Jesus said ‘Do not work for the food which perishes but the food which lasts into resurrection life – food that the Son of Man will give to you. For on this one the Father (God) has set his seal of approval.’
So they said to him: ‘What must we do to do the works which God requires? Jesus answered ‘This is the work of God: to believe in the one he sent.’
Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.
George Herbert
The next day, the crowd which was still across the sea, realised that there had only been one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone aboard the boat with his disciples, but only his disciples had left. (Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.)So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they boarded the boats and went to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.
And finding him on the other side of the sea they said to him ‘Rabbi, since when did you come here?’
Jesus answered them: ‘Truly, truly I say to you, you look for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the breads and were full up.’
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
As it grew late his disciples went down to the sea, boarded the boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. (It already had become dark, and Jesus had not yet come back to them. Moreover because a strong wind was blowing the sea was growing rough.) Then having rowed three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat and they became afraid. But he said to them ‘It’s me. Don’t be afraid.’ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land that they were going to.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter said to Jesus ‘There is a lad here, who has five barley breads and two fish. But what good are these among so many?’ Jesus said ‘Make the people sit down.’ (There was plenty of grass in the place. So the men sat – there were about 5,000).
So Jesus took the breads and having given thanks he passed them out to those who were seated. In a similar way he gave out the fish, as much as they wanted. Then, when they had enough, he said to his disciples ‘Collect the leftover pieces, so that nothing is wasted.’ So they gathered them up, and they filled twelve baskets with leftovers from the five barley breads, left over by those who had eaten. So when the people had seen the sign which he had done, they began to say ‘This is certainly the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus knowing that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again into the hill country, by himself.
Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
St Ignatius
Some time after this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (that is the Sea of Tiberias.) And a great crowd kept following him, because they were seeing the signs which he did for those who were sick. Jesus climbed the hillside and sat down there with his disciples. It was near Passover, the Jewish feast. Looking up Jesus noting the great crowd coming to him, said to Philip ‘Where will we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he knew what he was about to do. Philip replied ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for each person to have a mouthful.’
Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen
St Anselm
I do not accept glory from people.
On the other hand I know you that you do not have love for God in your hearts.
I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in their own name, you will accept him.
How can you believe, if you accept glory from one another
and you do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before my father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you hope. For if you believe Moses, you would believe in me, for he wrote about me. If you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?
Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen
St Anselm
If I, alone, testify about myself, my testimony is not true.
There is another, who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony (which he testifies about me) is true.
You sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
Yet, I do not accept human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
That man was the light which was lit and gave light; you all wished to rejoice for a short time in his light.
But I have a testimony greater than John’s. For the works, which the Father has given me to complete, these works, which I do, testify about me – that the Father sent me.
Also the Father who sent me, that one has testified about me. You all have never heard his voice nor seen his visible form. And you do not have his word inhabiting you, seeing that you do not believe in him, whom the Father sent.
You all study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have resurrection life, yet those very Scriptures testify about me and yet you do not want to come to me that you might have resurrection life.
Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.
St Columba
Truly, truly I tell you that the person who hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has resurrection life, and will not come under judgement but has passed from death to life.
Truly, truly I tell you that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself, in the same way he has given to the Son the right to life in himself.
And he gave authority to him to act as judge, because he is the Son of Man.
Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out: the ones who have done good things to resurrection for life, and the ones who have done evil things to resurrection for judgement.
I am able to do nothing by myself. As I hear, I judge. And my judgement is just. because I do not seek my will but the will of the one who sent me.
O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.
Gertrude the Great
So Jesus defended himself: ‘Truly, truly I say to you the Son can do nothing on his own authority but only what he sees the Father is doing.
For whatever he has done – these things the Son does in the same way.
For the Father loves the Son and he shows him everything which he does and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may marvel.
For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them live, so also the Son will make live whomever he wishes to live.
For in fact the Father does not judge anyone but he gives all judgements to the Son so that everyone will honour the Son as they honour the Father.
The one who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.’
Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
St Ignatius
So because of this the Jewish leaders began to persecute Jesus because he used to do these things on Sabbath.
So he defended himself against them ‘My Father is working until now and I too am working.’
So because of this the Jewish leaders sought to kill him, because he not only used to break the Sabbath, but also said that God was his own father, making himself equal to God.
Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen
St Anselm