Friday, II Easter
(John 6)
A Jewish friend whom I saw on the day before Passover remarked how the feast is an excuse for a party. He was being a bit irreverent, but what he said was on the mark. Passover gives reason to rejoice as it celebrates Israel’s release from Egyptian slave gangs to Sinai’s song of freedom.
John the Evangelist notes that Jesus feeds the crowds at Passover time. This is not just a minor detail to add realism to the story. Rather, it frames the story in gold. It tells us that Jesus’ feeding the five thousand men and an untold number of women and children has a liberation theme. The people’s attention to Jesus frees them from helpless attachment to sin and inspires a responsive life of virtue. The fact that the people sate themselves and still find abundant leftovers illustrates Jesus’ accomplishment.
We can find ourselves involved in this same development at Mass. The Word of God prunes our vices while the Eucharistic bread and wine charge our lives with grace. We find ourselves increasingly free of egotistic concerns. Indeed, we can more readily give ourselves to the Lord in love.
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