Andy Warhol, the most iconic artist of pop art, often said that «In the future everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes». A phrase that captures the futility, or rather, the vanity of human efforts. Riches, fame, success, we can reach the most coveted goals offered by our overly competitive society. But whatever we do we will soon be forgotten. Everything we have in the world will never satisfy our thirst for the infinite. Unless…
The weather has changed, clouds are gathering on the horizon and the Sea of Galilee is no longer that flat table Jesus crossed on foot, but is rippling. We find ourselves in the aftermath of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. And even the great enthusiasm of the day before has faded. People question Jesus, and they don’t like his answers.
Man is “capricious”. As long as things are going well, as long as the belly is full, we are all in this together, happy and contented. But when stormy winds begin to rise around us, the straw huts collapse, along with most of the good intentions.
Thus, the God who bestows miracles for free and multiplies food is liked. While what speaks clearly, urging us to take care of the spirit and not just the flesh, disturbs us. Then when Jesus gives a glimpse of the fate of the Cross, the crowd dissolves and even some disciples move away: «This word is harsh! Who can listen to it?” (v. 60).
It is easy for us to imagine a victorious and powerful God, towering above the clouds and hurling lightning to punish those who behave badly… while it is decidedly more complicated to accept the idea of a meek God, who submits to an unjust judgment without saying a word, and then dies crucified. We have to make too great a spiritual effort to understand that not everything is as we expect. That, sometimes, you can win even by losing. Like Jesus did.
In reality, the disciples understood Jesus’ speech well. So well that they don’t want to listen to it, because it is a speech that challenges their mentality. The real cause of “incomprehension” is the lack of faith: «There are some among you who do not believe» (v. 64), says Jesus. In fact: «many of his disciples turned back» (v. 66). Faced with these defections, Jesus makes no concessions and does not tone down his words, and puts the Twelve in front of a precise choice: “Do you want to leave too?” (v. 67).
Jesus asks us to have faith in Him. We must trust in a God who wins in a decidedly strange way: he wins death by passing through it. He wins the Cross by climbing onto it. And so we learn that obstacles cannot be overcome or evaded, but that we must face them, with the serenity that God is with us. Yes, because even if we “abandon him” when we don’t like his words, He never separates from us. But he is always close to us. Indeed, He is ready to leave everything and go into the desert to come and look for us when we get lost.
The Twelve understand this and Saint Peter responds, on behalf of all of them, with another question: «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (v. 68). We need to stay together with the God who walks with us. Loyalty is this: bonding with a person to walk together on the same path. The spouses do it. The humanity that marries Jesus does it.
Everything we have in the world does not satisfy our thirst for the infinite as long as we persist in remaining alone. We need Jesus, to be together with Him, to nourish ourselves with his Word. Because the more we remain close to him, the more our desire to remain with him grows. And so, once again, God wins in a way that is incomprehensible to us.
Jesus died in our place! Christ not only gave his life for us, but he was resurrected to definitively conquer death! You need the heart to truly understand God. The head is not enough. And only God can satisfy our thirst for the infinite.
Source: La Buona Parola, Alessandro Ginotta’s blog https://www.labuonaparola.it
YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/AlessandroGinotta
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Tags: Alessandro Ginotta Comment Gospel day April
