Homily: Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter - Working for food that does not perish

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”  The word used for “work” in this passage is the Greek word, ergon, a word that denotes hard labor and physical exertion.  Here Jesus is saying that belief in him, and following him, is no easy matter; belief requires more than merely emotional or intellectual assent.  Daily we are called to the ergon—the hard work—of turning away from our sins and embracing Jesus' commands.  Daily, we are called to the hard work of bringing our hearts, which so love independence and self-reliance, before the throne of God to submit to his will.

Jesus speaks these words here in chapter 6 of John's Gospel as a sort of prelude to his Bread of Life Discourse, his teaching on the Eucharist.  It will be hard work to come week after week, every Sunday, to come to receive the Bread of Life.

Even though Jesus has done the hardest work of all, carrying our sins to the cross for our eternal salvation, we must engage in the hard work of following him in everything.  But of all the things and distractions vying for our attention in our busy secular world—He alone is worthy of our lives.  We often work so hard for things that will not bring us eternal life, let alone real, deep satisfaction in this life.  We settle for so much less than the greatness for which we've been created.

Bishop Lennon once wrote that when our lives are focused on false Gods of prosperity, prestige, or pursuit of what our secular world calls the good life, we will likely reap a harvest of unhappiness and exhaustion.  Yet, when God is at the center of our lives, when we fulfill all of our responsibilities as ways of serving Him, when He is included in our meals, chores, conversations, parenting, work, vacations, civic responsibilities, decisions, problems, crises, accomplishments, and losses—then the whole of our lives become charged and changed with God's presence.

Working with all of our hearts to serve God does not bring exhaustion and unhappiness, rather it brings new life and joy.

May the Holy Spirit help us to understand what it means to do the work of God.  And may we be willing to work in order to experience of the joy of the Lord, knowing that He alone is worthy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.