The readings today put two things side by side.

In the first reading, Stephen stands before hostile eyes.
In the Gospel, the crowd stands before Jesus with hungry questions.

And in both cases, the issue is the same.

Will people accept the truth as God gives it?

Or will they try to reduce it
to something smaller, safer, and more manageable?

Stephen is full of grace and power.
He does great wonders and signs.

And what happens?

Men rise up against him. They argue. They oppose him.

But they cannot withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he speaks.

And because they cannot answer the truth, they turn to lies.

That is always one mark of resistance to God.

When truth cannot be defeated, it is often slandered.

Then comes that remarkable line: His face was like the face of an angel.

He stands in the middle of accusation, yet heaven is already visible in him.

The world sees a man to be crushed.
God shows a witness already marked by glory.

Then we come to the Gospel.

The crowd follows Jesus after the multiplication of the loaves.

They are searching for Him. But Jesus sees straight through them.

They want Him, yes. But not yet for the highest reason.

They have had bread. They have been filled. They want more.

And Jesus immediately raises the whole question higher.

“Do not labour for the food which perishes,
but for the food which endures to eternal life.”

That is the great turn in the Gospel.

The crowd is thinking about bread for the stomach.
Jesus is leading them toward bread for eternal life.

They are interested in signs because the signs are useful.

Jesus wants them to understand what the signs mean. That still matters now.

Many people want religion as long as it is useful, comforting, practical,
affirming.

But Christ does not come merely to improve earthly conditions.

He comes to give eternal life.

Then they ask: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

That sounds like a serious question. And it is.

But Jesus gives an answer that cuts right across ordinary ways of thinking:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

That is the first work.

Faith.

Not mere curiosity.
Not admiration.
Not using Jesus as a means to some other end.

Faith in the One sent by the Father.

And here a very Catholic point must be made.

Faith is not vague spirituality.
It is not “being religious.”
It is not warm feelings about God.

It is specific.

It has an object.

It is faith in Christ, the Son sent by the Father,
the One in whom eternal life is given.

And that is why this Gospel is already sacramental.

Jesus is preparing the crowd for what is coming next.

He has fed them with ordinary bread.
But He is drawing them toward the true Bread.

He is leading them from the miracle to the mystery,
from the sign to the sacrament,
from earthly hunger to the Eucharist.

That is how Christ works.

He does not leave us with ideas only.
He gives Himself.

The food that endures to eternal life is not an abstraction.
It is bound up with His own person.

And in the fullness of this chapter, it will be His Flesh
given for the life of the world.

Now place Stephen beside this.

Stephen is a man who has believed in the One whom the Father has sent.

He does not merely hold opinions about Jesus.

He belongs to Him.

That is why he can stand firm.
That is why his face shines.
That is why accusation cannot master him.

Faith has made him strong.

Not because he is naturally fearless.
But because he is anchored in Christ.

That is the challenge for us.

Do we seek Christ Himself? Or only what He can give us on our own terms?

Do we labour only for what perishes — comfort, success, approval, security?

Or for the food that endures?

Do we believe in the Son as the Father has sent Him?

Or do we keep trying to remake Him into something less demanding,
less sacramental, less absolute?

The Church answers clearly.

The work of God is faith in Christ.

The life of that faith is sustained sacramentally.

And the witness of that faith must be strong enough to endure contradiction.

So ask today for Stephen’s courage.

And ask for a deeper hunger than the crowd had.

Not just for help from Christ.

For Christ Himself.

Because only He is the food that does not perish.

Only He is the Bread of Life.

And only He can satisfy the hunger of the soul.