Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 / Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 / John 6:24-35
If we were asked whether we know what international event is happening in Japan, presumably the answer would be the Olympic Games.
But that would not necessarily be the obvious and foregone answer, because with so many other things happening locally and internationally, the publicity about the Olympic games has also been affected.
Initially, there was even the question of whether the Games would continue as planned, but eventually it went ahead but with much restrictions.
So, we may know that the Olympic Games is happening in Japan now. The next question is, do we know what is the Olympic motto?
The Olympic motto is just three Latin words: Citius-Altius-Fortius. These three words mean “Faster-Higher-Stronger”.
And it was a priest, Fr. Henri Didon OP, who expressed these words in the opening ceremony of a school sports event in 1881, and it was later adopted as the Olympic motto.
That motto expresses the aspirations of the Olympic movement, not only in its athletic and technical sense, but also from a moral and educational perspective.
So, when it comes down to competition and sportsmanship, then it will be “sometimes we win, sometimes we learn”.
Even when it comes to losing or failure, then the lesson that can be learned is that failure is the mother of success.
So, it is a good thing that the Olympic Games went on. After all, the Olympic Games originated from a break from the fighting by the warring Greek states.
But going back much earlier than the Greek era, a gold medal could have been given to Moses for leading the Israelites in the desert for 40 years.
Moses had to endure the unfaithfulness, the stubbornness and the complaints from the Israelites for 40 long years.
In the 1st reading, we heard of the complaint about the lack of food, and the people even said that they would rather die as slaves in Egypt then to die in the desert.
But from that, the lesson that Moses and the people learnt was that God will provide them food to eat to their hearts content, even in the desert.
In the gospel, the people were looking for Jesus, but when we found Him, He had this to say to them: You are not looking for me because you have seen the signs, but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Jesus went on to tell them not to work for food that could not last, but to work for food that endured to eternal life.
This working for food that endures to eternal life is essentially the work of faith and to believe that Jesus is the bread of God that has come down from heaven for the life of the world.
And the people tell Jesus to give them that bread always. For the people, the idea of bread in abundance was stuck in their minds, and they were not seeing the signs and learning from it.
Well, the signs may change, but it is faith that enables us to see Jesus giving us the spiritual food for life.
In a way, we don't like the signs to change. So, we would like to come for Mass weekly, receive Holy Communion and to have these spiritual things always, as it was before.
But the signs are changing, and that doesn't mean we will lose faith. In fact, it calls for a new learning and a new growth in faith.
One of the amazing stories of the Christians in Japan is about how the faith of the Japanese Christians endured 400 years of persecution.
Christianity arrived in Japan in 1543, but by 1620, Christianity was banned. Missionaries were expelled and the local Christians were persecuted and they went into hiding.
So, there was no Mass, no Holy Communion, no Sacraments, no priests, and it was amazing how the Japanese Christians held on to the faith.
Finally, when missionaries were allowed into Japan, they found these Japanese Christians holding on to their faith with religious items like crucifixes and rosaries that were handed down from generation to generation, and it was for 400 years. They should get gold medals for that.
So, in these times when we may not be able to come for Mass weekly and our spiritual routines are not always there for us, we have much to learn.
It is about we, the Church, going out there in the modern world and understanding the signs that God is showing us.
Like the persecuted Japanese Christians, we find consolation in our religious objects as we use them to stay connected to our faith and to Jesus.
Yes, let us learn faster, so that we will reach higher and grow stronger in the faith.
We may not win silver or gold, but we will always have Jesus and we will not thirst and hunger for anything else.