Month: May 2022

Today’s Gospel reading is from the beginning of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse. As we will see in the Gospel readings over the next few days, Jesus makes it more and more explicit that eating His body and drinking His blood in a mysterious, yet very real and physical way will bring us eternal life. He also makes it clear that He “will not reject anyone who comes to [Him.]” The Eucharist, which Jesus established in John 6 and at the Last Supper as the sign of the New Covenant, is intended for everyone.

When my husband, Patrick, was a freshman, he attended a college that was faithful to its Catholic identity, though he himself had left the Church. My husband’s radical faith in Christ was clear to everyone who knew him, but the longer he was a part of this dynamic college community, the more he was drawn to the faith of his childhood. Yet, one of the issues he continued to struggle with was believing in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

At one point, he and his roommate had been hosting a visitor to campus, and as the young man was leaving their dorm room to attend Mass, he invited my husband along. Patrick politely declined. After the visitor left, Patrick prayed, “Lord, you know my struggle with the Catholic teaching about the Eucharist. If it is really you in the Eucharist, please show me.” As he prayed, he heard a knock at the door. Patrick opened the door to see that the young man had returned. He asked Patrick, “Are you having trouble believing in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?” My husband murmured something  non-committal, and the young man simply said, “Just keep praying. God will show you.” 

This compassionate young man, recognizing that my husband had a profound relationship with Christ, could have let my husband continue his faith journey as an evangelical Christian without mentioning the Eucharist. Instead, he stepped out in faith, wanting Patrick to experience all that Christ had for him. 

Perhaps as Catholics we sometimes forget that the Eucharist just the way we “do church.” It is the way that Christ himself desires us to be united with Him.  Our Lord wants everyone to believe in Him, and He invites believers to eat His body and drink His blood, so that we might have eternal life.  This reality shocked the people Jesus was speaking to. It may shock those to whom we speak. Nevertheless, we should not be afraid to invite others to explore the wondrous mysteries of the Holy Eucharist.

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I recently read an essay by Simone Weil about the relationship between academic study and our love of God. She wrote the essay in the early 20th century to encourage eighth graders in their studies. Weil promotes the concept of attention in her essay. Namely, that both academic studies and prayer require our attention. While we are tempted, and indeed rewarded, for measuring academic success by grades or other external factors, Weil argues that the quality of attention matters more, both in academics and in our relationship with God. 

Today’s Gospel brings to mind this idea of how we give our attention and how we measure the fruitfulness of that attention. Jesus has just fed the 5000 by multiplying the loaves and fishes. After working this miracle, his disciples retreat across the sea to Capernaum and encounter Jesus walking on the water three or four miles from shore (Jn 6:19).

While we can’t tell from Scripture, the crowds might have witnessed this scene since they knew where to find Jesus even though they knew that he did not initially leave the shore with the disciples (Jn 6:22). The crowd followed Jesus to Capernaum.

John tells us that these people were “seeking Jesus” (Jn. 6:24). They were giving Jesus their attention. But much like our efforts today, the crowd’s efforts were flawed. Jesus told the crowds that they were seeking him “not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (Jn 6:27). Jesus admonishes the crowds not to labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.   

The crowd is so relatable. They seek Jesus, but for a reward or a particular result. How often do we do this too? We pray for the resolution of a crisis. We pray for our families. We even pray for sports games and parking spots! But how often do we pray simply to sit at his feet and give Jesus our attention? 

In Weil’s essay, she reminds us that when we focus our attention on grasping truth, we “acquire a greater aptitude for grasping it, even if the effort produces no visible fruit.” Prayer is a lot like this. Whenever we turn our attention to God, we grow in relationship with him. When we simply give God our attention, what we find is that his attention is fixed squarely on us. So let’s figuratively follow Jesus across the sea to Capernaum today. But let’s follow him there to give him our attention and to spend time simply being in prayer with our Lord.

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