Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse continues (Jn 6:35-40) actually overlapping yesterday’s last verse.  So we hear again Jesus telling the people that those who believe in Him will never hunger or thirst.  Yet, He tells them they still do not believe.  He goes on to say that He comes to do the will of the Father, which is to give eternal life to all believers and to raise these on the last day.  The words at top, said during the course of this proclamation, must have been very comforting to His hearers (they will become very uncomfortable soon).  For all generations this offer is available from Jesus.  No one need fear come to Jesus in sincerity.  His merciful heart forgives anyone who, regardless of the severity or number of his sins, with true remorse, contrition, and firm purpose of amendment, approaches Him.  He has already taken on all iniquity, conquering sin and its end, death.  He did all this just so we could enjoy eternal beatitude.  Even if the whole world rejects us, the Lord never will.  He awaits us longingly like the father of the prodigal son.  Dive into the ocean of mercy that pours from His heart.  Ask for the strength to “come clean” and stay clean.  God puts every person on earth for a reason.  We all have our work to accomplish for Him.  We are not to waste it wallowing in sin, self-pity, or despair.  Rather, we are to unburden ourselves in Confession and then devote the rest of our lives to loving and serving God, seeking, like Jesus, to set our wills aside and embrace the Father’s will.

Continuing the dialogue after the crowd finds Jesus in Capernaum, the people ask Jesus the question above, asking for a sign, like the manna in the desert, so they can believe in Jesus (Jn 6:30-35).  Jesus declares that the manna came from God then and now: Jesus declares Himself the Bread of Life and the only thing that will eternally satisfy their hunger and thirst if only they believe in Him.  It is quite something that the crowd had the temerity to ask Jesus for more signs after hearing of His reputation and having just had their fill of the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish the day before.  We have no excuse to ask this question today.  Having the fullness of divine revelation available through, and safeguarded by, the Church, we know exactly what Jesus can do — namely, any good thing (cf. Mt 7:7, 21:22; Jn 14:13-14, 15:7).  Hopefully our personal past experiences have brought this home to us in a real and intimate way.  If not, and in any case, we should cultivate a close relationship with Jesus daily through prayer, studying Him in His Word, and seeing Him in the faces of all persons with whom we come in contact.  Hopefully this will lead us to ask with all our hearts: What can I do to glorify You?

The day after Jesus performed the miracle of multiplying the loaves, the crowd sought after Him and went looking for Him by boat across the sea in Capernaum (Jn 6:22-29).  When they found Jesus, they asked Him the question above.  Jesus does not answer their question but speaks of their reason for seeking Him out: they want another free meal as they had the day before.  Jesus tells them to work for food that gives eternal life that Jesus (the “Son of Man”) gives.  To accomplish the works of God they are told to believe in Jesus, the one sent from God.  The crowd’s initial query to Jesus is an opportunity for reflection for us today.  Ideally, it is a question we should never ask because the Lord is always here with us.  Now sometimes it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.  Maybe we are experiencing a particular challenge that seems too much to overcome.  Or it could be an illness or chronic condition that only gets worse.  A particularly difficult time with family, friends, or c0-workers may not make apparent Jesus in our midst.  Yet He is there in all of those situations and in every situation.  Just recall the challenges Jesus faced as the God-Man.  He “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped” (Phil 2:6) so He lived life in humility taking on all the trials and tribulations that others faced; let us go to Him prayerfully, with an open heart, and ask for guidance and strength.  We are not told of any illnesses that Jesus may have suffered, but the constant persecution of Him from very early on in His public ministry was chronic and certainly must have broken His heart (see, for example, Lk 19:41-44).  To top it off, Jesus final suffering during the Passion was short in chronological time but the depth of pain of bearing all sins of all times of those He loves infinitely — even those who during those very moments were torturing and blaspheming Him — is something we could never come close to understanding or experiencing.  Let us go to Him prayerfully, with our suffering, and ask for patience and perseverance.  And for those causing us pain through unpleasant interactions, know that Jesus struggled with persecution from without and doubt and misunderstanding from within.  Even one very close to Him, hand chosen to be among His closest collaborators, gave Him up to arrest for a few coins.  And the man He had chosen to head up His Church not only fell asleep and later abandoned Him in His time of greatest trial and need, but even topped those horrendous acts by denying that he even knew Him.  So, considering that we are not God, maybe such difficulties in interpersonal relations don’t seem so bad after all.  In fact, maybe we can see the disfigured face of Christ in those who are behaving unjustly toward us.  Let us go to Him prayerfully, with our frustrations, and ask for gentleness and humility.

