The disciples' heart tested by the Word of the Lord.
The challenge: to keep faith in the Father and the Son
or to side with the evil one.
John 6: 60-69

1. Opening prayer

Lord, Your Word is sweet, it is like a honeycomb, it is not hard nor is it bitter. It may burn like fire, it may be like the hammer that breaks rock, it may be the sharp sword that pierces and separates the soul… but, Lord, Your Word is sweet! Grant that I may listen to it, that it may be gentle music, a song and an echo in my ears, my memory and my intellect. I offer my whole being to You and ask You to grant that I may listen faithfully, sincerely, strongly. Lord. grant that I may keep my ears and heart fixed on Your lips, Your voice, so that not one word may be in vain. Pour forth Your Holy Spirit to be like living water watering my field so that it may bear fruit, thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. Lord, draw me, grant that I may come to You, because, You know… where shall I go, to whom on this earth if not to You?

2. Reading

a) Placing the passage in its proper context:

These are the concluding verses of the great chapter six of John's Gospel, where the evangelist presents his "Eucharistic theology". This conclusion is the climax of the chapter, because the Word leads us deeper into and towards the center of things; from the crowd at the start of the chapter, to the Jews who discuss with Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum, to the disciples, to the twelve, even to Peter, the only one who stands for each one of us, alone, face to face with the Lord Jesus. Here we hear the reply to Jesus' teaching, to the Word sown abundantly in the heart of His listeners. Here we verify whether the soil of the heart produces thorns and weeds or green shoots that produce ears and finally good corn in the ears.

b) An aid to the reading of the passage:

v. 60: Some disciples condemn the Word of the Lord, and therefore Jesus Himself, who is the Word of God. God is not seen as a good Father who speaks to His children, but as a hard master (Mt 25:24), with whom it is not possible to enter into dialogue.
vv. 61-65: Jesus unveils the incredulity and hardness of heart of His disciples and reveals His mysteries of salvation: His ascension into heaven, the gift of the Holy Spirit and our participation in the divine life. But these mysteries can only be understood and accepted by the wisdom of a docile heart, capable of listening, and not by means of physical intelligence.
v. 66: This verse reveals the first great betrayal by many disciples who have failed to understand the true teaching of Jesus. Instead of turning their gaze on the Master, they turn their backs on Him and thus break communion and no longer walk with Him.
vv. 67-69: Jesus now addresses Himself to the twelve, His most intimate friends, and places before them a final and absolute choice, whether to stay with Him or go away. Peter answers on behalf of all and proclaims the faith of the Church in Jesus as Son of God and in His Word, which is the true source of life.

c) The text:

Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

3. A moment of silent prayer

I have received the gift, the grace. I have listened to the Word of the Lord, now I do not wish to murmur (v. 61); I do not wish to be scandalized (v. 61); nor do I wish to yield to incredulity (v. 64). I do not wish to betray my Master (v. 64); I do not wish to withdraw and not walk with Him any longer (v. 66)… I wish to remain with the Lord at all times! In the silence of my heart, I repeat endlessly to Him: "Lord, to whom shall I go, if not to You??! Behold, Lord, I come…”

4. A few questions

to open my heart and plow my interior soil with a plow capable of pulling up the roots of hardness and incredulity.

a) What kind of disciple am I? Am I really willing every day to learn at the school of Jesus, to receive His teaching, which is not the doctrine of human beings but the wisdom of the Holy Spirit?
b) "This is a hard saying, who can listen to it?" Is it really the Word of the Lord that is hard or is it my heart that wants only to close itself and no longer listen?
c) "Jesus knowing in Himself…". He knows my heart and knows what is in each person (Jn 1:48; 2:25; 4:29; 10:15). How do I react to His gaze, to His voice that calls my name, to His coming into my life, to His constant knocking (Rev 3:20)? What choices do I make?
d) "It is the Spirit that gives life.” However, do I allow myself to be led like Mary (Lk 1:38) and Simeon (Lk 2:27), do I allow the Lord to take me where He wills, where He waits for me, or do I always want to decide for myself the direction of my life?
e) Do I answer Jesus' personal invitation "Come to Me! Come and follow Me!" every day, every moment, in the most diverse situations of my life, in various circumstances, in the presence of others? To whom do I go? Where do I turn to? Whose footsteps am I following?

5. A key to the reading

I ask the Scriptures to be my guide, to enlighten each step, each movement, because I wish to go to Jesus. I use the verbs He uses, the expressions He repeats, the silence of the unsaid words, to reveal to me the way… to find Him and not someone else.

• The Word of the Lord and the love relationship with it

In this passage, John presents the Word of the Lord as a meeting point, the holy place for an encounter with Him. I realize that this is the place of my decision, of ever deeper separations in my heart and in my conscience. I realize also that the Word is a person, it is the Lord Himself, present before me, given to me, open to me. The whole of the bible, page after page, is an invitation, sweet, yet at the same time strong, to meet the Word, to get to know the Promised One, the Bride who is really the Word that comes from the kiss of love from the mouth of the Lord. The meeting accorded is not superficial, empty, nor is it fleeting or sporadic, but intense, full, constant, uninterrupted, because it is like the meeting between the bride and groom. Thus does the Lord love me and give Himself to me. It is, therefore, important to listen carefully and lovingly so that not one word may be in vain (1 Sam 3:19); it is important to listen with the heart, with the soul (Ps 94:8; Bar 2:31); it is important to obey in practice for a lifetime (Mt 7:24-27; Jas 1:22-25); it is important to make a true and final decision that will choose the Word of the Lord even to making it my sister (Prov 7:1-4) or my bride to be taken into my home (Wis 8:2).

• Murmuring is closing one's heart

The theme of murmuring, of rebelling, shakes me up and creates a crisis in me; when I read the bible, even when I just recall it, I realize that murmuring against the Lord and His actions in our lives is the most terrible and destructive thing that could possibly live in my heart, because it takes me away from Him, it separates me strongly and makes me blind, deaf and insensitive. It makes me say that He does not exist while all the time He is very near; that He hates me when He loves me with an eternal and faithful love (Deut 1:27)! It is the greatest and most profound foolishness! In Exodus, Numbers and the Psalms, I come across a people of God that weeps, complains, gets angry, murmurs, closes itself, rebels, turns away (Ex 16:7ff; Num 14:2; 17:20ff; Ps 105:25); a hopeless, lifeless people. I understand that this kind of situation comes about when there is no longer dialogue with the Lord, when the contract with Him is broken, when, instead of listening to Him and asking questions of Him, there is only murmuring, a kind of continuous droning in the soul, in the mind, that makes me say, "Can God supply food in the desert?" (Ps 77:19). If I murmur against my Father, if I stop believing in His love for me, in His tenderness, that He showers me with every good thing, I am lifeless, I am without nourishment for the everyday journey. Or if I get angry, if I become jealous because He is good and gives His love to all, without reserve, and I act like the Pharisees (Lk 15:2; 19:7), then I am entirely alone and besides no longer being His child I am no longer even brother or sister of anyone. In fact, there is a close relationship between murmuring against God and murmuring against brothers and sisters (Phil 2:14; 1 Pt 4:9). I learn all this when I follow the trail of this word…

• The Gift of the Son of Man: the Holy Spirit

It seems that I see a road full of light, traced by the Lord Jesus and almost hidden in these verses that are so compact and overflowing in spiritual richness. The starting point lies in a true and deep listening to His words and in welcoming them. From here we pass on to the purification of the heart, which from a heart of stone, hard and closed, becomes, through the tenderness of the Father, a heart of flesh, soft, a heart that He can hurt, mold, take into His hands and hold tight, as a gift. Yes, all this is accomplished by the words of Jesus when they come to me and enter into me. It is only thus that I can continue on my journey, overcoming murmurings and scandal, until I am able to see Jesus with new eyes, eyes renewed by the Word, eyes that do not rest on superficial things, on the hardness of the rind, but eyes that learn, every day a little more, to go beyond and to look on high. "Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where He was before?" (v. 62). This is the welcoming of the Spirit, gift of the Risen One, gift of the One who ascended at the right hand of the Father, gift from on high, perfect gift (Jas 1:17). He had said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me" (Jn 12:32) and He draws me with the Spirit, He makes me His own with the Spirit, He sends me in the Spirit (Jn 20:21), He strengthens me thanks to the Spirit (Acts 1:8). If I take a long look at the pages of the Gospels, I can see how the Spirit of the Lord is the strength that dwells in each person, each reality, because He is the eternal love of the Father, the very life of God in us. I pay attention and dwell on the verbs and the expressions used, on the words that follow and enlighten each other, enriching each other. I feel that I am really immersed in living waters that gush and gurgle. I feel that I receive a new baptism and I thank the Lord with my whole heart. "He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt 3:11), so cries John and, as I read, this Word comes true in me, inside me, in my whole being. I feel the Spirit speaking in me (Mt 10:20); who, with His power, drives away from me the spirit of evil (Mt 12:28); who fills me, as He did Jesus (Lk 4:1), John the Baptist (Lk 1:15), the Virgin Mary (Lk 1:28,35), Elizabeth (Lk 1:41), Zachary (Lk 1:67), Simeon (Lk 2:26), the disciples (Acts 2:4), Peter (Acts 4: 8) and so many others. I feel and meet the Spirit who teaches me what to say (Lk 12:10); who really gives new birth to me so that I may never die (Jn 3:5); who teaches me all things and reminds me of all that Jesus said (Jn 14:26); who guides me towards truth (Jn 16:13); who gives me strength to witness to the Lord Jesus (Acts 1:8), to His love for me and for everyone.

• The struggle of faith: in the Father or in the evil one?

