Sunday Reflection

Valerie and I have had a wonderful holiday. Relaxing, restful.

St.Anthony

St.Anthony, a 4th century desert father, wrote that the strings on an instrument need to be relaxed from time to time, in order to keep them from breaking.

Holidays

Holidays are about that relaxing of the instrument in order to keep it from breaking. 

Holidays also can enable us to gain or regain perspective on what is most important in our lives.

• what we need in life.
• what we are striving for in life.

Holidays, for me,  is also about reading books!! This summer, among other books, I have been enjoying an historical fictional novel Camelot in 5th century Briton.

Camelot, the striving for a just society

The novel is about:

• the invasion of Saxons onto the island of Briton, and how both peoples developed and integrated.
• it is also a story of how the druid religion of Briton was replaced by Rome’s Christianity.

• Merlin, the famous druid, thinks that Briton can only be saved by finding the cauldron and returning to the old Briton religion. 
• Author, the Warrior King, wants peace and justice for the people of Briton, and he thinks that this can only happen with a strong army, good laws and government.
• Christianity, at this stage in its development, and which is not understood by many of its practitioners, is somewhere in the middle. 

Striving for meaning

What is interesting about the novel, and about the history, is that it is a story about striving for meaning, for truth, for justice and for peace.

This is true in the history of every society.

This is also true in the development of every human being.

Todays Gospel

In the Gospel today (John 6:24-35), the people are looking for Jesus. They are looking for more out of their lives. They are among those 5000 whom Jesus has fed, and now they are striving for more.

We are all striving for meaning and satisfaction in life, and today's Gospel what it is that can meet our deepest needs is...

The Bread of God

“The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

And Jesus says:  “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” 

My Perspective

I’m fresh off of holidays. Rested, relaxed.

I am renewed in the perspective that I have a lot of things to be thankful for.

I have a beautiful wife who loves me.

I have three beautiful and healthy children.

We have a wonderful home and domestic life.

I am able to travel and see different parts of the world.

I live in the great country of Canada, and the tropical island of Newfoundland.

I even have a great little doggie.

But you know, I have also come to the renewed perspective, that all of those things don’t and can’t meet my deepest needs.

My greatest hunger, my greatest needs, my greatest striving, is satisfied only as I feed on Jesus Christ, the bread of life.

It is Jesus that I need to seek out and feed on.

  

The same is true for you.

The same is true for our society.