IN LAST WEEK'S GOSPEL we saw Jesus escaping to the mountains because the people wanted to make him their king. But Jesus did not want to be a political king. He would be a different kind of king altogether. His rule would be one of love not of political or military power.

Before fleeing to the mountains, Jesus had also forced his disciples to cross the sea by boat. He did not want them to be influenced by the ideas of the crowd. The crowd then goes looking Jesus. The first time they had gone looking for him he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

But now he gives them a cooler welcome. The words of the Gospel, however, are more directly meant for us. "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." They do not understand the meaning of what Jesus is doing. Perhaps they do not even want to understand; they are just seeking their own immediate benefit.

Jesus using five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 people was not just an amazing miracle. There was a far deeper meaning. This deeper meaning John calls a "sign". Jesus giving so many people so much to eat symbolised a deeper mystery.

Jesus, through his humanity, represents the presence of God in the world. And God is the source of all our needs: material needs, social needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs... The abundant feeding with the bread and fish was a sign of a much deeper nourishment that comes from God.

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Believing in Jesus

"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." "What must we do to perform the works of God?" the crowd asks Jesus. Jesus answers them: "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he has sent."

They are not just to ask God to give them the things they want. God is not there to provide convenient detours to life's problems. No, they are to believe IN Jesus.

How are we to believe IN Jesus? There is a great different between believing a person and believing IN a person. When I believe a person, I accept that what he says is true. But what he says may have nothing to do with me personally. For instance, someone may say to me: "It was raining in New York last Sunday." So what? It really has nothing to do with me. Similarly, we can believe what the Bible, Church, the pope says is true. We can even recite the catechism by heart (as some of us did as children).

But when I say I believe IN a person, that is something quite different. It means that I am giving myself in some way to another person. I really believe that he/she will care for me, respect me, will not cheat me, will stand by me... For example, when two people get married, if there is not that kind of trust, if there is not that belief/trust in each other, then we can doubt about the future of their marriage.

And when I believe IN Jesus, I take all my life and give it entirely to him. I read the Gospel and I completely accept the Gospel's way of life. I do not only believe that the Gospel is true; it becomes the foundation and the heart of my whole life.

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Why believe in Jesus?

But the people still do not seem to understand what Jesus is saying to them. Or if they understand, they do not want to accept. So they ask another question. Sometimes we do exactly the same thing. When speaking about some challenging aspect of the Christian message during a retreat or a talk, someone is sure to put up their hand and ask, "What is the Church's latest teaching on indulgences?" It is not really a request for information and is totally irrelevant but is a way of trying to steer away from a topic that is too close for comfort.

So the crowd says: "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?" In other words, they are asking, Why should we believe IN you? Give us some real proof. In fact, there have been no end of signs given by Jesus. But, to those who cannot see or do not want to see, they never happened.

Instead, they give an example from Moses: "Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness." They seem to say that, because of that sign, they were able to believe in Moses. But Jesus replies:
"Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Immediately the crowd says: "Sir, give us this bread always!" But they have heard wrongly and they are still thinking of material food. They are still seeing the multiplication of the loaves and fish in a purely literal way. (It is like the Samaritan woman at the well who wanted the "living" water that Jesus said he could give her. She wanted an unending supply so that she would not have to go to the well again.)

Finally, Jesus says to them very clearly: "I AM the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." He is the manna, he himself is the sign they are looking for.

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The meaning of the Bread

When Jesus says he is the Bread of Life, we are inclined to think immediately of the Eucharist. But what Jesus is saying is much broader. When we say that Jesus is the Bread of Life, we primarily mean that Jesus is the source of a full life. If we follow him, we will know the experience of a life which is full of truth, of love, of compassion, of friendship, of justice, of freedom, of peace. We will become people who are "fully human, fully alive". We will become not just persons but intra-persons, inter-persons, and meta-persons. In other words, we will have good relations with ourselves, with the people around us, with people everywhere.

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How are we nourished?

How does Jesus nourish us, how is he our Bread of Life?

First, there is the Scripture: the Hebrew and Christian Testaments. It cannot be over-emphasised: the Word of God is real food. So it is very important for us to know the scriptures intimately. As St Jerome said a long time ago: "Not to know the Scripture is not to know Jesus." And, if we do not know Jesus, how can we be true disciples?

Second, the Church community can nourish us. In our diocese, our parish, and the communities and organisations and movements in our parish. Through our mutual support we receive the nourishment that we need.

Third, a book, a film, a TV programme, any person, any experience can help to understand better the meaning of our life. Jesus the Bread of Life is there too.

Lastly, there is the sign of the Eucharist. The Mass is a time when we specially thank God for the many ways he cares for us and feeds us. As we share the Bread of the Eucharist together, we thank God because everywhere and always he is nourishing us. But that feeding is of little value unless linked to the others.

And we also realise that, as Christians, as members of Christ's Body, we are to be the Bread of Life for others. We have a responsibility to help them, nourish them, form them, support them, comfort them. The fully alive person gives the greatest glory to God and today's Mass is saying that Jesus is the one who can help us become that kind of person.