Bread of life

God promised that he will feed his people well. Given this promise, the story in the Gospel reading
appointed for this Sunday makes perfect sense: Jesus feeds the people who come to him with bread.
The scene for the miraculous feeding of thousands takes place in a desert as did the miraculous
feeding of the Israelites with manna. Desert or wilderness is often understood in the bible as a place
of trials, dryness, emptiness, a place of temptations, but also a place God revelation. The desert is
the place where man discovers his limitations and dependency. It is a symbol of our emptiness.
Both the disciple and the large crow that followed Jesus in the desert realized how fragile, limited
human life is and how dependent man is. The inability of the apostles to find enough food to feed
so many and their request to dismiss the crowd speak of the enormity of the problem and
insignificance of theirs means. They are learning to depend on the abundant care which God has
for them. Jesus has the power and love to provide. So instead of resigning, giving up and
dismissing ourselves or others every time we are in the desert, we should call upon Jesus, the only
one who can provide for our needs.
There are different kinds of hunger and different kinds of life. The bread Christ offers stills the
deepest hunger of all, and the life that Christ gives conquers all death. So the sufferings of this
world—hunger, death—remain. But they cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Somewhere in
the mystery of God is an unlimited bounty, whether it makes sense to us or not. This God we meet
in Jesus just does not work according to our ways. The promises of God, that he will feed us and
we will live, are fulfilled in the bread of life that is the Lord.