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In John, this marvelous event is presented not so much as a miracle but as an instance, a foretaste, of what sharing Jesus’ life means. When Jesus says that He gives us His flesh to eat, we need to understand that “flesh” here is Semitic form for “life”. Jesus gives us His life. That’s what empowered the disciples to teach and proclaim, nonstop. SHARE HIS LIFE TOO! GOD BLESS!

Friday in the Second Week of Easter

Acts 5:34-42

Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14

J ohn 6:1-15  After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiber'i -as. (2) And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. (3) Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. (4) Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. (5) Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, "How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" (6) This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. (7) Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." (8) One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, (9) "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?" (10) Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (11) Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. (12) And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost." (13) So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. (14) When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!" (15) Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Meditation by John P. Heaney ( Creighton University )

D uring the Easter season the readings from Acts describe the formation and growth of the Church, first in Jerusalem and then throughout the Eastern Mediterranean . Alongside that narrative, the readings from John’s Gospel describe the workings of God’s grace – God’s shared life – in the lives of Christians everywhere and every when. It boils down to a recounting of what the first disciples did and how they were empowered to do it.

“All day long” as the first reading tells us, the disciples “did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.” How did that come about? Today’s Gospel is John’s version of the multiplication of the loaves of bread, and it serves as a prelude to Jesus’ discourse on His being the bread of life (which will be the focus of the Gospel readings for the next week).

It’s worth recalling that John’s version of the Last Supper does not contain the institution narrative that we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Instead, John focuses more on other meal contexts, particularly this one, as the model of Eucharist. In John, this marvelous event is presented not so much as a miracle but as an instance, a foretaste, of what sharing Jesus’ life means. When Jesus says that He gives us His flesh to eat, we need to understand that “flesh” here is Semitic form for “life”. Jesus gives us His life. That’s what empowered the disciples to teach and proclaim, nonstop.

That job which they did in first century Palestine was not a one-time event. The Church is continually being formed, shaped, and built, and it is the job of every Christian today – because we are disciples – to teach and proclaim, as did the first disciples. We are empowered to do so precisely by Jesus’ sharing His life with us.

A recent Pew survey reported that one-third of individuals raised Catholic in the U.S. had left the Church and joined Protestant denominations. The overwhelmingly largest reason for this out-migration was not doctrinal disagreements, but the quality of the Sunday service. They found it unsatisfying and unfulfilling.

This is a sobering finding for two reasons. First, liturgy needs to be uplifting and inspiring. The U.S. Bishop’s Commission on the Liturgy had many years ago stressed that liturgy had to be “a humanly attractive experience”. There should be no doubt about that. Still, this Pew statistic is troubling also in that it suggests that, for perhaps too many of us, we come to liturgy as passive recipients, hoping to get something to meet our personal needs.

Contrast that approach with that of Peter and the other disciples in today’s first reading. They had a message to bring to their world. So do we. They had a church to build. So do we. Where we have failed – all of us, clergy and laity alike – is not so much in the consumer mind set we bring to celebration, but in not realizing that the vocation of Christians is not simply to be holy, but to be enthusiastic carriers of a message. Jesus’ life, shared in Baptism and Eucharist, empowers us to do that, just as it empowered the first Christians. # # #

GOD BLESS US ALL!

O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU. – Bobot Apit

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