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A good Sunday to all.

We remember that last week's Gospel passage ended with the crowds' enthusiasm who wanted to proclaim Jesus as king and, therefore, Jesus is at the height of success, a triumph in our opinion. Still, for Jesus, it was the greatest disappointment. He had realized that he had not been able to make the people understand the meaning of the sign he had given. He had taken five loaves of bread and two fish, that is, all that the people had at their disposal, and had shown that this food was not only enough to feed everyone, but it was simply superabundant. He had given a sign that the people did not understand.

They considered Jesus a miracle worker. This is the misunderstanding that we also fall into. Our world has so many flaws, so many holes and gaps that need to be repaired: hunger, misery…. What did the people of Capernaum say? What did they expect from Jesus? The people must have said: 'What a great thing; finally, here comes one who solves all our problems with miracles.' It is the misunderstanding that we, too, can fall into.

Jesus couldn't make them understand that the new world does not come from heaven with miracles but must be built following his proposal. Only in this way will we create a world without hunger, without wars, without misery. This was the sign that Jesus had given, and people misunderstood it. What happens next? There is a text in the Gospel of John that is not quoted today, but we must recall it because it helps us understand what happens.

There is general bewilderment; Jesus goes up the mountain alone; the disciples separate from the crowd, then two groups are formed. We see that the disciples go on their own; they go in a boat to Capernaum without Jesus being with them. And then, during the night, the sea is agitated, a strong wind blows, and they are alone. Jesus stays on the mountain. They try to paddle for three or four kilometers. The sea is rough; the wind is against them. At one point, they see Jesus walking on the waves of the sea. They are afraid. Then they receive Jesus into the boat and that raging sea calms down, and they reach the finish line.

All this is very mysterious. What does the evangelist John want to tell us? This story is a parable of the general bewilderment before the sign that Jesus makes. The fact that Jesus goes alone to the mountain is a clear sign. It has a clear meaning for those who keep in mind the biblical symbolism of the mountain, that is, the place where the thought of God is shared. He is the only one who goes up the mountain and Jesus is the only one who continues to think according to the Lord's criteria. As we have said, the disciples separate themselves from the crowd, get into a boat, cross the lake, but without Jesus, they are caught in a storm; the wind is against them.

These are images with which the evangelist presents their inner turmoil; they have understood the sign, but their heart is agitated. Unlike the multitude, they have understood the proposal that he has made: they must leave the old world and make an exodus to the new world that he intends to build. Still, they realize that to accept the proposal of Jesus is very complicated because it implies behaving like the child that did not keep the food for himself, did not sell it, and did not make people pay for it, but he gave it up out of love; he had put all the goods he had at the disposal of his brethren and gave proof that by so doing, the hunger of the world was satisfied. But their hearts are troubled because accepting this proposal is difficult.

Therefore, the reference to the sea in which they are involved is the agitation of their hearts and the agitation of the Christian community when it is placed in front of the sea to the provocative word of the Gospel that calls for a conversion, a radical change in life choices. This is the fear that every believer experience when he does not perceive the presence of Jesus at their side; when he believes that he does exist, that he is risen, but imagines him far away.

It is the call to adhere to his proposal. They do not feel him near them, and they are agitated, but when, instead, with the look of faith, they see him, and they welcome him in their boat when they trust in his word, the waves are calm. And at this point begins today's gospel passage which introduces the reaction of the multitude.

Let's listen:

 

"When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?'"

 

The disciples, who had understood the sign, were very agitated. The crowd was at a loss; they did not understand, they misunderstood the sign, looked for Jesus, and could not find him, and they could not find the disciples either; they do not know where to go and whom to turn. It seems that they are all perplexed and disoriented, and it was to be expected. The sign given by Jesus is highly provocative, and the people need clarification; they want to understand well what he expects, what he has come to give.

The passage was written for us; we today need clarification to understand well what Jesus comes to do in our lives. We have recognized ourselves in the disciples tossed by the sea waves. Still, now we must identify ourselves in these multitudes of Capernaum, that we recognize ourselves in these multitudes of the disciples, in their expectations, because these are our expectations, what we expect from Jesus today.

The multitudes seek Jesus and find him on the other side of the sea. Jesus has made his exodus. Jesus wanted to introduce these multitudes into the new world, but they did not follow him; they stayed with their feet planted in their own land; it was the land of bondage, the old world; they did not follow him and are still seeking, but for the wrong reason. They wait for what he did not come to give.