This passage of John's Gospel challenges us to a great struggle, a hand-to-hand fight between the spirit and the flesh, between the wisdom of God and human reason, between Jesus and the world. I can see that Job was right when he said that human life on earth is a time of temptation and a struggle (Job 7:1), because I too experience the Evil One who tries to discourage me by creating doubts concerning the divine promises and urging me to turn away from Jesus. He would like to send me away, tries by every means to harden my heart, to close me, to break my faith, my love. I hear him roaming around like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour (1 Pt 5:8), like a tempter, a creator of divisions, an accuser, like a scoffer mocking and repeating all the time: "Where is the promise of His coming?" (2 Pt 3:3f). I know that it is only with the arms of faith that I can win (Eph 6:10-20; 2 Cor 10:3-5), only in the strength that comes to me from the words of my Father; hence I choose them, love them, study them, scrutinize them, learn them by heart, repeat them and say, "Even if a whole army surrounds me, I will not be afraid; even if enemies attack me, I will still trust in God!" (Ps 26:3).

• Profession of faith in Jesus, Son of God

The appearance of Simon Peter at the end of this passage is like a pearl set on a precious jewel, because it is he who proclaims truth, light and salvation through his profession of faith. I gather other passages from the Gospels, other professions of faith that help my incredulity, because I too wish to believe and then know. I too wish to believe and be firm (Isa 7:9): Mt 16:16; Mk 8:29; Lk 9:20; Jn 11:27).

6. A moment of silent prayer: Psalm 18

A hymn of praise to the Word of the Lord,
who gives wisdom and joy to the heart

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.

Ref. Lord, You have the words of eternal life!

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Ref. Lord, You have the words of eternal life!

But who can discern his errors?
Cleanse me from hidden faults.
Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my Rock and my Redeemer.

Ref. Lord, You have the words of eternal life!

7. Closing prayer

Lord, thank You for Your words that have re-awakened in me spirit and life; thank You because You speak and creation goes on. You overwhelm me. You still print Your image in me, Your unique likeness. Thank You because, lovingly and patiently, You wait for me even when I murmur, when I allow myself to be scandalized, when I fall into incredulity or when I turn my back to You. Forgive me, Lord, for all these faults and continue to heal me, to make me strong and happy in following You, You alone! Lord, You ascended to where You were before, but You are still with us and do not cease to draw each one of us to You. Draw me, Lord, and I shall run, because I have truly believed and known that You are the Holy One of God! But, please Lord, when I run to You, let me not run alone, let me be always open to the companionship of my brothers and sisters; and together with them I shall find You and shall be Your disciple all the days of my life. Amen.

Jesus, the bread of life
John 6:51-58

Let us invoke the presence of God

Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of Your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavor of the holy memory.

1. LECTIO

a) The text:

Jesus said to the crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

b) A moment of silence:

Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.

2. MEDITATIO

a) Some questions:

I am the bread of life… Jesus, flesh and blood, bread and wine. These words work a change on the altar, as Augustine says: “If you take away the words, all you have is bread and wine; add the words and it becomes something else. This something else is the body and blood of Christ. Take the words away, all you have is bread and wine; add the words and they become sacrament.” How important is the word of God for me? If the word is pronounced over my flesh can it make me become bread for the world?

b) Let us enter into the text:

v. 51. ”I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, for the life of the world.” John’s Gospel does not recount the institution of the Eucharist, but rather the meaning it assumes in the life of the Christian community. The symbolism of the washing of the feet and the new commandment (Jn 13:1-35) point to the bread broken and the wine poured. The theological content is the same as that in the synoptic Gospels. John’s ritual tradition can, however, be found in the “Eucharistic discourse” that follows the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6:26-65). This text brings to light the deep meaning of Christ’s existence given for the world, a gift that is the source of life and that leads to a deep communion in the new commandment of membership. The reference to the ancient miracle of the manna explains the paschal symbolism where the idea of death is taken up and overcome by life: “Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die” (Jn 6:49-50). The bread of heaven (cf. Ex 16; Jn 6:31-32) figuratively or in reality is not meant so much for the individual as for the community of believers, even though everyone is called to partake personally of the food given for all. Anyone who eats the living bread will not die: the food of the revelation is the place where life never ends. From the bread, John goes on to use another expression to point to the body: sarx. In the Bible this word denotes a human person in his or her fragile and weak reality before God, and in John it denotes the human reality of the divine Word made man (Jn 1:14a): the bread is identified with the very flesh of Jesus. Here it is not a question of metaphorical bread, that is, of the revelation of Christ in the world, but of the Eucharistic bread. While revelation, that is, the bread of life identified with the person of Jesus (Jn 6:35), is the gift of the Father (the verb to give is used in the present, v. 32), the Eucharistic bread, that is the body of Jesus will be offered by Him through His death on the cross prefigured in the consecration of the bread and wine at the supper: “and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).

v. 52. Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” Here begins the drama of a way of thinking that stops at the threshold of the visible and material and dares not cross the veil of the mystery. This is the scandal of those who believe without believing… of those who pretend to know but do not know. Flesh to eat: the celebration of the Passover, the perennial rite that will go on from generation to generation, a feast for the Lord and a memorial (cf. Ex 12:14), whose meaning is Christ. Jesus’ invitation to do what He has done “in memory” of Him, is paralleled in the words of Moses when he prescribes the paschal anamnesis: “This day must be commemorated by you, and you must keep it as a feast”  (Ex 12:14). Now, we know that for the Jews the celebration of the Passover was not just a remembrance of a past event, but also its ritualization, in the sense that God was ready to offer again to His people the salvation needed in new and different circumstances. Thus the past intruded into the present, leavening by its saving power. In the same way the Eucharistic sacrifice “will be able” to give to the centuries “flesh to eat.”

vv. 53. Jesus said, “In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” John, like the synoptic Gospels, uses various expressions when speaking of Christ’s giving of Himself in death, thus not wishing to convey a separation of parts, but the totality of the person given: the spiritualized corporeality of the risen Christ, fully permeated by the Holy Spirit in the Paschal event, will become source of life for all believers, especially through the Eucharist, that unites closely each one of them with the glorified Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, and making each one partake of His own divine life. John does not mention bread and wine, but directly what is signified by them: flesh to eat because Christ is presence that nourishes and blood to drink – a sacrilegious act for the Jews – because Christ is the sacrificed lamb. The sacramental liturgical character is evident here: Jesus insists on the reality of the flesh and of the blood referring to His death, because in the act of sacrificing the sacrificial victims the flesh became separated from the blood.

54. Anyone who does eat My flesh and drink My blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. The Passover celebrated by Jesus, the Jews, and by the early Christians acquires a new soul: that of the resurrection of Christ, the final exodus of perfect and full freedom (Jn 19:31-37), which in the Eucharist finds the new memorial, symbol of the Bread of life that sustains during the journey in the desert, sacrifice and presence that sustains the people of God, the Church, and having crossed the waters of regeneration, will not tire of making memory, as He said, (Lk 22:19; 1Cor 11:24) until the eternal Passover. Attracted and penetrated by the presence of the Word made flesh, Christians will live their Pesach throughout history, the passage from the slavery of sin to the freedom of children of God. In conforming themselves to Christ, they will be able to proclaim the wonderful works of His admirable light, offering the Eucharist of His corporeality: living sacrifice, holy and pleasing in a spiritual cult (Rom 12:1) that befits the people of His victory, a chosen race, a royal priesthood (cf. 1 Pt 2:9).

vv. 55-56. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me and I live in that person. This promise of the life of Christ influences greatly the life of believers: «Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me and I live in that person» (Jn 6:56). The communion of life that Jesus has with the Father is offered to all who eat the sacrificed body of Christ. This is not to be understood as the magic concession of a sacramental food that automatically confers eternal life to those who eat it. This giving of the flesh and blood needs explanation to make it intelligible and to provide the necessary understanding of God’s action, it needs faith on the part of those who take part in the Eucharistic banquet, and it first needs  God’s action, that of His Spirit, without which there can be no listening or faith.

v. 57. As the living Father sent Me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats Me will also draw life from Me. The stress is not placed on the cult as the peak and foundation of love, but on the unity of the body of Christ living and working within the community. There is no liturgy without life. “A Eucharist without fraternal love is equal to self condemnation, because the body of Christ, that is the community, is despised.” Indeed, in the Eucharistic liturgy the past, present and future of the history of salvation find an efficient symbol for the Christian community, which expresses but never substitutes for the experience of faith that must always be present in history. Through the inseparable Supper and Cross, the people of God have come into the ancient promises, the true land across the sea, across the desert, across the river, a land of milk and honey, of freedom capable of obedience. All the great ancient plans find in this hour (cf. Jn 17:1) their fulfillment; from the promise made to Abraham (Gen 17:1-8) to the Passover of the Exodus (Ex 12:1-51). This is a decisive moment that gathers the whole past of the people (cf. DV 4) and the first most noble Eucharist ever celebrated of the new covenant is offered to the Father: the fruitful fulfillment of all expectations on the altar of the cross.

v. 58. “This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” When Jesus pronounces the words “This is My body” and “This is My blood,” He establishes a real and objective relationship between those material elements and the mystery of His death, which finds its crowning glory in the resurrection. These are creative words of a new situation with common elements in human experience, words that will always and truly realize the mysterious presence of the living Christ. The elements chosen were meant to be and are symbol and instrument at the same time. The element of bread, which because of its relationship to life has by itself an eschatological significance (cf. Lk 14:15), is easily seen as an indispensable food and a universal means of sharing. The element of wine, because of its natural symbolism, connotes the fullness of life and the expansion of the joy of a person (cf. Ps 103:15). In the existential Semitic view, the effectiveness of the system of signs is taken for granted. It makes distinctions that make it possible to comprehend mysteries by faith where the senses fail. By referring and going back to the desert and the manna, this different “Pasch,” the material object and the sign, come together, but concupiscence, which is from the flesh, transforms the sign into matter, while the desire, which is from the spirit, transforms the matter into sign.” (P. Beauchamp, L’uno e l’altro testamento, Paideia Ed., Brescia 1985, p. 54). In fact, the manna from heaven comes from God in an invisible form and thus lacks identity. This lack of evidence is seen clearly in the etymology of the word “manna”: “What is it?” (Ex 16:15). This says what it is, a name given to almost nothing, a sign and not a thing, a signed sign. It is proven in the moment it disappears, because one is tempted to remedy that which disappears, to make provision of manna so as not to run short. This is the price of what disappears to the senses. The alternation is the time of the desert. The manna is bread that obeys the laws of Him who gives it. The law, that the manna signifies, is to expect everything from Him: what is required is belief. Because of its lack of substance, manna creates the desire for more solid support; but in the place called “sepulchres of greed” the thing, deprived of sign, brings death (Num 11:34). In the desert what urges people to go ahead with confidence is this seeing the manna either as a sign or as a thing in itself and thus either believe or die.

