Today's episode from John's Gospel comes after the miraculous multiplication of food and the attempt by the crowd to make Jesus their political leader. Jesus withdraws and then walks across the water to rejoin his disciples in Capernaum. The crowd, who tried to make him king, is puzzled. They question Jesus who does not respond to them directly but answers with a statement of his own: "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." (Jn 6: 26) The motivation for following Jesus is important. Just like the woman at the well, initially, they are interested in physical/worldly security. She said: "Sir, give me this water , so that I may never be thirsty..." (Jn 4: 15) and the crowd says: "Sir, give us this bread always." (Jn 6: 34) Unlike the woman, who trusts in Jesus and acknowledges that he is a prophet the crowd are scandalized by him and his lowly origins. Despite the multiplication of food they cannot see that Jesus is giving them a new food designed for their eternal salvation rather than physical nourishment. As for ourselves, when we consider why we go to Mass and belong to the Catholic Church, we always need to keep Christ at the centre along with the message of salvation. In a reductionist world, obsessed with scientific data, there is a tendency to de-spiritualize or de-mythologize the sacraments. Never let us cease to be amazed at what God does for us in the sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist.
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