Picture credit: Upon This Rock Ministries via Pinterest
"I
am the Bread of Life” Jn. 6:35
Sometimes our perceptions can be so very far off. We grumble
against God, believing He has not heard our prayers, not seeing how very near
He is to us, present in our suffering, using everything we endure to bring us
closer to Him.
In the readings today, we hear how the Israelites grumbled
against God, wishing they had never left slavery - at least they were well fed in
Egypt! When the Lord sends manna – bread from heaven – and quail to feed them,
they are confused, failing to understand that God is providing for them, until
Moses explains again, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.”
In the Gospel reading, the crowds following Jesus have also
confused the “food that perishes” with the “food that endures for eternal
life.” After the miracle of the loaves, they are expecting manna like their
ancestors ate, not understanding that Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life. Their
minds are so set on their desire for food that they fail to see that God is
trying to give them so much more than that.
In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul teaches his
listeners how they can avoid these kinds of misperceptions – they must “be
renewed in the spirit of the mind,” putting aside the old self, which is
“corrupted through deceitful desires,” and become that “new self, created in
God’s way.” This complete renewal of the
spirit and mind allows us to see clearly what God is doing in our lives and in
our world.
Be prepared to see things anew, through God’s eyes. When we
allow the light of God’s Truth to renew us in mind and spirit, our perception
clears, and our lives are made new in Christ. We can then begin to appreciate the true food
that God provides for us in the Word and the Bread of Life, and to accept the
crosses and trials that God sends us without losing faith.
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