23 April 2012, 3rd Week of Easter - Monday; St. Adalbert

FIRST READING
Acts 6:8-15

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They presented false witnesses who testified, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Though princes meet and talk against me, your servant meditates on your statutes. Yes, your decrees are my delight; they are my counselors.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

I declared my ways, and you answered me; teach me your statutes. Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law. The way of truth I have chosen; I have set your ordinances before me.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

ALLELUIA
Matthew 4:4b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

One does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
John 6:22-29

[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

REFLECTIONS:

What do you most hunger for – wealth, peace, health,
love, the good life? Jesus addressed this issue with those who sought him
after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. Were they simply
hungry for things which satisfy the body or for that which satisfies the
heart and soul? Jesus echoes the question posed by the prophet Isaiah:
"Why
do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for
that which does not satisfy" (Isaiah 55:2)? There are two kinds of
hunger – physical and spiritual. Only God can satisfy the hunger in our
heart and soul – the hunger for truth, for life, and for love.
Jesus also spoke about the works of God and what we must do to
be doing the works of God, namely to believe in God's Son whom
he has sent into the world. Jesus offers a new relationship with God
which issues in a new kind of life: A life of love and service, and the
forgiveness of others which corresponds to God's mercy and kindness; a
life of holiness and purity which corresponds to God's holiness; and a
life of submission and trust which corresponds to the wisdom of God. This
is the work which Jesus directs us to and enables us to perform in the
power of the Holy Spirit. Do you hunger for the bread which comes down
from heaven and thirst for the words of everlasting life?

"Lord Jesus, you alone can satisfy the deepest longing and hunger in
our hearts. May I always hunger for the imperishable bread, that I may
be satisfied in you alone as the True Bread of Heaven. Nourish and
strengthen me that I may serve you with great joy, generosity, and zeal
all the days of my life".