When they find him, they ask him, "When did you come here?" This is not the question they wanted to ask him; what they have in mind is something else, and it is this: "Jesus, will you do wonders for us to make our life easier in this world? When we have problems and difficulties, you have to solve them with miracles because if you don't help us in these concrete things, in these material needs that we have, what is the use of having known you?"

Let us see if these expectations of the people of Capernaum are not very similar to those of many Christians today. We also have heard expressions very similar to those of the inhabitants of Capernaum. They do it when, for example, people say: I am a believer, but if I am in need because I have problems and I call the Lord, and he does not intervene, what is the use of believing? These are the same objections that the inhabitants of Capernaum raise to Jesus. They only expect him to intervene to help them in their material needs.

Let us listen to Jesus' answer:

 

"Jesus answered them and said, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.'"

 

Jesus does not answer the question they asked him because it is not what they have in mind. Jesus answers the real one: 'You seek me not because you have understood the sign but because you have eaten the loaves and the fishes. That is, you seek me that I may respond with miracles to your material needs; in reality, you are not looking for me; you are looking for the loaves and fishes.' This is the misunderstanding that is still present today in many people's minds, even many Christians.

Let us ask ourselves why do they seek the Lord? If their prayers are directed to him to receive what he gives, they should ask him for the light to make the right decisions in life, see clearly, and not make mistakes. He teaches us to love, to give to others, not to keep the goods for ourselves, but to think about the life of our brothers and sisters. In our prayers, on the other hand, we do not ask for the people's needs… we ask to 'receive.' What are the expectations of these prayers of ours? Also, on the Lord's day, when we are gathered together, and we should feel in full communion with our brothers and sisters, even on the Lord's day we withdraw into ourselves, in our petitions to the Lord to intervene to solve our material problems.

Thus, we see that many have abandoned their faith because of the needs for which in the past they had recourse to God and the saints are now solved by science and technology. And when this happens, it means that the identity of Jesus is misunderstood. What is the answer he gives? "Seek not from me the food that perishes, but that which endures to eternal life." There are two foods for two lives. There is one food for the material life: the perishable life because the biological life perishes, and there is another life.

In English, we have only one term to indicate life, but in Greek, there are two: 'bios' and 'zoé, to which is added the adjective 'aionios,' eternal life, or better, the life of the Eternal. As we know, biological life comes to an end. Let us remember what the psalmist says in Psalm 49 about the rich who have everything but says that no matter how much they pay for the ransom of their lives, it is never enough to live without end, never enough to avoid ending up in the grave. It is the life that perishes.

The food of this life is vital, but it is necessary to consider that it is a life that ends. Jesus says: 'seek not this food from me that you must obtain yourselves; from me, you must wait for the food that nourishes the life that does not perish, which is the life that God gives us and which is untouched by the biological death.' So let's ask ourselves a little bit about our life: the withdrawal and thinking about the food that perishes, forgetting that we have another life to nourish. What is the use of worrying so much about things that are destined to perish? They are also important, but it is not important to have a designer dress, the latest car model. Let's think about how much effort we put into attracting the attention of others, to climb a rung on the social ladder, maybe to get some visibility on TV and in the newspapers... It's food that perishes.

We fight for what will not satiate us in depth. We will never satiate our hunger for life with these things. We long for a life that endures forever because we are well made. Let's be aware of it. Otherwise, we will live badly; we will always be in disarray. Jesus did not come to bring to the world the bread for biological life. Here is the misunderstanding that Jesus wants to get us out of today. Let us then review our life and see the real reason why we seek the Lord.

So what must we do to have this food that lasts for eternal life? This is what Jesus answers:

 

"So they said to him, 'What can we do to accomplish the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.' So they said to him, 'What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

 

The multitudes of Capernaum that went in search of Jesus are now asking him about all their doubts. They are religious people, people who every Sabbath go to the synagogue for the liturgy, go to the temple, pray, and offer alms, who practice fasting. Now they turn to Jesus and ask him: 'Besides these works that we do, what else should we do?'

It is the question that we also must ask Jesus because we also are practitioners of religion. What else does Jesus expect from us? What else does Jesus expect from us besides what we are already doing? Jesus' answer is not to believe in other things; 'the only work that God asks of you is to believe in me.' To believe in him who has been sent by the heavenly Father: Jesus of Nazareth.

