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Gospel Reading for April 21, 2026 – John 6: 30-35
SUFFICE
The crowd said to Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
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The Jews refused to believe in him unless he showed them a sign—like when their ancestors were in the desert with nothing to eat, and God rained manna upon them (Exodus 16:4).
Yet, Jesus had already performed extraordinary signs in the earlier chapters of the Gospel of John: He turned water into wine, healed the son of a royal official from a distance, and made a crippled man walk. In fact, they asked this of him right after he had multiplied the loaves and fish. Clearly, no sign would ever be enough to make them believe.
Created in God’s image and likeness, every human person has the capacity to enter into the spiritual realm—to believe even in what cannot be seen by the eyes. But this capacity remains undeveloped if we refuse to nurture and grow our faith. In such a case, no amount of miracles will ever SUFFICE.
Woe to us if we refuse to see God—for how then can we hope to share in eternal life with him?
Increase our faith, O Lord!
