Mtr Mary Trainor

What a friend we have in Jesus…

Dear friend,

Why pursue Jesus? For a meal? For truth? For signs? For relationship?

Today’s Office Gospel from John (6:16-27) continues a sequence of comings and goings across the Sea of Galilee.

And we are treated not just to a mashup of sea crossings, either, but also to encounters with a relentless crowd interested in Jesus’ powers. The crowd’s admiration of Jesus grows after he feeds the 5,000 or so people. As the crowd’s interest in him heats up, he flees to a mountaintop to avoid being snatched and forced to be a king.

Its interest piqued, the crowd continues to seek him. When at last it finds him, Jesus confronts the people with the truth: “...you are looking for me...because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes….”

All our sins and griefs to bear…

To be honest, had I been in that large crowd, I would find it difficult not to be impressed with the powers of Jesus. I am impressed with the powers of Jesus. But I don't want to be like those who relentlessly pursued him with that paparazzi-like intensity. And yet there seems a fine line between using the Son of God to meet your needs, and just wanting to be in relationship, spend time with, want to know better this God in Christ.

A girl in my high school had it all. The looks, the brains, the boyfriends. Everyone just knew she was going places, that she would marry well, and climb the ladder to success. She was destined for greatness and everyone in that high school had it figured out: She was the girl “most likely” to do all the grand things.

What a privilege to carry…

The high school years passed, and I did not see her again for fifteen years. As we caught up on each other’s lives, I was shocked to learn that she had not married the high school superstar. Nor the college superstar. Rather, she married a quiet, retiring man who was successful enough. Next she said—as if understanding what people had expected of her—“I didn’t marry him because of what he would accomplish in life. I married him because he was the kindest man I had ever met. And because he has always had my back.”

My friend rejected the food that perishes, and chose instead the food of substance. While I have lost track of her in the years since then, I have no doubt that she continued on a solid course. 

...Everything to God in prayer.

Mtr. Mary