This week the gospel will be taken from John 6 — the so-called “Bread of Life” discourse. The chapter begins with the story of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes and continues with the narrative of Jesus walking on the water. The crowd follows Jesus and the disciples to Capernaum to set up the discourse which Jesus will deliver. He starts off by asking the crowds to look at their motivation for being there. “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me … because you ate the loaves and were filled.” The constant human temptation is to ask “what’s in in for me.” Jesus says to understand the true meaning of the Bread of Life the question has to be “what does God want.” When we focus on the will of God instead of our desires we end up getting what we truly need — God’s peace, forgiveness, joy, love.
