Today we pick up with the next six verses in John 6 (vv. 30-35).  The crowd asks for a sign from Jesus, reminding Him of the manna their ancestors were given.  Jesus replies that the true bread from heaven comes from the Father.  When the people ask for this bread always, He replies with the sentence at top.  It is interesting, is it not, that the same folks who were part of the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish just a few hours earlier ask Jesus for a sign in order that they may believe in Him.  They bring up the manna in the desert, perhaps hoping that they will be getting free food in perpetuity.  But Jesus, patiently, changes their focus to a vertical dimension.  The manna did come down from heaven miraculously, per God (not Moses), but it was still perishable food and their ancestors all died (in fact only two of the original persons freed from Egypt even lived to enter the Promised Land).  Jesus, as the long-awaited Messiah (He associates Himself with the bread come down from the Father in heaven), promises eternal satiation for those who come to Him and believe in Him.  The lesson for all times is that our primary concern should not be for things of the earth but consideration of our heavenly goal and how we are to attain it.  Then, with a pure and total trust in God, we will get what we need in this life, and life eternal besides (cf. Mt 6:33).   As we will see shortly, Jesus does offer to us, in a very real way, Food for our journey.

Getting back to John, we pick up where we left off two days ago (Jn 6:22-29).  Today we find the crowds whom Jesus just miraculously fed looking for Jesus and, finding out that He was in Capernaum, took boats across the Sea of Galilee (as the disciples had just done) to reach Him.  When they come to Jesus, He rebukes them for searching for Him because He physically fed them, imploring them with the headline.  When they ask how they are to do this, Jesus responds: “Believe in the one he sent” (v. 29).  Like the crowd at the time, we can very much become tempted to treat God like a divine vending machine.  Listen a bit to His words, say a few prayers, and get what we ask for.  But the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves (Rom 8:27).  He knows perfectly well exactly what we need to gain eternal life.  We must be completely open to the Lord’s will in our lives.  Through the freely given gifts of Word and Sacrament, attentively and worthily received, we become more and more disposed to conforming our lives to His will.  This can often present challenges we do not expect and that we find difficult to endure and overcome.  In the coming days we will read how many of this crowd rejected Jesus’ challenging words.  May we never reject the Lord, but rather allow the challenges of life that test us to strengthen our faith.

This Sunday, as we did during the octave of Easter, we read Luke’s account of Jesus appearing to His disciples in the upper room (Lk 24:35-48).  As the two disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus, having returned hastily to Jerusalem, are recounting their experience to the Eleven, Jesus appears in the midst of all of them.  They think they are seeing a ghost but Jesus admonishes them for their unbelief, telling them to observe His wounds and inviting them to touch Him if they must.  He even asks for and eats a piece of fish.  He then enlightens them to the Scriptures and tells them that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v. 47) is to be preached to all nations.  The words at top reflect what was revealed a few verses earlier (vv. 30-31): it was not until the meal at the end of the Emmaus Road episode that Jesus was recognized as who He was after which He immediately disappears.  This event is an important part of understanding the Eucharist as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.  To the two disciples, Jesus disappeared in His human form, but did not leave them; He was now present in sacrament.  In this early Mass (the first celebrated after the Last Supper), Jesus honors their request to “stay with us” (v. 29), as He honors it to this day and forever per His closing words of St. Matthew’s gospel “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).  Let us never miss an opportunity to meet the Lord in adoration and receive Him worthily at Mass.

Continuing on in John (6:16-21), the evening of the day Jesus miraculously multiplied the loaves and fish, His disciples decide to again cross the Sea of Galilee, this time to go to Capernaum.  They encounter some rough weather, and in the midst of this they see Jesus walking to them on the water.  They are afraid, but Jesus calms them with the words at top.  They then immediately arrive at the shore.  Comforting words from Jesus for them and for us.  When we trust that Jesus is there for us even in our darkest hours, our fears are calmed and we arrive at our desired destination safely.  “It is I” can also be rendered “I  AM.”  Jesus makes it clear that He has such powers as walking on water and delivering them to land in an instant because He is divine.  With belief in this divinity we realize that Jesus can help us to work through or overcome any problem, concern, heartache, or illness.  Maybe the resolution will not come in the form in which we desire it, or a healing won’t come on the physical level, but it is our eternal destiny that is the primary concern we should share with the Lord.  We must constantly pray for an increase in faith, hope, and love so that we will maintain a disposition of trust in the Lord so as to realize, with Paul, that His grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor 12:9) in any circumstance.