A third encounter between Jesus and some disciples is the scene of today’s gospel passage (Jn 21:1-19).  Simon Peter says he is going fishing and six other disciples decide to join him.  After a futile night of fishing, Jesus (at this point unrecognized by them) asks them from the shore if they caught anything.  They respond in the negative, thus prompting Jesus to tell them to cast their nets once more.  The nets are filled to breaking when they do so.  Peter then recognizes Jesus and swims to Him.  By the time the rest come with the catch, Peter and Jesus are already cooking by a fire and Jesus serves them all breakfast.  When finished eating, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him.  Peter answers in the affirmative each time.  Jesus then tells Peter that when he is old he will be taken away against his will (John notes that this is a prediction of the way Peter is to die a martyr).  Jesus finally tells Peter to follow Him.  It is commonly held that Jesus threefold asking of Peter “Do you love me?” in front of a charcoal fire is meant to counter Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus (as the latter predicted — Mt 26:34) in front of a charcoal fire just days earlier (Mt 26:69-75).  At least at the time, this appears to be lost on Peter who becomes “distressed” at the questioning as we see above.  Nonetheless, Peter becomes a stalwart evangelizer for Christ as we see beginning in Acts (see chapter two beginning at verse fourteen).  Jesus wants to know from us if we love Him.  This is not a mere matter of lip service on our part.  Do our actions reflect that love?  Would we be distressed if Jesus came to us today and asked us if we love Him?  We would be wise to recall those times we deny or betray Him by our words and deeds.  When we profess Christianity but do not act accordingly we diminish Christ and ourselves to others.  Is this the way we show our love?  Yet He is always waiting for our return to Him in Confession, where He not only accepts a sincere apology but is ever ready to pour out graces to the heart disposed to receive them.  What was the change that happened between the episode related today and Acts 2?  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).  We should ask for that same Spirit to fill us and provide the strength to eliminate sin from our lives and the courage to stand by our Christian convictions.  Come Holy Spirit!  Fill our hearts and the world with love.

Related today is the disciples’ adventure as they were crossing the sea to Capernaum after dark (Jn 6:16-21).  Rowing against a strong wind and choppy sea, they see Jesus walking on the water toward them.  They are fearful until Jesus lets them know that it is He.  Then they wish to take Him in but, instead, they find themselves at the shore at once (see above).  The disciples were physically and mentally adrift (not knowing what to make of the miracle of loaves and fish they experienced earlier that day).  How did they find “solid ground”?  By eliminating fear and inviting Jesus in they immediately are on firm footing.  A fine prescription for persons of all times, places, and circumstances.  We stand with Jesus when we are squarely on the unmovable foundation of the Rock (Peter and the Church — see Mt 16:18).  Other paths leave us adrift and unsure.  But our Savior promised never to abandon us or leave us in the dark.  Love the Bride of Christ, stay close to her, remain faithful to her, turn to her when fear, doubt, or anxiety arise.  We ought to frequently recall the Lord’s words: “Fear is useless.  What is needed is trust” (Mk 5:36).  We must place complete faith in God, then we can say with the Psalmist: “I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps 23:4).

