"We have him [God] before our eyes, masked in the sacred Host,"

“How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment."- St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407, Archbishop of Constantinople)

Gospel Text: (JN 6:30-35)
The crowd said to Jesus:
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

So Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father 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.”

So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

We shouldn’t think badly of the people who were following Jesus looking for bread. They were relying on their past experience: Jesus had fed them when they were hungry in the past; they were hungry now, so they assumed he would feed them once again. They believed he could provide for them. They even compared this miracle to the way God miraculously fed the Israelites in the desert.

But their sights were set too low; their horizon was too narrow. It was as if they had blinders on. Jesus had so much more in store for them than ordinary bread! He didn’t just want to solve their immediate problem of hunger; he wanted them never to be hungry again. He wanted to give them his very self so that they would be profoundly nourished.

Let’s remove our blinders today! Let’s not succumb to narrow vision

Maybe you are struggling today and just want to see Jesus smooth things out for you. But what if he wants to do more? Maybe he wants to lift your spirit above your struggles or show you how to deal with them once and for all. Maybe you’re planning on going to Confession but just want to “get it over with.” What if Jesus wants this to be the best confession of your life? Maybe he wants to give you deep freedom over a sin pattern or confidence in his unfailing love.

Give him the freedom to go deeper than you asked!