This is the question Jesus is asking the crowd, that has once again found Jesus. Just last week we heard of Jesus feeding them all with a miracle of multiplication of loaves and fish – there hunger was satisfied – but it is now only one day later, and the crowd is hungry again – The crowd is there because - the day before they “ate the loaves and were filled”– but they are no longer satisfied from the meal, they coming to Christ searching for satisfaction once again - one meal is not enough to satisfy.
And so, it often goes for many things in our lives. We are doing things to satisfy desires. When every we are doing something, one thing we can ask is what desire are we seeking to satisfy.
But, when we get something we desire, after a time, it seems to no longer satisfies. This is true with meals, just as for the crowd - no matter how great the meal, the next day one will be hungry again. It is also true all sorts of things.
A little kid gets a new toy, and they love the toy for a (hour or two) day or two, but then gets bored of it, and sets it aside looking for a new toy. Even if when they come to truly love a certain toy, it is only matter of time until that toy excites them no more, the toy will not satisfy the child.
When one goes to watch a movie, it is entertaining for a while, we might even enjoy talking about it later, analyzing, but not matter how good the movie, it will not satisfy, we will be longing for more eventually.
There is nothing wrong with these things per se, some of them are quite good - we need to have food to survive - but there is something about them that does not satisfy forever, we will desire more – These are all temporal things, and only bring temporal satisfaction - but there is something in us that desires something eternal. – Just as the crowd came to Jesus not satisfied by just one meal, so also for us – we desire and are looking for something more.
This is what Jesus tells the crowd. – “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life” – There is nothing wrong with the temporal desires, but satisfaction from them will not endure – whether food, a new toy, or a movie, there will still be some desire that is not satisfied. Some things will satisfy longer then others, a healthy meal will satisfy a lot longer than a meal of cake and ice cream – but it will not last forever – unless it is something that is eternal. What the crowd is actually needs is not another quick meal, but something that satisfies eternal. And it is the same for us.
St Augustine, in his Confessions, puts it “you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” The lack of lasting satisfaction in temporal things is what makes us restless – And it is because God has made us for something greater. God has made us for himself, and as such only that which is eternal can satisfy for eternal life – That which is eternal is God himself – and it is in God that our hearts find satisfaction, given to us in the food that endures for eternal life, food come down from heaven,
This food is not the mana in the Old Testament, as the crowd though but Christ himself - “I am the bread of life;whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Christ himself is the bread that comes down from heaven – Christ, as the son of God, can satisfy us for eternal life. It is for Christ that we desire and will satisfy or longings
Jesus started by this gospel by considering about the crowd “why are you here”. What he wants to tell them is why they should be there. The crowd came seeking another meal. The crowds were right to seek Christ out, but they did it for an inadequate reason – It was not that seeking out food when hunger was bad, but what they also should of been seeking was Christ himself, for Christ himself is the bread of life.
And today, the primary place we seek out Christ is here at Mass. The Eucharist is nothing other than the body blood, soul, and divinity of Christ – who is the bread of life – But Jesus asked the crowd why they were there, knowing that they were not there seeking what would truly satisfy – so why do we come to Mass?
It can’t be due to fast satisfaction to things in the short term – When most people think about Mass, thrilling excitement is not what usually comes to mind – but what satisfies and what seems so at first is often not the same. A meal of bread and fish likely seemed more attractive to the crowd than what Jesus was proposing - Eating Cake and Ice Cream for dinner is great in the moment – that satisfaction ends very quickly when one is sick in a few hours.
But we do have many reasons for coming to Mass - It could be out of habit, to make someone happy, to hear the good organ music, to learn about the scriptures in the homily, to meet and talk with people after Mass? None of these things are bad. Having a habit of coming to mass is a good thing - Just as it was not bad that the crowd was hungry – but the ultimate reason we come to Mass is not these things, but to encounter and receive Jesus himself.