This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent - Jn 6:22-29
The miracle of the multiplication of the bread revealed how far those people who had heard the teachings of Jesus and witnessed His miracles were far from being truly believed in Him. Delighted that the Lord Jesus had fed them, they wanted to make Him king. They were not discouraged by the fact that he went away and hid from them, but they found him. Then the Lord Jesus reminded them that they were looking for Him only for temporal reasons, and He came from His Father and would like to show them the way to eternal life.
It is worth remembering that even today we can look for the Lord Jesus for purely temporal reasons. It may happen that someone works in some explicitly Catholic institution, but this is only a way of earning daily bread - faith is rather dead and it is not the first motive of his work.
" Stop judging, that you may not be judged." It is not for us to judge the authenticity of someone else's religious attitudes. But everyone who has become professionally involved in a Catholic institution should at least from time to time ask himself if I am really trying to make my work a service of faith.
Today, many people, observing the spread of drug addiction, banditry, the sense of meaninglessness in life, and anxiously looking at family breakdown, conclude that perhaps only Church can save us from a moral breakdown on a social scale. It must be said clearly: if the Church focused its main activity on the moralization of society, would betray Christ in this way, and would not achieve anything. The main goal of the Church is to build a community of believers in Christ and lead people to eternal life. Only by realizing this main goal, the Church can seriously influence the social morality.
The same is true of the Church's relationship to our national community. The fact that the Church played a significant role in our history and that our culture and national consciousness are indeed permeated with Catholicism does not mean that the main purpose of the Church is to serve the Fatherland. The Church will be truly useful for the community only when a deep faith in Jesus Christ flourishes in it, faith leading to eternal life. As the Lord Jesus said in today's Gospel: " This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent"
Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today we honored Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Athanasius belongs to one of the most esteemed Fathers of the Church, because he defends the dogma of Christ's divinity, threatened by the rapidly spreading heresy of Arius. Because of this, he suffered a lot from the emperors who favored the Arians. Bishop Athanasius remained adamant, and therefore he is a model for all pastors of the Church and theologians, to courageously defend the fullness of the Church's faith today, without succumbing to pressure from a culture that denies God.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george