Last week we heard the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, of which today’s Gospel is the continuation. And because the people did not rightly understand the miraculous feeding, we have just heard today that they went in search for Jesus. Jesus had provided for their physical needs through the multiplication of loaves and therefore they went looking for Him – hoping that He would continue to do so. Jesus then sets them straight by saying, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you.”1 He is telling them not to be worried about their physical necessities, which should remind us of what He says in St. Matthew’s Gospel, “…do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”2 We need to understand from this is that there are things that are much more important than our physical necessities.
Yet mankind cannot seem to understand this lesson very well. Even today many people still go about looking for a secular messiah that will fix their problems by supplying all their physical needs. And unfortunately this incorrect mindset has found its way into the Church. What I mean is this: there are those within the Church, both clergy and laypeople, who are out of balance concerning issues of social justice. For instance, I have heard one priest say that doing works of social justice is the work of Jesus. And it should be mentioned that this was stated in such a way that implied that doing works of social justice is the only thing that the Church should be doing. But that is not true. In fact, to teach social justice as the entire extent of the Catholic Faith is nothing less than heresy.
Now some people might complain and question why I would say something so harsh. After all, the works of social justice are just actions that are done to make the world a better place, right? Doing social justice helps people and isn’t that what Jesus taught us to do? You know – the Golden Rule. Yes, that is true. But to emphasize social justice to the extent of which I am speaking is in fact heresy because it ignores what Jesus actually came to do.
Jesus did not leave His rightful place in Heaven and become a man in order to make this world a perfect place. He did not come to make sure everyone has a job, a house, a car and health insurance. Jesus did not come to us out of any concern whatsoever for our physical necessities. The reason that He became man was in order to offer Himself as the one and only sacrifice to save mankind from sin and eternal death. And that is why we hear Him say in today’s Gospel, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.”
Each one of us needs to heed that message. We need to stop worrying about our physical necessities and start being concerned about our spiritual necessities. Jesus came to give us eternal life. And every week at Mass He supplies to us that “true bread from heaven”3 that brings with it the eternal life that we need. If we receive His Body and Blood at Mass in a worthy manner, meaning without mortal sin on our soul, then we receive His grace, which brings us ever closer to Him. And if we do this faithfully throughout our lives then it most certainly leads us to Heaven. That is what we should be concerned about for ourselves – but also for our neighbor.
The salvation of all mankind should be one of the most important priorities for all Catholics. Bringing others to Christ is the primary way that we can love our neighbor as ourself – just like our Lord taught us to do. But before we can do that we must learn to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. And this can be accomplished by learning and practicing our Catholic Faith in our day to day lives. We must continually strive day after day to come into closer contact with our Lord so that we become more and more like Him. And once we have started down that road of knowing Christ better and of understanding our Faith better then we can and should share it with those around us. Because if we don’t then our neighbor, who we are supposed to love as we love ourselves, may very well be lost for all eternity.
And how do we share our Faith with others? First of all by teaching our families the Catholic Faith. Also we should be ready to give an answer to people who have a question about the Faith. Next, we should let our Catholic Faith be reflected in how we behave in our society. The reason for this is because being Catholic is not just a part of our life. Instead, our Faith should completely define who we are. We do not have two lives: one in the Church and another in the world. We have one life and that is as Catholics in and among the people of the world. Therefore, if something is wrong then we need to say that it is. If something is right then we need to defend it. We should stay away from the immoral behavior of others and promote moral behavior through our own actions.
But there is another very practical way that we can share our Faith with others. Sharing our Faith could be something as simple as giving a cup of water to a stranger. Or it could be clothing the naked, giving food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless. And of course that has brought us back to the issue of social justice. Am I here contradicting what I said earlier? Not in the least. Jesus did teach us to provide for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. And even though mankind is a unity of body and spirit the primary reason that we perform these works of mercy must be out of concern for the salvation of their eternal soul. The Church doesn’t feed the hungry just so they will have a full belly. The Church takes care of those in need because we see in them someone for whom Christ gave up His life. That, and that alone, must be our primary concern. Remember what Jesus said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.”
