In today's Gospel, John 6: 22-29, the disciples ask Jesus what they can do to accomplish the works of God and His response is: "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." Jesus does not say that the work of God is that I make sacrifices, that I build churches or synagogues, that I accomplish great things that bring me praise or that puts my name in Who's Who or in the Guinness book of records. Just believe in Jesus, the One God sent! For us humans "to just believe" is difficult because our egos want more than that! The busier we are and the more we accomplish, many times, is what satisfies us and also feeds our ego's craving for more and more and more of that which is measurable and plausible and praiseworthy! Just believe, Jesus says! That is the work of God!
This does not mean that Jesus discourages us from doing that which builds the Kingdom, the things He modeled for us! Jesus teaches us how to be human and what humans are asked to do if they want to experience the fullness of life that Jesus came to give us and by which He saves us! Jesus taught us how to deal with evil, not by becoming violent ourselves or by punishing evildoers but by patiently enduring suffering and forgiving those who inflict suffering upon us. He taught us to return good for evil, kindness and rudeness, love for hatred. He taught us that suffering and death has no power over us, as He rose from the dead and entered eternal life, sitting at the right hand of His Father and ours, His God and ours. You and I are doing the work of God when we believe in the One God sent!
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