Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 6,30-35

So they said, 'What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread always.' Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

"What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus reproached the crowds for seeking only their own satisfaction. Jesus responds to their request and pointed to one needed thing only: to believe in the one sent by God. But the crowd insists; perhaps they wanted Jesus to solve the problem of food not just for the five thousand who had just benefited from the miracle, but for the entire people of Israel as it happened at the time of the manna. Jesus responds to their insistence and says that it was not Moses who gave them the bread from heaven, but "it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." However the hard hearts and minds of Jesus' listeners did not allow then to deeply understand Jesus' words. The starting point of their understanding is themselves, their needs and instincts. They do not understand what Jesus truly wants to say. This happens to us when we do not enter deeply into the words of the Gospel because we listen to them from our viewpoint rather than from what they really want to tell us. A "spiritual" reading of the Bible is needed, a reading done within a prayerful state and openness of heart. Sacred Scripture must be listened to with a heart open to being touched by the Lord. Without prayer we risk having only our egos in front of us and not the Lord speaking to us. Without the community of brothers and sisters, our "I" precludes us the wide dialogue for which the Bible was written. Jesus does not withdraw from their request and says even more clearly: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." It is a solemn and typical affirmation of the Gospel of John: it shows Jesus' divine origin. Browsing the pages of the fourth Gospel we see that Jesus employs many concrete images to make us understand the greatness of his love for us. He is the true bread, the true life, the truth, the light, the gate, the good shepherd, the vine, the living water...he is the resurrection.