look-out
"Jesus answered them: 'I assure you, you are not looking for Me because you have seen signs but because you have eaten your fill of the loaves.' " —John 6:26
Jesus wants us not only to look for Him, but also to look for Him for the right reason. If we look for Jesus to fill, fulfill, or feed ourselves, we aren't looking for Him for the right reason. Jesus and His Church are not a "filling station," although He will fill us with His Spirit. Paradoxically, in the Christian life, we are filled when we focus on emptying ourselves (see Phil 2:7). We are fulfilled when we deny ourselves (Lk 9:23). We are fed when we forget about ourselves and feed others.
If we love Jesus, our concern is to feed His sheep (Jn 21:17). In looking for Jesus, we should be looking for the cross, that is, to love sacrificially and unconditionally. We should be looking not "so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love" (Prayer of St. Francis).
Jesus asked His first disciples this question: "What are you looking for?" (Jn 1:38) By your life, how are you answering Jesus' question?
Prayer: Father, purify my motives no matter what it takes.
Promise: "Stephen...was a man filled with grace and power, who worked great wonders and signs among the people." —Acts 6:8
Praise: Richard, a father of six who works full time, spends any "spare" moments he has spreading God's Word.
Reference: (We too will be unstoppable when we learn how Worship and Evangelization, our retreat May 14-15, will equip us with the power to be faithful to the end! Call 937-587-5464 for information or to register.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 9, 2009
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