The Church gives us the privilege to begin reading with her John 6.  Through next Saturday (except for the Feast of St. Mark on Wednesday) we will be working through this entire chapter that climaxes with the Bread of Life discourse.  The Eucharistic theme begins immediately in today’s passage (Jn 6:1-15).  A large crowd follows Jesus up a mountain “because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick” (v. 2).  Jesus desires that His disciples feed them but they tell Him it is not feasible because it would cost much to do so and they have little food presently available.  Jesus then blesses what little they have and has it distributed.  It turns out to be more than enough for everyone, so that the disciples even pick up the leftovers.  This astonishing event makes the people declare that He is the Prophet, but Jesus slips away so that the people would not “carry him off to make him king” (v. 15).  The people following Jesus had their fill of bread and fish which Jesus miraculously multiplied.  Let us hope that they never had enough, and we never have enough, of Jesus’ teaching and body.  We ought never to pursue Jesus just for what He can do for us in the material world, like a divine vending machine.  Rather, it is in Word and Sacrament in the liturgy that Jesus becomes present to us in a special way.  It is there that we must seek our fill of the nourishment that brings eternal life.  There we find the graces sufficient to overcome all the difficulties, tribulations, and sufferings we endure in life.  Let us always make room for Christ, placing Him first by eliminating distractions and putting aside sin and vice to be open to Him filling us up.  Only then will we find true fulfillment.

The gospel reading today (Jn 3:31-36) follows John the Baptist’s response to hearing of Jesus’ popularity in His public ministry: “He must increase, I must decrease” (v. 30).  Some attribute today’s passage to John the Baptist, others tie it back to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, and still others simply have it as a further theological explanation of Jesus’ mission by John the Evangelist.  In any case, here Jesus is speaking of how He comes from heaven and relays what the Father has given Him.  He concludes with the words at top.  Again, we must emphasize that it is disobedience that militates against belief.  One cannot say he believes in Jesus and then go on to defy Him grievously.  If Jesus has the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68), then who are we to pick and choose what we follow and disregard or discard the rest?  We are reminded of the parable of the two sons (Mt 21:28-31) in which one son says “I will not” to his father’s request to work in the vineyard but does it anyway, while the other says “Yes, sir,” but does not go.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt 7:21)  We must be the ones to say “Yes, Lord” and actually go into the vineyard of the world, doing the will of God, becoming his instruments to bring all persons into His kingdom.

Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus ends today with a profound monologue on Jesus’ mission and His importance to all persons (Jn 3:16-21).  The passage begins with the famous John 3:16 (“God so loved the world…”) emphasizing the importance of belief in Jesus considering what the Father sent the Son to do for our salvation.  Jesus says He does not come to condemn but to save those who believe.  Those who do not believe condemn themselves because they prefer evil to good, as the headline states.  As has been mentioned in these posts previously, belief is more than some intellectual assent that Jesus is who He says He is and that what He did was efficacious.  It means embracing the entire Christ: His teachings, His admonitions, and His mission.  If we take Him at His word, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (as found later in John [14:6]), then any “way” that is not His way takes us off the narrow path (cf. Mt 7:13-14), any “truth” that does not comport with the Truth is a lie (cf. Rom 1:25), and any “life” that does not place God first (cf .Ex 20:3) is really death.  In this day and age we see darkness often preferred to light in the evil done illegally and (more and more) legally.  We are not to be condemning of, but rather a light to, the world.  Do not hide that light but let it shine before all (Mt 5:14-16).

