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Today's Gospel + short theological explanation
John 6: the real "bread" is the "Torah"
EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)Today, Jesus begins by pointing out that they have failed to understand the multiplication of the loaves as a "sign", but rather, what interested them was eating and having their fill. They have been looking at salvation in purely material terms and they have therefore reduced man, leaving God out altogether. But if they see the manna only as a means of satisfying their hunger, they need to realize that even the manna was not heavenly bread, but only earthly bread. Even though it came from "Heaven", it was earthly food.
The real bread from Heaven that feeds Israel is precisely the Law, the word of God. The wisdom literature, presents the wisdom that is substantially accessible and present in the Torah as “bread” (Prov 9:5). Israel has realized with increasing clarity that the word of God is Moses' fundamental and enduring gift.
—What really sets Israel apart —in the Law— is this knowledge of God's will and therefore. of the right path in life.
Only God is God. The Law of Nature
Fr. Antoni CAROL i Hostench (Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain)Today, overwhelmed, we "see" Jesus-God walking on water. Before, miraculously —overcoming the laws of nature— He had fed a crowd with a few loaves. Now, when people found Him in Capernaum, they wondered how He had been able to get there. The Lord performs some signs "to prepare" our path of faith (He never does it for His own benefit).
The Lord is God: He is the Creator and Author of the nature that we have been given, with some laws of growth we cannot skip over without having serious damages: "God always forgives; men, sometimes forgive but nature never forgives". The “modern” man, dazzled by his scientific discoveries, has tended to do without God, to the point of denying Him or, even trying to replace Him (by overriding the natural laws). But… only God is God.
—My Lord and my God! I accept nature and its laws as a gift from You. In her, I can perceive Your infinite wisdom. Give us the humility to accept with simplicity that only You are God!
December 25th
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas): Mass during the Night
Gospel and commentary video
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