The last portion of the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus is presented (Jn 3:16-21).  It starts out with what is likely the most well-known Bible reference today, John 3:16 (above).  Jesus goes on to say that the Son of God will not condemn those who believe in Him, but those who do not believe, preferring darkness, have condemned themselves.  The Son is the light of the world.  Those who do evil do not approach the light, keeping their evil ways in darkness; whereas those living in truth have no compunction about coming into the light.  The “Jn 3:16” placard is prevalent at sporting events and large gatherings.  When it prompts someone to actually look up the passage, a great service is being done to the seeker.  Hopefully such an entry into the Bible leads that person to read more and more and to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  The message of v. 16 is powerful, but one needs to read only to v. 20 to come to understand what “belief” really is.  True belief in Jesus means adhering to His message by giving up one’s sinful and evil ways.  What sort of belief is it that pays lip service to Jesus while ignoring his commands (cf. Is 29:13 and Mt 15:8)?  After all, even v. 16 says that belief in Jesus entails confessing Him as Son of God, that is, one equal to God (cf. Jn 10:33).  A person who has not been exposed to Divine Revelation or has not been brought up solidly in Christian faith has an excuse, at least initially, for failing to adhere to Jesus’ teaching: ignorance.  What is our excuse?  Why do we continue sinful habits and evil deeds when we have the benefits of knowing Christ well in Word and Sacrament.  Going back often to these verses — at least every time we are reminded by some spectator of the opening line — seems to be a good opportunity to re-evaluate our relationship with Christ.

Today’s gospel passage (Jn 3:7b-15) picks up from what we would have heard yesterday had not the Feast of the Annunciation been celebrated.  This episode, in which the religious leader Nicodemus seeks out Jesus to talk with Him, concludes tomorrow.  The Pharisee professes that Jesus comes from God because of His works.  Jesus tells him that one must be “born from above” to recognize the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus misunderstands thinking Jesus said that one needs to be reborn naturally.  Then Jesus talks about the movement of the Holy Spirit and the lack of understanding/belief of the religious leaders (see above).  Finally, Jesus speaks of His descent from heaven and foretells figuratively of His death (being “lifted up” for the same purpose as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert) so that those who believe will be saved.  If we ever grow frustrated about others not accepting our witness to our faith in Jesus, or get discouraged by the growing rejection of Christianity in our culture, imagine how Jesus must have felt.  Here Jesus is speaking with a man who is given great deference by his people as a teacher of religion.  This man likely spent most of his life reading, studying, pondering, debating, and teaching the holy texts.  Yet Jesus calls him out for his lack of understanding of Jesus’ (the Messiah’s) mission.  Is it any wonder that we are challenged in a similar way today?  Nevertheless, we must continue to “speak of what we know and…testify to what we have seen” with perseverance and fervor, trusting that God will use us to move hearts and praying to Him that He will provide abundant water to those seeds He plants through us.

The Feast of the Annunciation is celebrated today becuase March 25th fell during Holy Week this year.  The gospel reading is, naturally,  from Luke describing Mary’s encounter with the archangel Gabriel (Lk 1:26-38).  The angel is sent to Mary’s home in Nazareth.  He greets her, she is troubled, and then he tells her about whom she will conceive and what is to be the child’s role.  Mary, as virgin, wants to know how this pregnancy will happen.  Gabriel explains that it is through the Holy Spirit that she will be of child; he also makes her aware of the miracle that took place with her cousin who, though past child bearing years, is advanced in her pregnancy.  After all this, Mary consents to her call to be the mother of the Son of God.  The angel’s first words of greeting to Mary are in the headline.  And what a salutation it is!  An angel, a higher order creature, hailing a human being, calling her “full of grace.”  This girl, set aside from all eternity to be offered the opportunity to bring the incarnate God into the world, is greeted in such an amazing way that she doesn’t know what to think about this message.  Yet, because she is full of grace (i.e., no sin — original or personal — has ever disturbed her perfect communion with the will of God) she has complete openness to the message of the angel.  This results in her allowing this wondrous thing to happen to her.  A great model for us.  We will likely not have an angelic messenger ever greet us in this spectacular fashion.  But, like Mary, we should always strive to be aligned with the Lord’s will for us.  None of us can claim to be sinless from the moment of conception as Mary was, but by eliminating sin and vice from our lives, we capacitate ourselves more and more to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Even so, setting our wills aside in favor of God’s will can be a scary proposition.  We, along with Mary, cannot know the full implications of abandoning ourselves to God.  But “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust.” (Luke 8:50, Mark 5:36).  When Mary was approached by Gabriel, it is as if the whole world held its breath waiting for her response.  No other call will ever be as dramatically history altering as this one.  But each person created by the Father has a unique role that only he can fulfill.  Let us be attuned to it always and follow it unhesitatingly.  Whether we are asked to change one life or the world, we must do our part for the body of Christ, the Church.

