Monday of the Third Week of Easter
Why Do We Seek Jesus?
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
Today and in the next few days, two unrelated Scripture texts run parallel: Stephen’s martyrdom presented as an imitation of Christ’s, and the Eucharistic discourse of Jesus, as given in John 6 after the multiplication of bread.
Jesus confronts us today with the question: “Why are you looking for me?” Why are we looking for God, for Jesus? Is it merely for the things he gives us? We receive much from God, but do we look for Jesus himself, for what he means in our lives? Let us get closer to him and become more like him. He asks us for faith in his person and mission.
Opening Prayer
Our living God,
We hunger for lasting life and happiness
and the fulfilment of all our hopes.
Satisfy all our pangs of hunger
through your Son, Jesus Christ,
Who is our bread of life?
And when he has filled us with himself,
may he lead and strengthen us
to bring to a waiting world
the food of reconciliation and joy,
which you alone can give to the full.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Stephen Arrested
Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
Some people then came forward, belonging to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia.
They argued with Stephen, but they couldn’t match the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
Since they couldn’t face the truth, they paid some men to say, ‘We heard him speak against Moses and against God.’
So they stirred up the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law; they confronted him, arrested him, and brought him before the Council.
Then they brought forward false witnesses who testified:
“This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the law.
We even heard him say that Jesus, the Nazorean, will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”
And everyone sitting in the Council looked at him, and his face seemed to them like the face of an angel.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1ab) 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 Verse
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
Eucharistic Discourse
Jesus, Food that Does Not Perish
The next day, the people who had stayed across the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples; instead, the disciples had gone away alone.
Other boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where all these people had eaten the bread.
When they saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him:
“Rabbi, when did you come here?”
Jesus answered them and said:
“Truly, I say to you, you are looking for me, not because of the signs you have seen, but because you ate bread and were satisfied.
Work then, not for food that perishes, but for the food that lasts, which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for he is the one on whom the Father has placed his seal.”
Jesus, Bread Come Down from Heaven
Then the Jews asked him:
“What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?”
Jesus answered them:
“The work God wants is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent.”
Prayers of the Faithful
We now pray for all the things that matter, and say, Lord, hear our prayer.
– For the Church, that its leaders and ministers may nourish the People of God with the solid food of the Gospel, we pray:
– For divided Christians, that soon we may break together the one bread of the one Lord, we pray:
– For all Christian communities, that we may learn to appreciate the tremendous value of the Eucharist and draw from it the strength to commit ourselves to the needs of our neighbors far and near, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, our Father,
for this meal of thanksgiving,
we bring before you bread and wine,
the gifts you yourself have given us.
They express our life and our struggles.
Let them become the living signs
of the presence among us of your Son,
that he may sustain us on our journey
to a full and lasting life and joy
and dispose us to give ourselves with him,
for the life and happiness of all your people.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our loving Father,
in the bread broken for us here,
we recognize him who is the light of life,
your Son, Jesus Christ.
Give us this bread always,
let him be our daily bread,
which tastes better when it is shared
with those who hunger for it in any way.
Grant this through Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
“Do not work for food that perishes but for the kind of food that gives life,” says Jesus. In life then, let us seek the Lord and the things of lasting value. May the Lord bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTION:
John 6:22-29
Satiating our pangs of hunger
In today's gospel, Jesus instructs the people not to labour for the food that perishes but for that which lasts forever and imparts eternal life.
There are two types of hunger: physical hunger, which can be satisfied by food, and spiritual hunger, which material possessions can never fulfil. It is highly possible to have amassed great wealth and still feel that life is incomplete.
There is a hunger for truth—in God alone, we find it; there is a hunger for life—in God alone, life is more abundant; there is a hunger for love—in him alone is the love that outlasts sin and death. Christ alone can satisfy the pangs of hunger of the human heart and soul.
Jesus understands their reasons for coming after him: “You look for me, not because of the signs which you have seen, but because you ate bread and were satisfied.” Jesus invites his followers to examine their motives when seeking the Lord, taking refuge in him, praying, and practising their religion.
According to some scripture scholars, the five loaves symbolise the five books of the Torah, and the two fish represent the books of the Prophets and other scriptures. Jesus satisfied his followers' spiritual hunger with the scriptures. Remember the words of Jesus: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
“What must we do?” the crowd of Capernaum asks Jesus. The answer is in the last verse of today’s Gospel: to believe in him—the Word of God—whom the Father sent. No other thing is required.
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John 6: 22-29
Returning to Our Galilee
Today's Gospel invites us to examine our spiritual journey. The crowds who followed Jesus after the multiplication of loaves reveal a tendency we all share—the drift from genuine spiritual enthusiasm toward more worldly concerns.
Initially, these people sought Jesus for His words and healing. They listened to him for hours without tiring, their hearts aflame with the Gospel. Yet, after witnessing the miracle of the loaves, their motives shifted. "He would make a good leader," they reasoned, "one who could free us from Roman rule." They began seeking Jesus not for spiritual nourishment but for temporal advantage.
Jesus gently corrects them: "You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled." He redirects them from perishable food to "food that endures for eternal life." When they ask what they should do, His answer is beautifully simple: "Believe in the Son of God."
As pilgrims of hope journeying through this Jubilee Year, we face similar temptations. We begin following Christ with sincere hearts, but gradually worldly concerns creep in. Material comfort, social status, or political solutions can subtly replace our first love for the Gospel. We drift from our original encounter with Jesus.
This is why the Jubilee calls us to pilgrimage—not just physical journeys to holy places, but an interior return to our personal "Galilee," that first moment when Jesus looked at us with love and said, "Follow me." Remember how after the Resurrection, Jesus instructed the disciples to "go to Galilee" where they had first met Him?
Today, Christ invites each pilgrim of hope to return to that first encounter. Let us pray for the grace to remember our own Galilee, to recapture the freshness of our first call, and to follow Him with renewed hearts on this jubilee journey.