Today in Acts 6, we begin reading about St. Stephen. This was a very bold guy who was about to find himself in some real trouble. But even in the face of adversity, St. Stephen’s face “was like the face of an angel.” Tomorrow we will read about the martyrdom of this bold and holy man. For the Gospel reading, we continue in John 6. Some of the people who had been fed by Jesus came looking for him.
When the people find Jesus, he tells them, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” This is the beginning of the Bread of Life discourse. Jesus here equates himself with food. As we get deeper into this teaching, we will hear Jesus explain more and more emphatically about his Eucharistic self. I think today it would behoove us to explore this notion of working for food that endures for eternal life.
We’ve all seen the signs. Usually cardboard, being held by some disheveled man in an intersection. “Will work for food.” Perhaps we should all take a page from that book. Would it be any different if you were there holding a sign that said, “Will work for Jesus?” If you are Catholic, I hope that the two signs would be similar. Because Jesus is our food. Not just symbolically or spiritually, but tangibly. So what about the notion of working for Him? Are you willing to do ALL that you do for Jesus? I hope so.
Father, we thank you for giving us the food that endures for eternal life. Help us today and every day to work for Jesus, to do all that we do for the sake of the name. Amen.
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