What does it mean to believe? We often say 'to have faith' - it is the same thing. John never speaks of having faith but of believing. To believe means to trust in the proposal of life that Jesus makes to us. We hear so many suggestions of successful lives, and we cannot afford to be wrong because we only have one life. Believing means choosing the proposal that Jesus of Nazareth makes, which is to give one's life for love, not to keep one's goods for oneself but to give them to others so that they may live. This is his proposal; to believe means: 'I bet my life for what you ask me to do.' And it is clear that this is a very demanding proposal and we cannot make a mistake.

Then comes the doubt: But won't I have regrets afterward if I haven't enjoyed life? That is why the crowds in Capernaum say to Jesus, give us a sign that your proposal comes from God, the proposal that you are embodying. And then they refer to Moses. He gave a sign to the people who followed him in the wilderness; it was a sign from heaven: the manna. Jesus does not accept to prove the truth of his proposition by miracles. Let us bear in mind that confidence in Jesus does not come from the proof of miracles and even less from rational explanations. His proposal is reasonable, but you cannot prove it rationally.

Jesus asks for the trust that a lover asks for. A lover cannot give proof to a girl by saying: 'you will have the certainty; I can prove you that I will make you happy.' He can't prove it. Either she trusts him, or she doesn't trust him. Jesus only gives you one proof: the beauty of his life given out of love. And now he asks you, 'Do you also want to commit your life to mine and together with me?' Now Jesus develops the comparison between the gift that Moses gave, the gift of manna, and the true bread that comes down from heaven. Let us listen:

 

"So Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' So they said to him, 'Sir, give us this bread always.' Jesus said to them: 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.'"

 

He who is in love wants the person he loves to be happy, and he also knows that he cannot be happy if he is not with her; that's why he wants to conquer her. Jesus is the one in love who wants to convince us that only he can fill our need for infinite love, for endless joy, for lasting life. He attracts us in the same way as lovers do; with his beauty he tells us what he can give us. 'I will not give you material food, this you have to seek by yourselves; you certainly need the food for your life that perishes, but if you think you will be satisfied only with this food, you will be disappointed. Others' lovers' promise to satisfy your hunger and thirst for joy simply with material things. Not me. Beware, however, they will deceive you. They will never give you the fullness of joy.'

The manna was a gift of God, but it was bread for the earth, bread that perishes, not the bread of heaven, the true bread that nourishes the life that does not perish. The manna did not last; out of the manna came forth worms after a time, as the treasures laid up in this world are corroded by rust or robbed by thieves. The bread of heaven nourishes a life that does not perish.

The multitudes do not understand this; they still think that the bread that comes from heaven is the material bread, and that is also what we still believe: that the graces that come from heaven are the ones that help our material life. This is only what the crowd is looking for. Then, Jesus clarifies: "I am the bread of life." It is he who satisfies people's most profound and most intimate needs. Everything we do has joy as its goal. And for that, we hunger and thirst.

But if we think that we can satisfy that hunger and thirst with perishing food and with water from wells that eventually dry up, we will be disappointed. The joy that we all experience, the joy, the happiness, that comes from pleasure—the pleasure blessed and willed by God—but then the years pass, and these wells run dry. If we have staked everything on this water of the pleasures that come from these wells when the years pass, they dry up. We may be satisfied by professional success, but then we retire, and no one calls us anymore. The well has dried up, and we are still thirsty. We liked the music, but then we become a little deaf, and we don't enjoy it anymore; we liked books, and we can't read them anymore; we liked to travel, and we can't travel anymore. These are wells that dry up, but the thirst remains in us.

It is the thirst for infinity, the longing for God that he put within us to seek him. We remember the cry of the psalmist (Psalm 42): "I thirst for you, O God; for the living God." Or the prophecy of the prophet Amos: "The days will come when I will send a famine on the earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord." Or Jeremiah, who confessed to the Lord: "When I found your words, I devoured them; your word was to me a joy and gladness to my heart."

The only bread that satisfies the need for complete joy is the word of Christ and his Gospel, not the manna of the wilderness. And until one finds this bread that satisfies, one will always be restless, even if he fills himself with the goods of this world for, let us be well aware that they are all perishing goods.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.