Satisfy Me

A Reflection on the Gospel for August 1st, 2021:
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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John
6.24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were at the place where Jesus had given the bread, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

Then they said to Jesus, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

I am not easily satisfied. Always asking the question, “There must be more?”, I continually move to the next thing. Rarely still. Rarely taking the time to enjoy the fruit that is before me—the Bread From Heaven who is continually feeding me and seeking to satisfy my every need.


I seek Him who seeks me.


You would think this would be a match made in heaven, but instead, like the crowd who jumped in boats when the miracle bread had been fully consumed, I don’t always fulfill my hunger for Him with His Bread. Instead, I consume social media, I consume material goods, I consume my own faith by enveloping it in worry. I consume cookies. If I strip another layer off it, there are ways in which I even consume others, drawing on them as a distraction from my hunger.


I feign faithfulness by making demands of my Father: “Show me a sign, Lord, and do it quickly.” I reach, and pry, and strive, and rationalize. I push, and prod, and complain, and capitulate to the enemy.


My Father knows my heart.
He knows my hunger.
He sees my restlessness.
He fulfills my need.


I sit here this morning steeped in His Bread of Life. The sun is warm and inviting. The air barely whispers through the leaves on the trees. A white butterfly floats past me and I can almost feel it softly brushing my cheek. My dog lay quietly sleeping at my feet.


Stillness.


His signs are in the stillness.
He satisfies in the stillness.
He sets His seal in the stillness.


Seal: a device or substance that is used to join two things together so as to prevent them from coming apart or to prevent anything from passing between them. (Via Oxford Languages)


The Father joins me by Jesus, to Him.
And then, His Spirit floods the gaps.


When I take a moment to look into the face of the One who satisfies, my desires for earthly satisfaction are washed away by His Spirit, returning me to the eternal fold of a unified relationship—kneaded into the dough of the Holy Trinity. And from here, I can rise into the works He desires from me.



Let us pray… My Jesus, draw me into the stillness. I repent for all the ways I have negotiated with You to perform my will. I repent for all the crooked paths I’ve travelled attempting to satisfy my hunger. Please Lord, prevent my heart from coming apart from my Father’s. Let nothing pass between us. Satisfy my soul by its unity with Yours. Let my faith in You be the bread I consume each day.

​Amen




Lori MacDonald

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