Our readings present us with two of the primary reasons for seeking Christ. The first is represented by the crowds who seek Christ because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Later, after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus would tell them, bluntly, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. And so the one reason we seek Christ is for what he can do for us—he is a means to often self-centered needs. A second reason for seeking Christ is expressed by the psalmist who prays: One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple. Here we are very much closer to that more perfect love of Christ that seeks Christ himself, and not simply what he can do for us. But, it is the apostles who teach us that perfect love of Christ, and who now seek for what they can do for Christ. And thus we are told that after being flogged for preaching Christ they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And so the question for each one of us is where do we find ourselves in our search for Christ—the crowd, the psalmist, or the apostles?
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