A large number of people followed Jesus
If you look coldly at today's event, which is recalled by the Gospel, one gets the irresistible impression that the multitudes of people who follow Jesus' footsteps in large numbers have their own personal interests. It was enough that only a few of them witnessed a miracle, the news spread at the speed of information sent via the Internet. Everything that exceeds human reason and the law of nature arouses such great interest.
Sometimes a man, instead of being close to God, would like to have an illusionist, bioenergotherapist, a magician who can charm with something extraordinary - to cleanse life from difficulties, suffering or disease - like using a magic wand. Nothing could be more wrong. One can confuse faith in God with own narrow projection of someone who will satisfy my hunger for the extraordinary expectation and my need to experience something else. "God is not a spectacle," wrote J. Paliard. Contemplation of God is more interior, veiled, and baffling. He reveals himself to some extent only, through faithfulness to the movement of heart that leads to him; thanks to a crossing the line of grace which brings peace, and which gives wealth through being stripped.”
People pressed on to Jesus. Great multitudes of people were coming to Him. Jesus, however, drifted away from them. He let them come closer, but when he helped the neediest, he moved away. Jesus is not after crowds of followers. He can "arrange" this at any time. He wants to change people's hearts. And that is hard to find in the crowd. True conversions, which gave rise to life with a new quality, always took place in the context of Jesus' personal encounter with man.
Searching for God - you cannot be greedy for a miracle, pushy, forcing for something. Master Eckhart was right: “Our discovery is that we cannot reach Him; failure itself is an achievement. " In order to find the Lord, we must free ourselves from the heart-paralyzing conviction that we must find Him and that He must do something for us. “Sometimes we think that we are looking for God. But it is He who always looks for us and often He makes that He is found by those who have not been looking for him"(H. de Lubac). Two most essential elements are needed: depth of faith and patience while waiting for a miracle.
It is no wonder that countless crowds come to Jesus - even today. But did he mean that these crowds should be as large as possible? He always wanted to be able to distance himself from the crowds, although he did not despise them. Jesus knew perfectly well that he would do the most by working with a small group of people. And it really happened: at the most important moment of Jesus' life, the crowds were not with him (on the contrary - the crowds shouted "crucify him"). The Church is not based on crowds, although sometimes she flocks in crowds. The Church does not rely on countless crowds. The Church is based on faith - yours and mine.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george