But Jesus didn't come to earth in order just to be a political and military leader.  He had a much bigger agenda.  He tries to explain this to them. He says: "Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.  I am that food that does not perish.  I am the food that endures unto eternal life. I am the food that sustains you unto eternity.  I am the food that satiates all your desires.  I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never hunger again, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst"   He wants to restore humanity’s lost grace.  He wants to offer us divine friendship.  He wants to give us eternal life.  He wants to give us God’s gifts that last unto eternal life even now.  He wants to give us true food that truly fulfills all desires.  He wants to give us something we could never have dreamt of for ourselves.  Christ our Blessed Lord wants to make sure we know that our life on earth, wonderful though it might be, is but preparation from something greater; our citizenship is in heaven.  That is why He is offering you and me what He is offering: divine life that leads to friendship with God.   This divine life is already being offered here: most particularly in the Sacraments, and most especially in the holy Eucharist.  

Some of us may take one look at the gifts Jesus brings and sneer: what good could that thing bring me?  What good could come of it, from that little white nothing?  What good could come of it, from that little smear of oil?  What good could come of it, from a few drops of water?  What good could come of it, from mumbo-jumbo, from hocus-pocus?

And it is true!  Compared to what this world could give us, what Jesus is offering is laughable!  If you’ve been watching the Olympic, you know what I am talking about!   What glorious feats of gymnastics, what majestic accomplishments of physical strength and endurance!  You cannot follow the Olympics without being struck dumbfounded by the phenomenon that is Simone Biles!  At last count she has earned 7 gold medals, last three of which were at the Paris Olympics!  Olympic gold medal: now that is what's worth dying for.  It makes so much sense when a young aspiring athlete or gymnast would say to himself or herself: I am gonna dedicate my life to getting the gold medal at the Olympics.  It makes sense for a young aspiring actor to say, I am gonna get an Oscar before I hit 30!    It makes sense for a writer to say, I am gonna get the Nobel prize for my novels!  But it makes no sense at all, and it’s actually jarring, when Jesus says, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life!  I am that food that does not perish.  I am the food that endures unto eternal life. I am the food that sustains you unto eternity.  I am the food that satiates all your desires.  I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never hunger again, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.”    The glories of the world are more seductive than the entire treasure of God’s gift to us.   What the world promises and offers seems to far surpass what we receive from the hands of God.  That is why the Jews turned their back on Jesus and walked away from Him!

At 70 years old, John Michael Talbot has been making Christian music for more than four decades.  According to CNA, “He has achieved remarkable success, producing dozens of albums that have earned him numerous awards and made him one of the most recognizable names in the Christian music scene.”   Yet, Talbot said that after undergoing a near-death experience in 2017, he now considers all that to be “so much straw.”  “Everything on earth is just practice compared to where we’re all going, which is heaven. It’s all practice,” Talbot said. “I’ve known this all in my life. I’ve known it. But this experience just overwhelmed me.”  In 1978 he converted to Catholicism and gave up his promising career in the secular music industry to devote himself entirely to creating Christian music.  In an interview with CNA, Talbot said that while he was suffering from heart-related issues and spending what he thought would be his final days on earth in a hospital in Houston, he believes God “let me get a glimpse of paradise.”  “In a flash all at once I intuited all of my sins and all of God’s mercy, and all I could do was weep.  And it was tears of sorrow and tears of joy all at once,” he said. “They brought me back to my hospital bed.  All I could do was weep.”  Talbot said that he was so moved by this experience that for years he would begin weeping uncontrollably any time he prayed or even just thought of Jesus or the saints.  Even now, Talbot said that he “can barely keep his composure” during Mass.  To this day I’m wrapped up in the Eucharist,” he said. “That what happened 2,000 years ago is sacramentally brought into the now in every Eucharist, Jesus shedding his blood on a cross for me, personally ….”  “I have tasted your bread now I hunger for more, I drink of your spirit, ever thirsts now my soul. You touched me so gently, I long now for more, late have I loved you, O Lord,” he sings in his latest album’s title song.

In my 30 years as priest, I have been called to many death beds for Last Rites. 

I have always been moved profoundly whenever I saw someone leaving this world with a Rosary wrapping around his hand.  I don’t think I would be as touched looking at a dying person clutching a bunch of Olympic gold medals on the way out!  

"Just give me Jesus, you can have this whole damned world, but give me Jesus!"

Padre