DAILY GOSPEL Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68 Wednesday, 03 December 2014 Wednesday of the First week of Advent Saint(s) of the day : St. Francis Xavier, Priest (1506-1552) - Memorial See commentary below or click here Baldwin of Ford : The bread of eternal life Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 15:29-37. At that time: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus summoned his disciples and said, My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way. The disciples said to him, Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd? Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? Seven, they replied, and a few fish. He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over--seven baskets full. Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Baldwin of Ford (?-c.1190), Cistercian abbot The Sacrament of the altar, PL 204, 690 The bread of eternal life « Jesus said : I am the bread of life ; whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst »… In this way he describes twice over the eternal repletion when nothing will be lacking any more. However, Wisdom says : « He who eats of me will hunger still, he who drinks of me will thirst for more » (Sir 24,20). Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, is not eaten to satisfy our desire in the present moment but to make us long for that satisfaction. And the more we taste his sweetness, the more our desire for it is stimulated. That is why those who eat it hunger still until the satisfaction comes. But when their desire has been filled they will no longer have either hunger or thirst. « Those who eat of me will hunger still. » This saying can also be understood of the world to come since in the eternal satisfaction there is as sort of hunger that comes, not from need but from happiness. There, satisfaction knows no satiety, desire knows no groaning. Christ, who is always wonderful in his beauty, is also always desirable: “he whom angels long to see” (1Pt 1,12). And so, even when possessing him, we desire him; even when holding him, we seek him, as it is written: “Earnestly seek his face” (Ps 104[105],4). Indeed, he is always sought who is loved in order to be possessed for ever.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 04:12:19 +0000
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