c) Let us meditate:

Jesus fulfills the true Pesach of human history: “Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, having loved those who were His in the world, loved them to the end. While they were at supper…» (Jn 13:1). To pass over: the new Pasch is precisely this passing over of Christ from this world to the Father through the blood of His sacrifice. The Eucharist is the memorial, bread of the desert and saving presence, covenant of fidelity and communion written in the person of the Word. The history of salvation that for Israel is made up of events, names and places, leads to a reflection of faith over an experience of life that makes the name of Yahweh not just one name among many but the only Name. Everything begins from an encounter, a dialogical event between God and humanity that translates into a covenant of alliance, old and new. The sea of rushes is the last frontier of slavery and beyond it lies the spacious territory of freedom. In this watery sepulcher the old body of Israel is laid to rest and the new and free Israel rises. This is where Israel’s identity is born. Every time that this passage through the waters of birth is evoked more than just as a historical event to be remembered, the eschatological event will arise, capable of a divine fullness that becomes present, sacramental sign of God’s faithful initiative today for the new generations, in expectation of the final liberation that the Lord will provide. It is the gasp of a people that on the eve of the Pesach finds its deep identity individually and as a people, the eve when the Son of the living God gives Himself wholly in the form of food and drink.

3. ORATIO

Psalm 116

What return can I make to Yahweh
for His generosity to me?
I shall take up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.

I shall fulfill my vows to Yahweh,
witnessed by all His people.
Precious in Yahweh's sight
is the death of His faithful.

I beg You, Yahweh!
I am Your servant,
I am Your servant
and my mother was Your servant;
You have undone my fetters.
I shall offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of Yahweh.

I shall fulfill my vows to Yahweh,
witnessed by all His people,
in the courts of the house of Yahweh,
in your very heart, Jerusalem.

4. CONTEMPLATIO

When we think of You, Lord, we do not recall events that took place and were fulfilled long ago, but we come into contact with Your reality ever present and alive. We see Your constant passage among us. You intervene in our life to restore our likeness to You, so that we may not be disfigured by the stones of the law, but may find our fullest expression in Your face as Father, revealed in the face of a man, Jesus, the promise of fidelity and love even unto death. It is not necessary at all to go out of ordinary existence  to meet You because the care You take of Your creatures unfolds over our human affairs like a scroll in the proximity of an experience. You, Creator of heaven and earth, indeed do hide in the folds of history and, even though at first obscurely and implicitly, You allow us to meet You in Your transcendence, which is never absent from ordinary events. When our reflection on life brings us to an acknowledgment of Your liberating presence, this meeting can only be celebrated, sung, expressed by sacred symbols, relived festively in great joy. Thus we do not come to You alone, but as a people of the covenant. The wonder of Your presence is always purely gratuitous: in the members of the Church, where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus (Mt 18:20), in the pages of Sacred Scripture, in evangelical preaching, in the poor and suffering (Mt 25:40), in the sacramental actions of ordained ministers. But it is in the Eucharistic sacrifice that Your presence becomes real; in the Body and Blood there is the whole of the humanity and divinity of the risen Lord, present substantially.

The bread of life
John 6: 41-51

Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of Your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavor of the holy memory.

1. Lectio

a) The text:

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven, " and they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

b) A key to the reading:

The sixth chapter of John's Gospel presents an entire picture that develops around the Paschal theme and, analogously with what precedes it, unfolds through the telling of a miracle (5:1-9a 6:1-15) followed by a discourse (5:16-47; 6:22-59). The chapter relates that part of Jesus' activity in Galilee, precisely at its most sublime moment when Jesus reveals Himself as bread of life to be believed in and eaten in order to be saved. In vv. 1-15 we find the great sign of the multiplication of the loaves whose significance is revealed in the discourse of the following day in vv. 26-59: the gift of bread to satisfy the hunger of the people prepares the way for the words concerning the bread of eternal life. In vv. 16-21, we find the story of Jesus walking on the water. In vv. 60-71 Jesus, knowing their lack of faith (vv. 60-66) and trying to encourage their faith (vv. 66-71), invites the twelve disciples to make up their minds. The whole discourse on the bread of life (6:25-71) presents parallels with some Hebrew texts, especially with Philo.

c) A moment of silence:

Let the sound of the Word echo in us.

2. Meditatio

a) A few questions:

- They murmured at Him: how many are the voices that murmur against God?
- I am the bread which has come down from heaven: where do we acquire the bread that we eat every day?
- No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him: does the Father draw us or do we drag our feet behind Him criticizing that which He says to us in our daily life?
- If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever: we nourish ourselves with the Word of God and the broken Bread once a week or even every day… why is it that eternal life is not evident in our words and our human experience?

b) A key to the reading:

To murmur. What better way is there for us not to live in depth that which the Lord asks of us? There are thousands of plausible reasons… thousands of valid justifications… thousands of licit motives… for us not to swallow a Word that defies every reason, every justification, every motivation to allow new echoes to resonate from a not so distant heaven that dwells in our hearts

v. 41. The Jews murmured at Him because He had said: "I am the bread which came down from heaven". Jesus had just said: I am the bread of life (v. 35) and I have come down from heaven (v. 38) and this provokes dissent among the crowd. The term Jews is a theological one in John and may be thought of as synonymous with unbelievers. In truth these were Galileans who were called Jews because they murmured at Christ whose words disturbed their usual definitions. The Jews were familiar with the term bread come down from heaven. The children of Israel knew the bread of God, the manna, which had satisfied their hunger in the desert and had given security to a precarious journey whose horizons were uncertain. Christ, manna for humankind, who in the desert of an unsatisfied hunger invokes heaven to sustain it on its journey. This is the only bread that satisfies hunger. The words of the Jews are an objection to the person of Jesus and also an occasion to introduce the theme of unbelief. In other passages the people "whisper" about Jesus (7:12, 32), but in this chapter they "murmur" about what He says, about His words. This murmuring puts an emphasis on their unbelief and incomprehension.

v. 42. "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know? How does He now say: I have come down from heaven?". This is subtle irony. The unbelievers know the earthly origins of the Christ, they know for certain the son of Joseph, but not the son of God. Only those who believe know His transcendental origin by the direct intervention of God in the Virgin. The passage goes from material language, bread made from water and flour, to a spiritual language, bread for the human soul. As once the people in the desert did, the Jews murmur: they do not understand the origin of Jesus' gift: and as once their forbears refused the manna because it was too light, so now the descendants refuse the Word made flesh, bread come down from heaven, because of its earthly origin. The Jews, from all that Jesus said, only take note that He had said: I have come down from heaven (v. 38). Yet this is that which gives substance to all that was said before about being the bread of life (v. 35). The question: Is not this… is asked in a context of surprise in the Synoptic Gospels. In Matthew and Luke, through the story of Jesus' childhood, the reader has already been told of the virginal conception of Jesus. In John, the Galileans are confronted with someone who claims to have come down from heaven without any previous discussion as to His human condition. Son of Joseph means that Jesus is a man like all other men (cf. 1:45).

v. 43-44. Jesus answered them: "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day". Jesus does not seem to dwell on His divine origin but stresses that only those drawn by the Father can come to Him. Faith then is a gift of God and depends on a person's openness and ability to listen… but what does it mean to say the Father draws? Is not a person free on this journey? The attraction is simply the desire written in the tablets of flesh borne in the heart of every person. Thus, complete freedom exists in a spontaneous clinging to the source of one's being. Life can only attract life, only death cannot attract.

v. 45. It is written in the prophets: "And they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me". The rest of the narrative follows a very precise order. These words are not an invitation, but a command. The creative Word of God, who called light and all other creatures into existence from nothing, now calls His own likeness to participate in the new creation. The consequence does not flow from an autonomous and personal decision, but from meeting with the person of Jesus and His call. It is a grace event, not a human choice. Jesus does not wait for a free decision, but calls with divine authority as God called the prophets in the Old Testament. It is not the disciples who chooses the Master, as was the case with rabbis at the time, but the Master who chooses the disciples as beneficiaries of God's inheritance, which is much greater than any doctrine or teaching. The call implies the giving up of family, profession, a complete change of one's way of life in order to cling to a way of life that leaves no space for self-centeredness. The disciples are people of the kingdom. The call to become disciples of Jesus is an "eschatological call". The words of the Babylonian prophet of the exile say, "and all her children (Jerusalem's) shall be" - referring to the Jews. The use of: "all shall be" is an expression of the universality of salvation whose fulfillment is Jesus.

v. 46. Not that any one has seen the Father, except Him who comes from God, He has seen the Father. Only Jesus, who is from God, has seen the Father and can reveal Him definitively. People are called to come from God. Knowledge of the Father is not a conquest; it is an origin. The movement is not external. If I look for an external origin I can say that I have a father and mother, a creature of the created world. If I look for a deeper origin of my essential being I can say that I come from the Father, Creator of all life.

v. 47. Truly, truly, I say to you: He who believes has eternal life. To believe in the words of Jesus, in His revelation, is a condition for gaining eternal life and being able to be "taught by the Father". I believe, I lean on a rock. The strength is not within my creature limitations, nor in the realization of my creature efforts to attain perfection. All is firm in Him who has no temporal attachments. How can a creature lean on itself when it is not master of one single instant of its life?

v. 48. I am the bread of life. Again the theme of the bread of life is presented together with that of faith and of eternal life. Jesus is the true bread of life. This verse is connected with verse 51 "I am the living bread". Only he who eats this bread, he who assimilates Jesus' revelation as vital bread, will be able to live.