1 John 6:27, RSV-CE (CE – Catholic Edition)
2 Matthew 6:25, RSV-CE
3 John 6:32, RSV-CE
Yet mankind cannot seem to understand this lesson very well. Even today many people still go about looking for a secular messiah that will fix their problems by supplying all their physical needs. And unfortunately this incorrect mindset has found its way into the Church. What I mean is this: there are those within the Church, both clergy and laypeople, who are out of balance concerning issues of social justice. For instance, I have heard one priest say that doing works of social justice is the work of Jesus. And it should be mentioned that this was stated in such a way that implied that doing works of social justice is the only thing that the Church should be doing. But that is not true. In fact, to teach social justice as the entire extent of the Catholic Faith is nothing less than heresy.
Now some people might complain and question why I would say something so harsh. After all, the works of social justice are just actions that are done to make the world a better place, right? Doing social justice helps people and isn’t that what Jesus taught us to do? You know – the Golden Rule. Yes, that is true. But to emphasize social justice to the extent of which I am speaking is in fact heresy because it ignores what Jesus actually came to do.
Jesus did not leave His rightful place in Heaven and become a man in order to make this world a perfect place. He did not come to make sure everyone has a job, a house, a car and health insurance. Jesus did not come to us out of any concern whatsoever for our physical necessities. The reason that He became man was in order to offer Himself as the one and only sacrifice to save mankind from sin and eternal death. And that is why we hear Him say in today’s Gospel, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.”
Each one of us needs to heed that message. We need to stop worrying about our physical necessities and start being concerned about our spiritual necessities. Jesus came to give us eternal life. And every week at Mass He supplies to us that “true bread from heaven”3 that brings with it the eternal life that we need. If we receive His Body and Blood at Mass in a worthy manner, meaning without mortal sin on our soul, then we receive His grace, which brings us ever closer to Him. And if we do this faithfully throughout our lives then it most certainly leads us to Heaven. That is what we should be concerned about for ourselves – but also for our neighbor.
The salvation of all mankind should be one of the most important priorities for all Catholics. Bringing others to Christ is the primary way that we can love our neighbor as ourself – just like our Lord taught us to do. But before we can do that we must learn to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. And this can be accomplished by learning and practicing our Catholic Faith in our day to day lives. We must continually strive day after day to come into closer contact with our Lord so that we become more and more like Him. And once we have started down that road of knowing Christ better and of understanding our Faith better then we can and should share it with those around us. Because if we don’t then our neighbor, who we are supposed to love as we love ourselves, may very well be lost for all eternity.
And how do we share our Faith with others? First of all by teaching our families the Catholic Faith. Also we should be ready to give an answer to people who have a question about the Faith. Next, we should let our Catholic Faith be reflected in how we behave in our society. The reason for this is because being Catholic is not just a part of our life. Instead, our Faith should completely define who we are. We do not have two lives: one in the Church and another in the world. We have one life and that is as Catholics in and among the people of the world. Therefore, if something is wrong then we need to say that it is. If something is right then we need to defend it. We should stay away from the immoral behavior of others and promote moral behavior through our own actions.
But there is another very practical way that we can share our Faith with others. Sharing our Faith could be something as simple as giving a cup of water to a stranger. Or it could be clothing the naked, giving food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless. And of course that has brought us back to the issue of social justice. Am I here contradicting what I said earlier? Not in the least. Jesus did teach us to provide for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. And even though mankind is a unity of body and spirit the primary reason that we perform these works of mercy must be out of concern for the salvation of their eternal soul. The Church doesn’t feed the hungry just so they will have a full belly. The Church takes care of those in need because we see in them someone for whom Christ gave up His life. That, and that alone, must be our primary concern. Remember what Jesus said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.”
1 John 6:27, RSV-CE (CE – Catholic Edition)
2 Matthew 6:25, RSV-CE
3 John 6:32, RSV-CE
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