternal life, light, resurrection, love, justice, peace and holiness. The Eucharist is Christ, but it is not all of Christ. All of Christ is the nourishment of the soul and the spirit. If we give only one part of Christ, we do not give any nourishment. It would be as if we wanted to quench one man and we gave a molecule of oxygen. This molecule is essential in the composition of water, but it is not water, otherwise we could quench our thirst by breathing. As hydrogen and oxygen in the right proportions form water, so too all of Christ is formed by Word, truth, grace, justice, holiness, Holy Spirit, eternal life and light.

Jesus knows why He is being sought and He says it clearly to the Jews: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you have seen signs, but because you ate those loaves of bread and were satiated”. We must confess that they have seen bread as a true sign. They also went beyond the bread when they confessed that Jesus is the prophet that has to come. But then they developed this truth and that is that the prophet does not come to give bread, but true Word of God. Now Jesus is the one who reminds them this truth: “Do not work for food that does not last, but for food that remains for eternal life and which the Son of Man will give you. Because God, the Father, has put his seal on him”. Until the Jews chase someone to receive bread for the body, they search in vain and they even find in vain. They must seek not bread, but Christ, indeed they must seek Christ as the one and only bread of eternal life. Jesus is clear in his declaration. The Son of Man can satisfy the hunger of their soul and their spirit, because He has the food that lasts for eternal life. He has it and he gives it. He has it and gives it because the Father, God, has put his seal on Him. Thus, Jesus proclaims himself as the mandate of God, the true mandate of God, to give them the food that lasts for eternal life. We repeat it. This food is Christ in his entirety. All of Christ is the bread that lasts, the food of eternal life. Jesus is the gift of the Father to the world.

The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “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. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “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 Jews seem to want to open themselves to a true dialogue of salvation and ask Jesus: “What we must do to do the works of God”. Jesus did not speak of works to do, but to look for the true food that remains for eternal life. Since the question has been asked, Jesus reiterates that it is not a question of works, but of faith: “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he has sent”. Do you want to do the works of God? The work of God is only one: believing in the one he has sent. If you believe in me, in every word that I tell you, you do the work of God. You do not believe in me and you do not do any work of God. This truth is especially true for today. Faith in Christ is always everything.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints help us to believe in Christ.