The Second Sunday of Easter gives us the first ending of John’s Gospel (Jn 20:19-31).  It records the first appearance of Jesus to the disciples on the evening of His resurrection.  He appears to them in their locked room and shows them His wounds.  They rejoice at the sight of Him.  Then Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them and gives them the power to forgive sins.  The apostle Thomas was not there at the time and does not believe their story when He returns.  The following Sunday Jesus appears again, this time with Thomas present.  Jesus invites Thomas to handle Him so that he might come to believe, at which Thomas proclaims Jesus as Lord and God.  John concludes by saying that many of Jesus’ works were not included in His rendition of Jesus’ ministry but what He has written was for the reader come to belief and ultimately to eternal life.  When John talks about the initial encounter of the disciples with Jesus on Easter Sunday he does not mention any fear they might have had at His initial startling appearance.  Rather he focuses on the joy they felt (remember that he was one of that group) at seeing and hearing their Master, whom they thought was gone for good, once again.  We can imagine that they might think, after such a miracle, that Jesus now would be with them always.  In fact, shortly afterwards, just prior to His Ascension, Jesus does give just such an assurance (recorded in Matthew 28:20).  How grateful we should be of Jesus’ promise of a never ending closeness to His people.  Rejoicing should be our attitude when we encounter Christ at Mass, in His Word, and most especially in the Host.  Christ is risen, He lives, and He gives us life through grace.  We should also feel and express joy in our encounter with other Christs — that is, all with whom we interact.  Not only are we to see Jesus in everyone, we are to be Jesus to everyone, especially those we find most difficult with whom to deal.  Our place in heaven will be great (cf. Mt 5:12 and Lk 6:23)  and we will have been instrumental in filling up many other mansions (cf. Jn 14:2).

The conclusion of Mark’s Gospel gives a very brief account of the time after the Resurrection (Mk 16:9-15).  Mark tells of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene and her telling the mourning apostles of this encounter (their response is above).  The Emmaus Road meeting and those two disciples’ return to the Eleven is mentioned (the apostles still don’t believe).  Finally Jesus appears to the Eleven themselves; He berates them for their unbelief then tells them to proclaim the Gospel to every creature everywhere.  After all the time Jesus’ closest disciples spent with Jesus and the times they heard Him predict His death and resurrection, the Eleven still could not grasp that Jesus had risen.  Undoubtedly their anguish over the loss of their master, teacher, friend, and constant companion was devastating.  Fear regarding their own fate (remember they locked themselves away) also must have clouded their minds.  A cautionary tale for us today: Let not sadness, fear, or any other negative feeling or emotion ever separate us from God or, worse, make us question His motives or even His very existence.  We have had two thousand years to learn about Christ.  We have come to understand the redemptive power of suffering — we mustn’t let it go to waste.  Rather, let us cooperate in the redemptive power of suffering by embracing the cross, by practicing the virtues, and by eschewing sin and its temptations.