In this Season of Easter, help us, dear Lord Jesus to know you more clearly so that we may deepen our faith in you and eventually do your work of loving service to one another; so many times in life we seek you for selfish and personal reasons like the people you have fed at the wilderness.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw the signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
John 6:25-27
Like St. Stephen in the first reading, fill us with passion in "working for God" which is primarily to believe in you as the Christ, the one he sent; but so many times, even in this modern age, we doubt you, O Jesus, as the Son of God: like those Jews, we ask "when did you get here" - from where are you, Jesus, because we always doubt you as the Son of God like our separated brothers and sisters until now influenced by Arianism.
Hence, it is not enough for us to be simply passionate like St. Stephen - grant us the academic discipline of St. Athanasius whose memorial we celebrate today; his sound mental acumen formed by his deep spirituality based on prayers made him a pillar of the Church in defending your truth as the Son of God. The more he knew you more clearly, the more he followed you closely even if he was banished so many times from his posts due to his rootedness in you; most of all, in his knowledge and wisdom, the more he loved you dearly, Jesus, by serving the flock entrusted to him. Amen.
