One of the most important things that happen in our minds, and which we are often least aware of, is what we call intention. Intention is the reason behind why we do what we do. Sometimes we can do something good with a bad intention, or do something bad without a bad intention, perhaps because we are not aware that what we are doing is wrong.
In today's first reading, the people of God in the desert grumbled against Moses and God: ‘...The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt,... You have brought us out into this desert to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”’ The experience in the desert was not easy for the people of God: it was a great sacrifice they had to go through to gain their freedom. God's intention to give them freedom had not yet become their own intention, and therefore it was easy for them to grumble at every obstacle. Grumbling is a way of escaping our responsibility and blaming others: often we forget that grumbling makes us slaves to the negative situation we are condemning, because when you grumble you are telling yourself, ‘I can't do anything about this problem’, and thus you remain where you are. The people of God forgot that God loved them, forgot how many miracles He had performed to bring them out of Egypt, forgot that God is a merciful Father who would not abandon them, just as we often forget. And God again feeds His people with bread from heaven, just as a father and mother nourish their children.
Today's Gospel, continuing from last Sunday, sees Jesus beginning to help His disciples and the people understand that for a person it is not enough to have a full stomach to live as a human being, that food and all that is material are not enough to live a meaningful life. “...Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on him God the Father has set his seal.” It is not only those who listened to Jesus who make this mistake, but often we too, whenever we think, or perhaps even without thinking, live as if only the things of this world are important, and forget or disregard God.
Even sometimes we who seek Jesus by attending Mass every Sunday or perhaps even during the week, it is good to ask ourselves, ‘Why do I go to Mass, why do I seek the Lord?’ The people were also seeking Jesus, but not because they believed in Him, but because they had eaten without suffering: perhaps we seek the Lord for what we think we can get from Him; perhaps we think He will give us good luck, save us from suffering and make our lives easier. If we think this way, we are making the same mistake as these people, meaning we have not yet discovered Jesus, we have not yet understood that the true treasure is not something of this world that the Lord can give us, but the true treasure is HIMSELF; Jesus is the treasure that no one can take from us and that gives meaning to our lives here on earth and above all accompanies us in His life of God forever. ‘“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”’ Let us ask ourselves: do I feel hunger and thirst for God in my life? How important is God to me? When I examine my life, how much time do I dedicate to my relationship with Him, and how much time do I dedicate to the things of this world?
We ask you, Lord, not to let us get lost in the intoxication of what is of this earth as the world of our time often urges us to do. Help us to use what is passing for our own good and that of others, but bind our hearts only to what lasts forever, what only You can give us. Amen.
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