vv. 49-50. Your Fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died: this is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die. The bread come down from heaven is contrasted with the manna that fed their fathers but did not preserve them from death. This bread that gives life without end and comes from on high is the incarnate Word of God. The Eucharistic theme, already implied in some expressions, now becomes central. Earthly death does not contradict this experience of life if one walks along transcendental ways. The limitation is no limitation for those who eat of Him.

vv. 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any one eats of this bread, he will live forever and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh." The "flesh" of Jesus is the vital food for the believer. The word flesh (sàrx), which in the Bible indicates the fragile reality of the human person before the mystery of God, now refers to the body of Christ immolated on the cross and to the human reality of the Word of God. It is no longer a metaphorical bread of life, it is the revelation of Jesus because the bread is the very flesh of the Son. For the life of the world means in favor of and emphasizes the sacrificial dimension of Christ because for the world expresses the salvation which flows from that dimension.

c) Reflection

Murmur. If our murmuring were like a soft breeze, it would act as a harmonious basis for the eternal words that become our flesh: I am the living Bread that has come down from heaven. What a surprise that would be, knowing that this eternal Bread is not a stranger, but Jesus, the son of Joseph, a man whose father and mother we know. We eat and we are assumed, because those who eat of this bread will live for ever. This is a bread that is born of the love of the Father. We are invited to listen and learn from Him via the way of attraction, on that peak of faith that allows us to see. Bread with bread, Flesh with flesh. Only He who comes from God has seen the Father. And when we have made of our flesh the table of the living Bread, then we shall have seen the Father. Desert and death, heaven and life. A sweet marriage fulfilled in every Eucharist… on every altar, on the altar of the heart where the life of the divine breath consumes the disfigured lineaments of a lost person.

3. Oratio

Psalm 33 (32)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of His mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
He put the depths in storehouses.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to naught;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
the thoughts of His heart to all generations.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
on those who hope in His steadfast love,
that He may deliver their soul from death,
and keep them alive in famine.

4. Contemplatio

The experience the food that satisfies the hunger of the heart reminds me, Lord, that I can pass from imperfection to the fulfillment of being a reflection of Yourself, not by doing away with the hunger, but by finding in it no longer a homo dormiens, someone who does not ask questions of himself, who lives without any interest, who does not wish to see or feel, who will not allow himself to be touched, who lives in fear, superficially rather than in depth, and who keeps a horizontal position when confronted by events, sleeping or ignoring whatever he meets… but rather a homo vigilans, he who is always present to himself and others, capable of satisfying himself by his work and service, who responsibly does not stop at that which is immediate, but who knows how to pace himself for the long and patient waiting, who expresses all that dwells in each fragment of his life, who no longer fears feeling vulnerable, because he knows that the wounds of his humanity can be transformed into scars through which life joins in the passing of time, a life that is finally able to realize his end and that sings to love with his "scarred heart" wrapped in a "flame that consumes but does not hurt" and in order to meet him definitively is prepared to "tear the veil". Hunger is no longer hunger, because it now becomes the sweet burden of limitation, protected by "the delicious wound" and always open to the "sweet encounter" that will satisfy every desire: "The Beloved is the mountain, the solitary valleys full of shade…He is like the calm night, very close to dawn, a silent music, a resounding silence… Who will heal this my scarred heart? He is the consuming flame that does not hurt! O my Beloved, tear the veil at the moment of our sweet encounter."

Eating and sharing the bread of life

John 6:1-15

1. Let us invoke the Holy Spirit

Our Father in heaven,

You have given us Your beloved Son.

Send Your Spirit

that we may eat and savor Your gift.

Give us our daily bodily and spiritual bread.

May it provoke in us a hunger and thirst

for You, for Your Word and Your banquet,

where You will satisfy us with Your presence,

with Your love and Your shalom,

in the joy of communion with the brothers and sisters that You give us this day,

that we may share with them the material and spiritual bread. Amen.

2. Reading

a) The premises and key of biblical and liturgical reading:

* Our passage contains an unusual characteristic: it narrates the only “inflated” episode in the Gospels. In fact, all together it is told six times (once in Luke and John, twice in each of Mark and Matthew). Apart from any historical-critical evaluation of this unusual repetition, it is clear that early Christian tradition gave this episode great emphasis.

* Much discussion has gone on concerning the literary connections with the other Gospel stories, but really we cannot tell definitely whether there are any direct or indirect connections among the various Gospel stories. The nearest parallel to John seems to be the first text in Mark (6:30-54), but John would have had an independent source, which he reworked so that it would fit in well with the discourse that follows.

* As is usual in the fourth Gospel, a discourse of great theological importance is closely coupled with the “sign,” which in this case is a miracle. Here, the discourse that follows covers almost the whole of the sixth chapter: it is the discourse on the “bread of life" (6:26-59), the great source of theological reflection on the sacrament of the Eucharist.

* Throughout the text there are several references to actions, words and ideas characteristic of the Christian liturgy. Thus there seems to be a close relationship between this passage and the liturgical tradition of Eucharistic celebration, especially in view of the fact that the Gospel of John makes no reference to the institution of the Eucharist

* In this year’s liturgical cycle, which is based on the Gospel of Mark, a series of Sunday Gospels taken from John are inserted at this point. The insertion takes place precisely where one would have expected the readings on the multiplication of the loaves. The choice of the first reading is a classical example of mutual illumination between the Testaments: we have the multiplication of loaves by the prophet Elisha (2Kings 4:42-44). The parallel between the miracles throws light also on the prophetic aspect of the person of Jesus. Again, the second reading (Eph 4:1-6) emphasizes an aspect of the Eucharistic life of the Church: the communion built around Christ and nourished by the one Eucharistic bread.

* The main themes of this passage are those that concern the symbolism of the bread and of sharing the meal. It also has an eschatological dimension. Other important motifs present in the text are those of faith in Jesus and in His way of interpreting messianism, here expressed through the Old Testament figure of Moses.

b) The text:

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

c) A subdivision of the text for a better understanding:

vv. 1-4: Temporal, geographic and liturgical introduction.

vv. 5-10: The preparatory dialogue between Jesus and the disciples.

vv. 11-13: The meal “multiplied” and over-abundant.

vv. 14-15: The reactions of the people and of Jesus.

3. A moment of interior and exterior silence

to allow the Word of God to impregnate our hearts and minds.

* It is spring, and Easter is close. The air is still fresh, and this makes it easier to follow and listen to the now famous, though controversial, rabbi of Nazareth.

* As I read and reread, I hear a voice, but still saying rather “strange” things”: how is it possible to feed this great crowd of people?

* A few loaves and fewer fish…but we must not lose them, while we agree to share them. Look, they increase as we distribute them!

* At the end, we collect everything: it is very tiring, but bread is always precious, everywhere and at all times, especially this bread.

* I resume my journey with Him, without stopping, with a light and happy heart because of the great things that I have seen today, but also with a few more questions. I go on looking at Him and listening to Him, I let my heart echo His actions, the expressions of His face, His voice and His words.

4. The Word given to us

* The “Book of Signs” of the fourth Gospel: Our passage comes from a part of the Gospel known as the “book of signs” (from 1:19 to 12:50), where we find descriptions of, and comments on, seven great “signs” of self-revelation (semeion, a symbolic miracle or action) worked by Jesus in this Gospel. Discourses and “signs” are closely correlated: theological discourses explain the “signs,” and in the “signs” we find a concrete presentation of the contents of the discourses in a progressive deepening of the divine revelation and the consequent growing hostility towards Jesus.

* Chapter 6 of John: In an attempt to clarify the chronology and geographical details of chapter 6, some propose that we change the places of chapters 5 and 6. This, however, would not resolve all the problems. It is better, then, to keep and respect what tradition has passed on to us, keeping in mind the historical-editorial problems involved, so as not to “unduly stress something which does not seem to have had great importance for the Evangelist" (Raymond Brown).

* Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias: The lake is identified as having two names; the first is the traditional one, the second is adopted by John in the New Testament (also in 21:1), perhaps because it had appeared recently in the life of Jesus and was, therefore, in common use after His death and widespread especially among the Greeks.

* And a multitude followed Him, because they saw the signs which He did on those who were diseased: Before this (2:23-25), we come across a similar situation of many believers in Jesus who had seen the “signs” He had worked. In both situations, Jesus shows clearly that He disapproves of the motivation (2:24-25; 6:5, 26).

The “signs” on those who were diseased, namely the healings that Jesus worked in Galilee, are told by John, except for the healing of the son of the regional official (4:46-54). However, with these words, this Evangelist lets it be understood that he had not told all the events and that he had chosen a few among many that he could have communicated to the readers (cf.  21:25).

* Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with His disciples: There is no way of knowing which mountain.

The scene of Jesus, like Moses, sitting surrounded by His disciples, is a recurring theme also found in the other Gospels (cf. Mk 4:1; Mt 5:1; Lk 4:20). The action of sitting in order to teach was normal for rabbis, but John – contrary to Mk 5:34 – does not mention that Jesus taught on this occasion.

* Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand: The fourth Gospel makes three references to the celebration of the Passover by Jesus during His public life. This was the second (the first: 2:13; the third: 11:55) and we are told the religious and theological circumstances of everything said and done in chapter 6: the “bread given” by God like the manna, the going up the mountain by Jesus, like Moses, the crossing of the water as during the exodus (in the following episode: 6:16-21), the discourse on the theme of the bread that comes from God. Concerning the relationship between the manna given to Israel in the desert and the multiplication of the loaves, there are also several parallels recalling Numbers 11 (vv. 1, 7-9, 13, 22).

Some  of Jesus’ actions (for instance, the breaking of the bread), as well as the many theological themes touched upon in the following discourse, are clear references to the liturgical actions of the seder at Passover and to the liturgical readings in the synagogue for the feast.

The Passover is a springtime feast, and in fact, John notes that “there was much grass in the place” (6:10; cf. Mt 14:19; Mk 6:39).

