Monsignor Ismael Baracaldo was a retired priest who lived in the seminary in Colombia. He celebrated Sunday Mass in two hotels in a nearby tourist city. For a couple of years, I accompanied him to these Masses and helped him with the music and logistics of the Mass. For most of his priestly ministry he was as a chaplain at the city hospital.

The seminarians who helped him when he served the Lord as a hospital chaplain said that, when they first came to introduce themselves as his assistants, he told them that the only thing he required of them was that they play basketball. As a young man, Monsignor liked to play basketball and very often played with the seminarians.

Today’s readings reminded me of these things from the seminary. Back then, in a way, seminarians who served with a priest became his disciples. The theme of discipleship is at the heart of the gospel reading and the first reading from the book of Exodus. To the people who came to look for him in Capernaum the day after the multiplication of the loaves, the Lord reminds them that they do not have good intentions in following him. Then he begins to tell them about the central condition they must have to be his disciples: faith in him.  

The Church pairs this gospel reading with the part of the book of Exodus about manna. Thirteen centuries earlier, God had freed the people from slavery in Egypt. Once free in the desert, God began to prepare these people to be his disciples. The preparation God chose for His disciples was by putting them in an environment that required reliance upon Him to survive.

In this preparation for discipleship, God desired that they learn He had the power to do whatever was required to sustain their existence. They only needed to prioritize obedience to God before all else. The people also had to learn that God's will was made known to them through Moses and Aaron, his prophet and high priest. Consequently, the people of Israel needed to focus on the commandments given by Moses and Aaron to become God’s disciples. Moses and Aaron became the mediators of God's Covenant with his people.

The event of the manna and the beginning of Israel’s discipleship perfectly prefigured the multiplication of the loaves and the discipleship of the Lord’s followers. A deserted place where the multitude had no food was the appropriate environment for the Lord to symbolize and promise the new manna he would give to satisfy humanity's hunger for immortality.

As was the case in the desert, the lack of food essential for mortal life was the perfect opportunity for the Lord to invite the people to contemplate eternal life. The desire for eternal life is above the desire for physical satisfaction. The Lord uses the need for physical nourishment to invite them to look beyond the immediate to eternity. He invites them to be followers of Him for the right reasons. The right reason is to have faith in Him; it is to believe that He is the Son of God, who promises us eternal life. Faith in the Son of God is manifested in obeying his commandments.

Moses and Aaron were images of the Lord. The Lord is the true mediator between God and humanity. The true disciple of the Lord obeys him striving for perfection and believes him as the true prophet and priest of God. Today's readings invite us to reflect on our discipleship. They challenge us to reflect on the intentions we have in following the Lord. The Lord invites us to place all our obedience to Him and to believe in His commandments.

Receiving communion also means our profession of faith in the Lord and our obedience to His commandments. Let us ask Him with faith and humility to give us His grace to believe more and more in Him, and to love Him above all things.