Today’s gospel reading (Jn 3:7b-15) begins by repeating the end of yesterday’s reading.  We are reminded of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus about the need to be born from above through the Holy Spirit.  Nicodemus’s follow-up question, “How can this happen?” (v. 9) prompts Jesus’ response above.  Jesus goes on to say that Nicodemus and those of his mindset do not believe in Jesus earthly, much less heavenly, declarations.  To gain eternal life for those who believe in Him, Jesus goes on, He must be lifted up (on the cross and eventually back to heaven, His origin).  In today’s passage we see that being a teacher, even one of the most knowledgeable, does not mean one has fully embraced the truth.  For those humble enough to be open to inspiration — often the poor, sick, and uneducated — it was much easier to believe Jesus was the promised Messiah.  For those blinded by their own brilliance and learning, the reality of Jesus as Christ was much more difficult to discern.  This is a danger in every age.  There is no authentic scholarship that does not seek the truth and embrace it when found.  So we must not be lured by erudition, reputation, popularity, or eloquence that does not have at its core, and is in fact imbued with, humility seeking truth.  So, also, are we called to pursue knowledge and understanding of the Faith, acknowledging our limited capacity in relation to the eternal God, but realizing that He revealed certain things to us in order that we can come to greater knowledge and love of Him while understanding His plan for us and for all mankind.  Study of Scripture and the Catechism should be an integral — not tangential, occasional, or optional — part of our day to day lives.  Then, only by learning, interiorizing, and living our faith can we  “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Pt 3:15).  We should take our cue from Nicodemus.  It certainly seems that, in this episode, he was a true seeker trying to come to an understanding of Jesus.  Ultimately, the admonishment He received from Jesus did not lead to rejection of Him, but defense of Him in front of a hostile gathering of his peers (Jn 7:50-52), and later, belief demonstrted at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:39-40).  Likewise, our honest and open seeking of veritatis should lead to its defense as we end up in contemplation at the cross of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 1:23) with the possibility of even being lifted up upon it in defense of the Truth.

With the Easter Octave over, we have completed the various accounts of the Resurrection and its aftermath.  Today we move back to an early part of John (3:1-8).  It is Jewish leader Nicodemus who seeks out Jesus in the dark of night.  Nicodemus affirms that Jesus “has come from God” because of the “signs” (v. 2) He has done.  Jesus answers this by saying that one must be “born from above” (v. 3 — misinterpreted by Nicodemus as “born again” in v. 4) to see and enter the Kingdom of God.  Nicodemus and others of his ilk have seen a glimpse of the Kingdom through Jesus’ works, and they are impressed.  Yet belief in Him has not yet come to them.  While miracles and other supernatural signs might be a gateway toward belief (cf. Jn 10:37-38), much more than acknowledging or appreciating such events is required.  Any healing or even raising from the dead done by Jesus did not guarantee that the person affected would achieve eternal life in heaven and it certainly did not mean they would not experience hardships and finally death on earth.  (Remember how Jesus admonished the man ill for thirty eight years to “not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you” [Jn 5:14] — being an invalid for that long is very bad, but eternal misery is infinitely worse).  What is needed is faith.  Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit freely given to those who have opened themselves up to the Truth.  Jesus is asking Nicodemus (and us) to be fully open to the Truth which is Him so that our faith can increase, our hope in the Kingdom can some day be realized, and our love for God and others will be perfected.  As we read about the Spirit and His work, let us ask for an increase in the graces He dispenses as we anticipate Pentecost.

Returning to John’s account of post-Resurrection events (Jn 20:19-31), we read of Jesus’ appearance to His disciples in the locked room on Easter evening.  He shows them His hands and side and they delight in His presence.  He then gives them the power (through the Holy Spirit) to forgive and retain sins.  Thomas, one of the Eleven, was not there and does not believe the others’ tale of Jesus appearance.  A week after His first appearance, Jesus appears again and admonishes the now believing Thomas for His previous skepticism.  John concludes by saying that Jesus performed many other signs as well, but relates only a few to help the reader to come to believe in Jesus as Christ for our salvation.  Thrice in this passage, Jesus utters the words at top.  Each time it is His greeting to His disciples.  The Prince of Peace comes with the Spirit of Peace to calm the fears and alleviate the doubts of His closest collaborators during His public ministry.  These four simple words are an encouragement to us, especially during times of difficulty, depression, or despair.  No matter the circumstances, we should always recall that it is only the Lord that can give us true peace: “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.  Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7)  Let us strive to live our lives in such a way that our thoughts, words, and actions always reflect our maintaining of a perfect trust in the promises of Christ (particularly His Divine Mercy which we remember in a special way on this first Sunday after Easter).