* Seeing that a multitude was coming to Him: At the beginning of the narrative, it seemed that the people had been following Him before, whereas here John seems to say that the crowd was arriving. Perhaps this is a reference to one of John’s favorite themes and one greatly emphasized in this chapter: the coming to Jesus, an expression synonymous with complete adhesion to the faith (3:21; 5:40; 6:35, 37, 45; 7:37 and elsewhere).

* Jesus said to Philip… Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother: These are two of the Twelve who in this Gospel seem to have a special role (cf. 1:44 and 12:21-22), whereas in the other Gospels they remain in the shadows. It seems that they were particularly venerated in Asia Minor, where the Gospel of John was written.

* “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” The question addressed to Philip may possibly be justified because he came from that geographical region.

If we interpret this question in the light of similar questions in the whole Gospel (1:48; 2:9; 4:11; 7:27-28; 8:14; 9:29-30; 19:9), we discover its Christological importance: asking from where the gift comes is also to seek to understand the origin of the giver, in this case, Jesus. Thus the question leads to seeking the divine origin of Jesus.

* This He said to test Him, for He himself knew what He would do: The “testing”  of the reaction of the disciple is indicated by a verb (peirazein) which usually has a negative meaning, of temptation, checking or deceit. The role of this sentence, however, is to protect the reader against any doubt that Jesus’ question may be interpreted as ignorance. This is an example of the issues encountered in translation, and the nuances that can be lost. 

* “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little”: The amount is equivalent to a laborer’s salary for two hundred days of work (cf. Mt 20:13; 22:2).

Mark (6:37) puts it in such a way that we may think that such a quantity of bread would be sufficient for the present need, but John wants to emphasize the greatness of the divine intervention and the disproportion of human resources. Andrew’s words, which follow, have the same purpose: "… but what are they among so many?"

* “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish”: Judging by the double diminutive of the Greek text (paidarion), the lad is really a small child: someone with no social standing. The same term is used in 2Kings (4:12, 14, 25; 5:20) for Elisha’s servant, Giezi.

Barley loaves, unlike loaves made from wheat, were particularly simple food and cheap, used by poor people. This may be an allusion to the story of Elisha multiplying the barley bread (2Kings 4:42-44). It would seem (cf. Lk 11:5) that the meal for one person was made up of three loaves. The dried fish (opsarion, again the use of a double diminutive) was the common food to go with the bread.

* “Make the people sit down…in number about five thousand”: In reality, according to the custom of the times, Jesus commands that they “lie down” or to “stretch out”: the meal has to be eaten in comfort, just as it is prescribed for the ritual meal of the Passover and as of obligation in banquets. All the Gospel reports of this episode only refer to the number of men present.

* “Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them…so also the fish”: These actions and words of Jesus are very close to those of the Eucharistic rite, although we cannot say that the one derives from the other.

* "When He had given thanks" is a translation of eucharistein, which was commonly used as distinct from eulogein, to bless, the verb used by the synoptic Gospels here; the first verb is characteristic of the Greek milieu, whereas the second comes directly from the milieu of Hebrew culture. If we take into account the language in use at the time of writing of the Gospels, then we cannot say that there are any significant differences of content between the expressions, even though John’s expression is, for us who are used to the Christian liturgical language, a much more direct reminder of the Eucharistic sacrament. This is so true that the fourth Evangelist uses the same verb also in 11:41, where we find some reminders of the sacrament.

As presider at the ritual Passover table, Jesus personally breaks the bread and gives it directly to the people. In the same way He will do this at the Last Supper. Most probably, however, things proceeded the way the synoptic Gospels describe them: Jesus gave the broken bread to the disciples so that they might distribute it. In fact, the crowd was too large for Him to be able to do it all alone. John, then, wishes to concentrate the whole attention of his readers on the person of Jesus, true and only giver of “the bread from heaven”. Thus, the disciples join in His role at the meal, prefiguring their role in the Eucharistic celebration and in the Church.

Let us follow closely the sequence of events: the multiplication takes place only after the breaking and the breaking of the bread takes place only after a “small lad” courageously gives up all of his trivial resources. Those poor, small loaves are multiplied as they are broken! Jesus multiplies what we accept, a little blindly, to share with Him and with others.

* As much as they wanted … they had eaten their fill: It is the abundance promised by the prophets when the time of šalom and of the festive eschatological banquet comes (cf. e.g. Isa 25:6; 30:23; 49:9; 56:7-9; Hos 11:4; Ps 37:19; 81:17; 132:15).

Thus, the crowd is not wrong when it says of Jesus, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world": a prophet who fulfills the divine promise of sending a prophet “equal to Moses” (Deut 18:15-18) and who ushers in the messianic era preparing a free and abundant banquet, as promised by the ancient prophets.

* “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost": The disciples appear on the scene with the task of not letting any of the precious bread go to waste. In fact, this too is a “bread that perishes” and cannot be compared with the true “bread from heaven” (cf. 6:24). The command to gather (synagein) the fragments recalls the prescription regarding the manna (cf. Ex 16:16 ff.).

* So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves: We cannot tell for certain whether the number of baskets is connected with the number of disciples. What is certain is that these words want to emphasize again the great abundance of food from those small barley loaves blessed by Jesus. John seems to pay scant attention to the two fishes offered with the bread, perhaps because the discourse that follows is all about bread.

* When the people saw the sign: The motive that John gives for the miracle just worked is not compassion for the crowd. This would have been well understood by the disciples present, who, according to Mark (6:52 and 8:14-21), did not understand the meaning of what had taken place.

The fourth Gospel then shows the “sign” significance of the miracle.

* 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: Contrary to the other Evangelists, John gives the reason for Jesus’ sudden disappearance after the miracle. He wanted to prevent His role as Messiah from being “fouled” by any political manifestations of the crowd. Jesus once more makes clear His choice (cf. Mt 4:1-10), which He will repeat right to the end before Pilate (19:33-37).

5. A few questions to direct our reflection and its practice

a) The bread is multiplied because someone “very small” has the courage to renounce hanging on to his security risking failure or being shamefaced. The “young lad” of the Gospel story believes in Jesus, even though Jesus had promised nothing on this occasion. Would I, would we, do the same?

b) The lad is an insignificant person, the loaves are few and the fish even fewer. In the hands of Jesus everything becomes great and beautiful. There is a huge disproportion between what we are and what God can make of us, if we place ourselves in His hands. "Nothing is impossible for God": not converting the hardest of hearts, not transforming evil into an instrument for good… God fills in every disproportion between us and Him. Do I really believe this, in the bottom of my heart, even when everything seems to contradict it?

c) The material bread offered by God refers us to the bread we ought to share with so many men and women who, on this same earth we live on and whose resources we waste so thoughtlessly, struggle desperately for a slice of bread. When we pray “give us this day our daily bread” do we at least think of those who have no bread and how we can help them?

d) Physical hunger and material bread remind us also of the “hunger for God” and the eschatological banquet. These are truths that we often put out of our thoughts because we prefer to think that they are far and distant from us. And yet, if we keep them present, they would help us to see the relative value of so many events and problems that seem to us greater than ourselves, and to live a more serene life busying ourselves only with what is essential. When, during the Eucharistic celebration we say "…as we wait in joyful hope" are we really fervently waiting for the glorious return of the One who loves us and who even now takes care of us?

6. Let us pray (Psalm 147)

Praising God in a hymn with a Passover flavor to Him who provides food and every kind of subsistence to the “little ones” of His people and to every living creature:

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for He is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the broken-hearted,
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars,
He gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
His understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden,
He casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God upon the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds,
He prepares rain for the earth,
He makes grass grow upon the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens which cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor His pleasure in the legs of a man;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
in those who hope in His steadfast love.

7. Closing prayer

From its earliest days, the Church has celebrated the Eucharist as the supper of the Passover of the Lord where it echoes the event of the multiplication of the loaves. Thus, our closing prayer today is one inherited from the Christians of the first century: 

We thank You, Father, for life and the knowledge You have revealed to us through Jesus Your servant. Glory to You forever.

Just as the broken bread was scattered here and there over the hills and when gathered became one, so now, may Your Church be gathered in Your Kingdom from the ends of the earth;

for Yours is the glory and the power, through Jesus Christ forever.

We thank You, holy Father,

for Your holy name that you make present in our hearts,

and for the knowledge, faith and immortality

that You revealed to us through Jesus, Your servant.

To You Glory forever.

You, all powerful Lord, have created all things to the glory of Your name;

You have given humankind food and drink for comfort, so that humankind may give You thanks;

but You have given us a spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Your servant.

Above all, we thank You because You are powerful.

To You be glory forever.

Remember, Lord, Your Church,

preserve her from every evil

and make her perfect in Your love;

made holy, gather her from the four corners of the earth into Your kingdom, prepared for her.

For Yours is the power and the glory forever.

May Your grace come, and may this world pass by.

Hosanna to the house of David.

(from the Didaché, 9-10)

Jesus feels compassion for the people
The Banquet of Life – Jesus invites to sharing
Mark 6:30-34

1. Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.

Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

The text on which we will meditate on this 16^th Sunday of Ordinary Time is brief. Only five verses. At first sight a few lines seem to be only a brief introduction to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves in the desert (Mk 6:34-44). But if the Liturgy of this Sunday has underlined these five verses, it means that they contain something very important that perhaps we would not notice if they were only used as an introduction to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

In fact, these five verses reveal a characteristic of Jesus which has always struck and continues to strike us: His concern for health and the formation of the disciples, His accepting and welcoming humanity toward the poor people of Galilee, His tenderness towards people. If the Church, by means of the Sunday Liturgy, invites us to reflect on these aspects of the activity of Jesus, it is in order to encourage us to prolong this same attitude of Jesus in the relationship that we have with others. During this reading we will be very attentive to the minute details of Jesus’ attitude toward others.

b) A division of the text to help in the reading:

Mark 6:30: Revision of the apostolic work

Mark 6:31-32: Concern of Jesus that the disciples get some rest

Mark 6:33: People have other criteria and follow Jesus

Mark 6:34: Moved to compassion, Jesus changes His plan and receives and welcomes the people.

c) The text:

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.

