12 April 2027 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:27
Stephen first appears in the Acts of the Apostles as a man chosen to wait on tables. The Twelve had asked the community to pick seven men “of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” to care for the daily distribution of food to the widows, so that the apostles could give themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Stephen's name stands first on the list. But today we see that the man appointed to serve bread is also a man of the word: “full of grace and power,” he “did great wonders and signs among the people.” Members of the synagogue of the Freedmen, Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia, begin to argue with him, and “they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.” When argument fails, accusation begins. False witnesses are brought: “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law.” St Luke tells the story so that we hear the trial of Jesus again; there too false witnesses spoke about the Temple (Mark 14:57–58). The disciple is walking the road of his Master. And at the very moment of accusation Luke gives us one quiet, luminous line: all who sat in the council looked at him, “and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” The man accused of speaking against Moses carries the radiance of Moses, whose face shone when he came down from Sinai after speaking with God. The Psalm gives us Stephen's inner prayer: “Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.” The quarrel here is a family quarrel among Jews, for Stephen is himself a Jew; Luke does not blame a whole people, and neither does the Church (Catechism 597).
The Gospel takes us to the morning after the feeding of the five thousand. The crowd has noticed that Jesus did not get into the boat with his disciples, so they take boats from Tiberias and cross to Capernaum looking for him. “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus does not answer the question; he answers the heart: “you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” They had seen bread; they had not seen the sign. They wanted another meal, not the One who gives it. So Jesus lifts their eyes: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” They reply like good, practical people: “What must we do to perform the works of God?” They expect a list. Jesus gives them one word: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Faith is both God's work in us and our first work for God; every good deed grows out of it. Through this whole week the Church reads the great discourse on the Bread of Life, step by step, and in the Easter season we read it with the eyes of the newly baptized, who have just received the Eucharist for the first time. Stephen served the bread that perishes to hungry widows and preached the bread that endures. The Church still does both, and both are the work of love.
Theme: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.”
Stephen's shining face, the crowd that wanted only bread, and the one work God asks of us.
“Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” Exodus 34:29
“And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Acts 6:15
Apply: Before a difficult conversation this week, spend a few minutes with the Lord first, and go in with his peace.
“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Isaiah 55:2
“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:27
Apply: Look honestly at how you spend your best hours this week, and give one of them to the food that endures.
“I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your ordinances before me.” Psalm 119:30
“Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”” John 6:29
Apply: Begin each morning this week with a simple act of faith: Lord Jesus, I believe in you, whom the Father has sent.
The Spirit made a table servant shine with the peace of the risen Lord.
Jesus calls us beyond the bread that perishes to faith in him, the bread that endures.
Take-home resolution: Make an act of faith every morning this week and one visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
Dear friends, Stephen was chosen to serve food to widows. A humble job. But the Spirit does not stay inside job descriptions: the man who served tables was full of grace and power, and his wisdom was so strong that his opponents could not answer him (Acts 6:10).
So they found false witnesses, as they had for Jesus. And at that moment, when anyone else would be angry or afraid, the whole council looked at Stephen and saw that his face was like the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). That is what Easter does to a person. The risen Lord gives a peace that accusations cannot take away.
In the Gospel a crowd crosses the lake looking for Jesus. It sounds wonderful, until Jesus tells them the truth: you are looking for me because you ate your fill of the loaves (John 6:26). They wanted more bread, not the One who gives it. Many of us pray like that: we come when we need something, and disappear when we have it.
Jesus does not send them away. He offers them more than they asked: work for the food that endures for eternal life. And when they ask what work they must do, he gives them one: believe in him whom God has sent (John 6:29). Faith first, and everything else grows from it. At this Mass he gives us that food that endures, his own Body and Blood. Let us seek him today not only for his gifts but for himself. Alleluia. Amen.
Children, the people followed Jesus because he gave them bread to eat. Jesus said: I have an even better bread for you, a bread that makes you live for ever! That bread is Jesus himself, in Holy Communion. Today let us tell Jesus: I love you, not only for what you give me, but because you are you!
Lord Jesus, risen from the dead, you filled your servant Stephen with grace and power and made his face shine before his accusers. Deliver us from seeking you only for the bread that perishes. Give us the faith that is your own work in us, and feed us with the bread that endures for eternal life, until we see your face in glory. Amen. Alleluia.