You could entitle this homily, "John 6 and Good Parenting." What does the 6^th chapter of John’s Gospel, which begins with the multiplication of the loaves and ends with a profound teaching on the Holy Eucharist, have to do with being a good mother or father? Well, on the surface, not much; but if you probe a bit deeper, I think you’ll see there’s a definite connection.

Let me begin with this story: Last week, two classmates of mine from high school, who married each other back in 1979, came to our 10:30AM Mass along with their two children, one of whom just graduated high school. [I now know for a fact that I’m not a kid anymore—it’s a definite "reality check" when you realize that your classmates’ children are entering college!] After Mass we went out for lunch, and at one point Brian—the high school graduate—said to me, "Fr. Ray, didn’t you ever want to have children?" I said to him, "Of course. But I do have children—lots of them! That’s why people call me ‘Father.’ You see, being a father involves more than just physically bringing children into the world. That’s only part of what a father does. A father is also called to help his children become mature, responsible adults. As a priest, I don’t father people in the physical sense, but I do father them spiritually. I’m the instrument of their spiritual rebirth in the baptismal font, and then I help them through word and sacrament to become mature disciples of Jesus Christ. And that’s incredibly satisfying and fulfilling—to know that you’ve been used by God to help someone get on the road to heaven, because heaven is the ultimate goal of this life."

Such is the fatherly role of a priest. But spiritual formation is supposed to begin in the home, with natural parents. In fact it’s got to begin there, or young people will likely end up on the road to damnation and not salvation, even if the priests who influence them are good ones. And here we encounter the "parenting lesson" of John 6. Simply put the lesson is: Earthly bread is not enough. This chapter begins with the event we heard about a few moments ago—Jesus gives 5,000 people a good meal. He satisfies their physical hunger with bread and fish. But is that enough for them? No, it’s not! As we will hear in the next few weeks, the crowd was hungry for more. Now initially they weren’t even conscious of what the "more" was; they simply knew they had a deeper need which was not satisfied by the earthly meal Jesus had given them. And so it is with children. They need to receive more from their parents than 3 meals a day, some nice clothes and a beautiful house. First and foremost, through their parents, children need to be formed in the truth of Jesus Christ—the truth about who they are; the truth about who God is; the truth about the meaning of this earthly existence. Jesus does this for the crowd in John 6. St. John tells us that these people chased Jesus across the sea of Galilee after the miracle of the loaves, and when they found him the next day they began to ask him lots of questions—questions which were a sign of their spiritual hunger—such as, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" "What is the work you do?" And Jesus fed them with the truth. Parents, modeling themselves on Jesus, need to know the truth (and be living it) so that they can answer their children’s questions and instruct them as Jesus instructed the people in this crowd. A young married woman called me the other day to arrange a baptism for her child. She’s been disconnected from the Church for a long time, but wants to come back. She said to me, "Now that I have a child, I’ve suddenly begun to realize how important God and my Catholic faith are—for me and for my baby." She’s right.