John 6:30-35 Believing Is Seeing

John 6:30-35 Believing Is Seeing
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It's called "cherry picking". That is, when I enjoy the fruits of another's labor. The crowd demands a sign: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?" How relevant are the Lord's words to Thomas when he says, "Blessed are they who believe and do not see." I love it! But these words from the Lord still rub us the wrong way, they run contrary to our nature, our way of life - of knowing - and yet, the Lord makes so much sense. We put a lot of things in our mouth! Sometimes our foot! God knows what goes in, but we know what goes out!

Lord, I want to believe!...but on my terms. Seeing is not believing. Seeing is a fact. You don't believe in a fact, you admit it. Christ does not do "show and tell." He tells and then he shows. He does what the Father does. Jesus tells his disciples, "In three days I shall rise" and then he shows them his hands and his feet. The effect is "out of this world." The crowds know perfectly well the feats God performed for his people. The God of Jacob, the God of Israel, and the God of Abraham told his people that they would be free one day. And then he did it: in the crossing of the Red Sea, the journey through the desert, the bread that came down from Heaven. He promised and then he delivered. But not on their terms. It would so limit the hands of God, the adventure and their conversion. What the Lord's distracters do not seem to remember is the struggle between God, Moses and his people (Moses being in the middle).

The Lord made a promise to his people: "I will be your God and you will be my people." The Lord made another promise, to Abraham, "Count the stars if you can, this is how many will your descendents." Abraham could not even have imagined such a gift. And so it is. Today, billions of people, more than half the world, consider Abraham to be their father in faith! Believing is truly seeing. The Lord makes promises and the Lord keeps them. The only condition is that it must be His time and His way. And it's okay! "He never lets go of the ones He loves." Is this not his track record?

The Lord said, "I will be with you till the end of time." Really? "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I among them." How can this be? In spirit? No. In heart and mind? No. Physically? Yep! How? Are you not up there and we below? No. Wait. I don't get this? How then? In the breaking of the bread. In the Eucharist. Believing is Seeing. It was not Moses who gave you the bread, but my Father who gives you the true bread that comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life.

Come down from the Cross and then we will believe. Seeing is not believing. For seeing demands from God that we control him and if we know anything about God, he is not controlled! He will not be controlled. But that's okay. We can expect the greatest surprise!

In the Eucharist, the Lord gives us "our daily bread." This is His prayer. This is His request. And the Father answers His prayer. From there the miracle does not end. The transformation of wheat and wine transforms the one who receives it; a simple human being becomes another Christ. It seems to work. The Saints can attest to it! Those who spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament and are daily communicants appear to handle daily struggles better than most.