4. Some questions

to help us in our personal reflection.

a) Which characteristic of Jesus’ attitude which has pleased you the most and which evoked greatest admiration among the people in Jesus’ time?

b) Jesus’ concern for the disciples and His concern to accept and welcome the people well: both of these are important. Which one of these predominates in Jesus’ attitude?

c) Compare Jesus’ attitude with the attitude of the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23. What strikes you the most?

d) Is the attitude of our community the same as that of Jesus?

5. For those who wish to reach more deeply into the theme

a)    The context which enlightens the text:

i) Chapter six of Mark shows an enormous contrast! On the one hand, Mark speaks about the banquet of death, held by Herod with the great of Galilee, in the palace of the capital city, during which John the Baptist was killed (Mk 6:17-29). On the other hand, the banquet of life, held by Jesus for the people of Galilee, hungry in the desert, so that they would not perish along the way (Mk 6:35-44). The five verses of this Sunday’s reading (Mk 6:30-34) are placed exactly between these two banquets.

ii) These five verses underline two things:

- they offer a picture of Jesus, the formator of the disciples;

- they indicate that the Good News of Jesus is not only a question of doctrine, but above all of acceptance, of goodness, of tenderness, of availability, of revelation of the love of God.

b) Commentary on the text:

Mark 6:30-32: The welcoming acceptance given to the disciples

These verses indicate that Jesus formed the new leaders. He involved the disciples in the mission and He took them to a more peaceful place so as to be able to rest and do a review of their mission (cf. Lk 10:17-20). He was concerned about their nourishment and their rest, because the work of the mission was such that they did not even have the time to eat (cf. Jn 21:9-13).

Mark 6:33-34: Moved to compassion, Jesus changes His plans and receives the people

The people perceive that Jesus has gone to the other shore of the lake, and they follow Him. When Jesus is getting out of the boat, and sees that crowd, He sacrifices His rest and begins to teach them. Here we can see the state of abandonment in which the people were. Jesus was moved to compassion “because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” The one who reads this parable remembers the Psalm of the Good Shepherd (Ps 23). When Jesus becomes aware that the people have no shepherd, He begins to be their shepherd. He begins to teach. He guides the crowds in the desert of life, and the multitude could then sing, “The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want!”

b)    Extending the information:

● A picture of Jesus, the Formator

“To follow” was the term which formed part of the education system of the time. It was used to indicate the relationship between the disciple and the master. The relationship of master-disciple is different from the relationship of professor-pupil. The pupils attend classes given by the professor on a given subject. The disciples “follow” the master and live with him. And it is precisely during this “living together” of three years with Jesus that the disciples received their formation.

Jesus, the Master, is the axis, the center, and the model of formation. In His attitudes  is a proof of the Kingdom.  He incarnates the love of God and reveals it (Mk 6:31; Mt 10:30-31; Lk 15:11-32). Many small gestures mirror this witness of life by which Jesus indicated His presence in the life of the disciples, preparing them for life and for the mission. This was His way of giving a human form to the experience which He Himself had with the Father:

- to involve them in the mission (Mk 6:7; Lk 9:1-2, 10:1);

- once, He reviews this mission with them (Lk 10:17-20);

- He corrects them when they make a mistake or when they want to be the first ones (Mk 10:13-15; Lk 9:46-48);

- He waits for the opportune moment to correct them (Mk 9:33-35);

- He helps them to discern (Mk 9:28-29);

- He challenges them when they are slow (Mk 4:13; 8:14-21);

- He prepares them for the time of conflict (Jn 16:33; Mt 10:17-25);

- He sends them out to observe and to analyze reality (Mk 8:27-29; Jn 4:35; Mt 16:1-3);

- He reflects together with them on the questions of the present moment (Lk 13:1-5);

- He places them before the needs of the multitude (Jn 6:5);   He corrects the mentality of revenge (Lk 9:54-55);

- He teaches that the needs of the multitude are over and above the ritual prescriptions (Mt 12:7,12):

- He fights against the mentality which thinks that sickness is a punishment from God (Jn 9:2-3);

- He spends time alone with them in order to be able to instruct them (Mk 4:34; 7:17; 9:30-31; 10:10; 13:3);

- He knows how to listen, even when dialogue is difficult (Jn 4:7-42);

- He helps them to accept themselves (Lk 22:32);

- He is demanding and asks them to leave everything for His sake (Mk 10:17-31);

- He is severe with hypocrisy (Lk 11:37-53);

- He asks more questions than gives responses (Mk 8:17-21);

- He is firm and does not allow Himself to be turned away from the road (Mk 8:33; Lk 9:54-55).

This is a picture of Jesus, the formator. The formation in the “following of Jesus” was not just the transmission of truth to be learned by heart, but rather a communication of a new experience of God and of life which radiated from Jesus for the disciples. The community which formed around Jesus was the expression of this new experience. Formation led the person to see with other eyes, to have other attitudes. It planted in them a new awareness concerning the mission and themselves. Yes, it made them place their feet side by side with those who were excluded. In some, it produced “conversion” because they accepted the Good News (Mk 1:15).

● How Jesus announces the Good News to the multitude

The fact that John was in prison impels Jesus to return and begin the announcement of the Good News. It was an explosive and creative beginning! Jesus goes around and through all of Galilee: the villages, the towns, the city (Mk 1:39). He visits the communities. Finally He changes residence and goes to live in Capernaum (Mk 1:21; 2:1), a city on the cross roads to several places, and this facilitated proclamation of the message . He practically never stops; He is always on the road. The disciples go with Him everywhere: in the fields, along the streets, on the mountain, in the desert, in the ship, in the synagogues, in the houses. And they go with great enthusiasm!

Jesus helps the people, serving them in many ways: He drives out the evil spirits (Mk 1:39), He cures the sick and those who are possessed by the devil (Mk 1:34), He purifies those who are excluded because of some impurity (Mk 1:40-45), He accepts the marginalized and interacts and eats with them (Mk 2:15). He announces, calls and convokes. He attracts, consoles and helps. This is a passion which is revealed - passion for the Father and for the poor and abandoned people of His land. There He finds people who listen to Him.  He speaks and proclaims the Good News everywhere.

In Jesus, everything is revelation which fascinates or captivates Him from within! He Himself is the proof, the living witness of the Kingdom. In Him one sees what happens when a person allows God to reign, allows God to guide or direct his life. In His way of living and acting together with the others, Jesus transforms nostalgia into hope! All of a sudden people understood: This was what God wanted for His people!

This was the beginning of the announcement of the Good News of the Kingdom which was rapidly absorbed among the villages of Galilee. In a small way, like a seed which grows until it becomes a big tree, under which people could rest (Mk 4:31-32). And people took care to spread the News.

The people of Galilee remained impressed with the way Jesus taught. “A new teaching! Given with authority! Different from that of the scribes!” (Mk 1:22, 27). What Jesus did most was to teach (Mk 2:13; 4:1-2; 6:34). And this was what He used to do (Mk 10:1). More than fifteen times the Gospel of Mark says that Jesus taught. But Mark hardly ever says what He taught. Perhaps he is not interested in the content? It depends on what people understand by content! To teach does not mean to teach only new truths and thus people learn them by heart. The content which Jesus has to give does not only appear in the words, but also in His gestures and in the way in which He enters into relationship with the people. The content is never separated from the person who communicates it. Jesus was a welcoming person (Mk 6:34). He loved the people. Goodness and love, which were visible in His words, formed part of the content. They constitute His temperament. Good content without goodness is like spilled milk. Mark defines the content of the teaching of Jesus as “the Good News of God” (Mk 1:14). The Good News which Jesus proclaimed comes from God and reveals something about God. In everything which God says and does, the traits of the face of God are visible. The experience which He Himself has of God, the experience of the Father, is visible. To reveal God as Father is the source, the content, and the purpose or end of the Good News of Jesus.

6. Pray with Psalm 23 (22)

Yahweh is my shepherd

Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows He lets me lie.
By tranquil streams He leads me
to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice
as befits His name.
Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death
I should fear no danger,
for You are at my side.
Your staff and Your crook are there to soothe me.
You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup brims over.
Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life.
I make my home in the house of Yahweh
for all time to come.

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

The mission of the twelve

Mark 6:7-13

1. Opening prayer

Father, grant that we may see in Your Son the face of Your love, the Word of salvation and mercy, so that we may follow Him with generous heart and proclaim Him in word and deed to our brothers and sisters who look for the Kingdom and His justice. Pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may listen attentively and that our witness may be authentic and free, even in difficult times and in times when we do not understand. Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

2. Reading

a) The context:

After the calling ("institution" in the text) of the twelve (Mk 3:13-19), Jesus teaches and heals as part of their schooling. Now the time has come for their first public practice: as a first experience, they have to go and proclaim. Two by two, they go among the people with tasks, which in Mark seem to be rather simple: a generic proclamation to conversion and various types of warnings against evil. Jesus does not let the violent refusal of Himself in Nazareth frighten Him, a fact first recalled by Mark: Mk 6:1-6. He does not suspend His mission, because our closed minds cannot block Him.

The other two Synoptic Gospels (Mt 10:1-42; Lk 9:1-10) recount with greater precision the tasks and challenges the twelve will meet. However, in all the Gospels it is important to note that the mission comes from Jesus and only after they have learned from Him the manner and the content. The number "twelve", which is also the number of the tribes of Israel, is so often repeated in connection with the foundation of the new community, even to the glories of the Apocalypse, signifying continuity and the surpassing of the preceding saving economy. The sending "two by two" must be understood according to the Jewish mentality that accepts any witness only if it is brought by a "community" ( a minimum of two) and not by one person. “Two” also appears in other instructions from Jesus (Mt 18:19-20).

b) The text:

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick— no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

3. A moment of silent prayer

to re-read the text with our heart and to recognize in the words and structure, the presence of the mystery of the living God.

4. Some questions

to see the important points in the text and begin to assimilate them

a) In Mark, why is the driving out of the unclean spirits so important?

b) What is the meaning of this insistence on poverty of means?

c) What is the content of this first proclamation?

d) Why does Jesus place poverty and courage and freedom together?

e) Why does the proclamation have to be itinerant and not stable?

f) What do the other Synoptic Gospels explain better?

5. A deepening of the reading

"He began to send them out two by two"

The mission of the disciples does not come from personal enthusiasm or from a desire for greatness. It begins when Jesus thinks that they are ready to speak, based on what they have heard and assimilated. According to Mark, until then they had seen many miracles and heard some teachings, important among the teachings being the theme of the seed that grows in several ways. They have also witnessed some arguments between Jesus and the leaders.

They were to model themselves on Jesus' practice as healer, His call to conversion, His availability to move among the people, and His itinerant preaching. They are certainly not mature yet. Under Jesus' supervision they will learn and better themselves: they will come up with the right words and the proper gestures. They will experience the enthusiasm that comes from great success, but in the end, they will have to go beyond even their focus on miracles in order to announce the death and resurrection of the Savior.

"He gave them authority over the unclean spirits"

This concerns "exousia" which Jesus practiced too: they are therefore empowered and authorized to use the same power. For Mark, it almost seems that this is the main exercise at this time; in fact, he concentrates on this aspect of Jesus as "thaumaturge" and one who drives out evil spirits.

We need to understand that "unclean spirits" meant many things: mental illnesses, forms of epilepsy, destructive spiritual forces, every form of psychological disorder, physical malfunctions, etc.

Power is exercised in walking among these sufferings, accepting the challenge to faith in God provided by these challenges, accepting to live in solidarity, accepting the dignity of each human being. We must not identify "unclean" with sexual or legal impurity. It is a matter of "purity" as God sees it, that is, love, solidarity, justice, mercy, collaboration, welcoming, etc. That is why the twelve will have to call "to conversion" from these prejudices, perverse and "unclean" forms to live as children of God.

"Nothing for their journey, except a staff…"

Their mission must be an itinerant one, not sedentary; that is, the mission must constantly stimulate the going, new encounters, detachment from results, interior and exterior freedom. Hence the recommendation, found in all the Synoptic Gospels, to practice material poverty in dress and food, in security and guarantees. It was probably also a matter of the shortness of the experience: as a first exercise, it was not supposed to last long, and so, they had to travel light, free, focused more on the importance of the proclamation than on the consolidation of results.

When this text was written, the situation of the community of disciples was a lot more developed and consolidated. Thus, the memory of these recommendations not only served to recall this first joyful and adventurous experience, but also to confront the present style of life and customs with those of the time of Jesus, now so long ago. Thus, the text aims at remembering and at a new missionary impetus, less fearful of the demands of comfort and security.

"When you leave, shake off the dust…"

The Lord's recommendations bring together two aspects, which only appear to be in contradiction. On the one hand, the disciples must be completely available to meet the people, without thinking of gain or survival. They must seek out sick people - that is, those sick for personal or social reasons, from the oppression of the law or from  human evil - and free them, pour the oil of consolation on them, heal their wounds and interior hurts. But, on the other hand, they must also avoid accepting any form of hypocrisy and irresponsible do-gooders.

Besides charity and care for the suffering, they must also have the courage to unmask hypocrisy, react to closed minds and accept personal failure. Where they are not received, they must leave without regrets or weakness. Rejection or hypocrisy render proclamation and witness sterile. He asks for a clear and unequivocal break, a thing that Jesus Himself, perhaps, had not experienced much. He always tried to go back and dialogue. He suffered from the closed minds of the Pharisees and the scribes. He challenged their tenacious and insidious teachings. Yet now He imposes on His disciples the direction not to waste time on those who will not receive them. Probably, in this recommendation there is also an adaptation to the situation of the community: they must not regret the break with the Israelite community. There had been a closed attitude and a ferocious and aggressive refusal: well, Jesus had foreseen this too. There was no need to grieve. They must go to other people and they must not waste time trying to win back what could not be won back.

6. Psalm 85

Prayer for justice and peace

Show us Thy steadfast love,
O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation.
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints,
to those who turn to Him in their hearts.
Surely His salvation is at hand for those who fear Him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss. 
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
Yea, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before Him,
and make His footsteps a way.

7. Closing prayer

Lord our God, keep Your Son’s disciples from the easy ways of popularity, of cheap glory, and lead them to the ways of the poor and scourged of the earth, so that they may recognize in their faces the face of the Master and Redeemer. Give them eyes to see possible ways of peace and solidarity; ears to hear the requests for meaning and salvation of so many people who grope in the dark; enrich their hearts with generous fidelity and a sensitiveness and understanding so that they may walk along the way and be true and sincere witnesses to the glory that shines in the crucified resurrected and victorious One. Who lives and reigns gloriously with You, Father, forever and ever. Amen.

In Nazareth, where there was no faith,
Jesus could work no miracles!
Everybody’s Mission: to recreate the community
Mark 6:1-6

1. Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.

Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we, too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

On this 14^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Church presents to us the rejection of Jesus on the part of the people of Nazareth. Passing through Nazareth was painful for Jesus. What was His first community is now no longer such. Something has changed. Those who first accepted Him now reject Him. As we will see later, this experience of rejection led Jesus to go ahead and to change His way of acting.

Has something changed in your relationship with your family or with your friends, since you began to participate in the community? Has participation in the community helped you to accept and to have greater trust in people, especially in the simplest and poorest people?

b) A division of the text to help in the reading:

Mark 6:1: Jesus arrives in Nazareth, His community of origin

Mark 6:2-3: The reaction of the people of Nazareth to Jesus

Mark 6:4: The way in which Jesus accepts the criticism

Mark 6:5-6: The lack of faith prevents Him from working the miracle

c) The text:

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.

4. Some questions

to help us in our personal reflection.

a) Which part of this text did you like the most and what impressed you most? Why?

b) What is the attitude of Nazareth toward Jesus? Why do they not believe in Him?

c) Because of the lack of faith of the people, Jesus cannot work many miracles in Nazareth. Why is faith so important? Would it be that Jesus cannot work miracles without the faith of people?

d) What are the elements that characterize the mission of the disciples?

e) Which point of the mission of the apostles has greatest importance for us today? Why?

5. For those who wish to go more deeply into the theme

a) Context of yesterday and of today:

i) Throughout the pages of his Gospel, Mark indicates that the presence and actions of Jesus constitute a growing source of joy for some and a reason for rejection by others. The conflict grows and the mystery of God appears which envelop the person of Jesus. With chapter 6 of the narrative we find ourselves in a curve. The people of Nazareth close themselves up before Jesus (Mk 6:1-6). And Jesus, before this closing up of the people of His community, opens Himself to the people of another community. He directs Himself toward the people of Galilee and sends His disciples on mission, teaching them how the relationship should be with people, so that it will be a true community relationship, which does not exclude, as it had happened among the people of Nazareth (Mk 6:7-13).

ii) When Mark wrote his Gospel, the Christian communities lived in a difficult situation, without horizons. Humanly speaking there was no future for them. The description of the conflict which Jesus faces in Nazareth and in sending out the disciples, which extends the mission, makes it creative. For those who believe in Jesus there can be no situation without a horizon.

b) Commentary on the text

Mark 6:1-3. Reactions of the people of Nazareth to Jesus

It is always good to go back to our own land. After a long absence, Jesus also goes back and, as usual on Saturday, He goes to a meeting of the community. Jesus was not the coordinator, but just the same, He speaks. This is a sign that the people could participate and express their opinion. But the people did not like the words pronounced by Jesus.  They were scandalized. Jesus, who was known to them since He was a child, how is it that now He is so different? The people of Capernaum had accepted the teaching of Jesus (Mark 1:22), but the people of Nazareth remained scandalized and had not accepted it. What was the reason for this rejection? “Is this not the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary?” They did not accept God’s mystery present in such a common person, one like themselves! In order to be able to speak of God, He would have to be different from them!

The expression “brothers of Jesus” causes many polemics between Catholics and Protestants. Basing themselves on this and in other texts, the Protestants say that Jesus had more brothers and sisters and that Mary had more children! We Catholics say that Mary did not have other children. What are we to think about this? In the first place, the two positions, that of Catholics and that of the Protestants, take arguments from the Bible and from the ancient Tradition from their respective Churches. For this reason, it is not appropriate to discuss these questions using rational arguments, which are the fruit of our own ideas. It is a question of deep convictions which have something to do with faith and the sentiment of the people.

The argument supported by ideas alone does not  bring about a conviction of faith, the roots of which are found in the heart! It only irritates and disturbs! But even if I do not agree with the opinion of another, I must always respect it. In the second place, instead of discussing the texts, all of us, Catholics and Protestants, should unite much more to fight in the defense of life, created by God, a life which is so transfigured by poverty, injustice, the lack of faith. We should remember other words of Jesus: “I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance” (Jn 10:10). “So that all may be one, so that the world may believe it was You who sent Me” (Jn 17:21). “You must not stop him. Anyone who is not against us is for us” (Mk 9:39-40).

Mark 6:4-6b. Reactions of Jesus to the attitude of the people of Nazareth

Jesus knows very well that “the saint of the house does not work miracles.” And He asserts, “A prophet is despised only in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house!” In fact, where faith is not accepted, people can do nothing. Prejudice prevents it. Jesus, even if He wanted, can do nothing and remains surprised by their lack of faith.

c) Information on the Gospel of Mark:

This year the Liturgy presents the Gospel of Mark to us in a particular way. Because of this it is worthwhile to give some information which will help us to uncover the message which Mark wants to communicate to us.

· The design of the face of God on the wall of the Gospel of Mark

Jesus dies approximately in the year 33. When Mark writes his Gospel about the year 70, the Christian communities lived already dispersed in the Roman Empire. Some say that Mark writes for the community of Italy. Others say that he does it for those of Syria. It is difficult to know it with certainty. Nevertheless, one thing is certain. The problems were not lacking: the Roman Empire persecuted the Christians, the propaganda of the Empire infiltrated the communities, the Jews from Palestine rebelled against the Roman invasion, there were internal tensions due to diverse tendencies, doctrines and leaders…

Mark writes his Gospel to help the communities find a response to their problems and concerns. He collects various episodes and parables of Jesus and joins them together as bricks on a wall. The bricks were already ancient and known. They came from the community, where they were transmitted orally in meetings and celebrations. The design formed by the bricks was new. It came from Mark, from his experience of Jesus. He wanted the community, reading what Jesus did and said, to find a response to these questions: “Who is Jesus for us and who are we for Jesus? How can we be His disciples? How can we proclaim the Good News of God that He has revealed? How can we travel on the path that He traced?

· Three keys to understanding the division of the Gospel of Mark

1^st Key: The Gospel of Mark was written to be read and listened to in community. When a book is read alone, one can always turn back, to join one thing to another, but when one is in community and a person is reading the Gospel to us, it is not possible to say, “Stop! Read that again! I did not understand well!” As we shall see, a book written to be listened to in  community celebrations has a different way of dividing the theme from a book written to be read by one alone.

2^nd Key: The Gospel of Mark is a narrative. A narrative is like a river. Going through the river in a boat, one is not aware of the divisions in the water. The river has no divisions! It is constituted by one flow alone, from the beginning to the end. In the river, the divisions, are made beginning from the bank of the river. For example it is said: “ What a beautiful part which goes from that house up to the curve where there is a palm, three curves after that.” But in the water no divisions can be seen. Mark’s narrative runs like a river. Its divisions, those who listen, find them on the margin, that is to say, in the places through which Jesus passed by, in the geography, in the persons whom He meets, along the roads He travels. These indications on the margin help those who listen to not get lost in the midst of so many words and actions of Jesus and by Jesus. The geographic framework helps the reader to walk with Jesus, step after step, from Galilee to Jerusalem, from the lake to Calvary.

3^rd Key: the Gospel of Mark was written so as to be read in one sitting. This is what the Jews did with the brief books of the Old Testament.  Some scholars affirm that the Gospel of Mark was written to be read completely in the course of the night of the long Paschal vigil. Or, in order to not get the people who listened tired, the reading had to be divided and to have some pauses. Besides, when a narrative is long, as that of the Gospel of Mark, its reading has to be interrupted quite often. In certain moments there is need for a pause, otherwise the listeners would be lost. These pauses were foreseen by the author of the narrative himself . These pauses were marked by short summaries, between two long readings. Practically, the same thing that happens in television. Every day, at the beginning of the news  some scenes of the preceding transmission are repeated. When they end, some scenes of the next day are presented. These summaries are like the hinges which collect what has been read and open to what will follow. They allow one to stop and to begin anew, without interrupting or disturbing the sequence of the narrative. They help those who listen to place themselves in the river of the narrative which flows. In the Gospel of Mark there are diverse summaries of this type, or pauses, which allow us to discover and follow the thread of the Good News of God which Jesus has revealed to us and that Mark tells us. In the whole, there is a question of seven blocks or longer readings, intermingled with short summaries or hinges, where it is possible to make a pause.

· A division of the Gospel of Mark

Below we give a possible division of the Gospel of Mark. Others divide it in a different way. The importance of a division is that it opens one of the many windows inside the text, and that it helps us to discover the direction of the road which Jesus opened for us toward the Father and the brothers and sisters.

Mark 1:1-13                     Beginning of the Good News

                                               Prepare the announcement

                                                         1^st Reading

Mark 1:14-15                   pause, summary, hinge

Mark 1:16-3:16               The Good News grows

                                               The conflict becomes present

                                                          2^nd Reading

Mark 3:7-12                     pause, summary, hinge

Mark 3:13-6:6                  The conflict grows

                                               The Mystery appears

                                                         3^rd Reading

Mark 6:7-13                     pause, summary, hinge

Mark 6:14-8:21                The Mystery grows

                                               It is not understood

                                                         4^th Reading

Mark 8:22-26                   pause, summary, hinge

Mark 8:27-10:45              They continue not to understand

                                             The dark light of the Cross appears

                                                         5^th Reading

Mark 10:46-52                 pause, summary, hinge

Mark 11:1-13:32              The dark light of the Cross grows

                                               Rupture and death appear

                                                          6^th Reading

Mark 13:33-37                  pause, summary, hinge

Mark 14:1-15:39               Rupture and death grow

                                               Victory over death appears

                                                          7^th Reading

Mark 15:40-41                  pause, summary, hinge

Mark 15:42-16:20            The victory over death increases

                                                The Good News reappears

                                                          8^th Reading

Mark 16:9-20

In this division the titles are important. They indicate the path of the Spirit, of inspiration, which the Gospel follows from the beginning until the end. When an artist has an inspiration, he tries to express it in a work of art. A poem or an image which is produced encloses in itself this inspiration. Inspiration is like an electric force which runs invisibly through the wires and lights the lamp in our houses. In the same way,   inspiration runs invisibly through the letters of the poem or the form of the image to reveal  in us a light similar or almost similar to that which shone in the soul of the artist. This is the reason why artistic works attract and shake people so much. The same thing happens when we read and meditate on the Gospel of Mark. The same Spirit or Inspiration which impelled Mark to write the text continues to be present in the words of his Gospel. Through our attentive and prayerful reading, this Spirit acts and begins to act in us. And thus, little by little, we discover the face of God who has revealed Himself in Jesus and which Mark communicates to us in his book.

6. Prayer of Psalm 145

Always give thanks for everything!

I shall praise You to the heights,
God my King,
I shall bless Your name for ever and ever.
Day after day I shall bless You,
I shall praise Your name for ever and ever.
Great is Yahweh and worthy of all praise,
His greatness beyond all reckoning.
Each age will praise Your deeds to the next,
proclaiming Your mighty works.
Your renown is the splendor of your glory,
I will ponder the story of Your wonders.
They will speak of Your awesome power,
and I shall recount Your greatness.
They will bring out the memory of Your great generosity,
and joyfully acclaim Your saving justice.
Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger, full of faithful love.
Yahweh is generous to all,
His tenderness embraces all His creatures.
All Your creatures shall thank You,
Yahweh, and Your faithful shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingship
and tell of Your might,
making known Your mighty deeds to the children of Adam,
the glory and majesty of Your kingship.
Your kingship is a kingship for ever,
Your reign lasts from age to age.
Yahweh is trustworthy in all His words,
and upright in all His deeds.
Yahweh supports all who stumble,
lifts up those who are bowed down.
All look to You in hope
and You feed them with the food of the season.
And, with generous hand,
You satisfy the desires of every living creature.
Upright in all that He does,
Yahweh acts only in faithful love.
He is close to all who call upon Him,
all who call on Him from the heart.
He fulfills the desires of all who fear Him,
He hears their cry and He saves them.
Yahweh guards all who love Him,
but all the wicked He destroys.
My mouth shall always praise Yahweh,
let every creature bless His holy name for ever and ever.

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

by Raúl Maraví, O.Carm.

 We just heard the death of our oldest brother in Carmel, Father Celstino Lui, O.Carm. We would like to republish the article on his centennial birthday appeared in last Citoc Magazine.

Our life can last seventy years, perhaps the strongest of us eighty.  Who evaluates the power of your anger, fear and respect that you deserve?  Teach us to number our days, and give our hearts to wisdom” says the psalmist. This is what our brother Celestino Lui says as he completes his 100 years.

The same day as his birthday, June 14, 2011, Celestino Lui, O. Carm., a member of the Province of St. Elias (Flum) in Brazil, celebrated the centennial of his life with a solemn Mass in the city of Unaí, in the state of Minas Gerais, with the participation of bishop Leonardo Pereira, of Paracatu, Bishop Paulo Cardoso, O. Carm., of Petrolina, Archbishop Antônio Muniz, O. Carm., Archbishop of Maceió, Raúl Maraví , O. Carm., General Councilor, Geraldo Maciel, O. Carm., Prior Provincial, along with many friars, religious, family and many members of the Carmelite Family.   Father Celestino Lui, O. Carm. is the oldest member of the Carmelite Order and on the occasion of this birthday, the Brazil post office issued a commemorative stamp.

Father Celestino was born in Itu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 14, 1911.  At the age of seven years he decided to embrace the religious life after receiving the assurance from an old priest that he would always be a faithful and holy religious.  Looking back on his life life, Father Celestino said he had sinned, but always felt the hand of God protected him and urged him to continue to persevere.   Despite his many years, he still lives the religious life and always respects the orders of superiors in the good and faithful exercise of his life as a Carmelite.  To this day Celestino teaches us to love, play, study, pray always, and even complain when necessary.

He shared his secret to longevity with the brothers and the people of Unaí: “Living in the fear of God, diligently observe the commandments, cultivate honesty and holiness in every state of life, continually pray, because prayer is the way of salvation that will take us to full communion with God and believe that only God can give us the holiness and happiness in this world and of  eternity.”

As a direct descendant of Italians, the second of seven children of a brave couple of immigrants who came to Brazil, Celestino used many exclamations and even used profanity in his everyday speech.  However over the years his hair turned gray and his life took him into silence, prayer and solitude within the convent.  He constantly prayed the breviary, prayed with the Bible, and entertained himself with his books of contemplation and that were worn by time.   He still prays aloud in Italian though  the friars who live with him do not fully understand him. 

With regard to his hundred years, Fr Celestino constantly says: “With a life that gave me so much; age has given me happiness and the eyes to see how good God is with me in the community of brothers.”

During the Provincial Chapter of the Provincial Chapter of the American Province of Saint Elias held on 5-8 June 2012 were elected:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Mario Esposito, O.Carm.
• First Councilor:  Br. Robert Chiulli, O.Carm.
• Second Councilor:  Fr. Lucian Beltzner , O.Carm.
• Third Councilor:  Fr. Michael Kissane, O.Carm.
• Fourth Councilor:  Fr. Raymond Maher , O.Carm.

The last Provincial Chapter of the Upper German Province, before the unification with the Lower German Province, scheduled for the 1st of January, 2013, took place in Springiersbach, Germany, from the 28th of May to the 1st of June just gone by. In view of the forthcoming unification no elections were held.