When the Apostles sought to understand, and to help others understand the mystery of Jesus, His passion, death and resurrection, they turned to the Old Testament, especially to the Book of Isaiah. This is seen in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles. In today's reading Philip explains the passage of Isaiah from the Christian point of view.

The early Church was guided in this matter by Jesus Himself. Many Gospel passages show that Jesus explained Himself and His mission by recalling Isaiah's words (Is.54:13) when he says "It is written in the prophets - and they shall be taught by God", (Jn. 6:45). A prayerful understanding of this fact will help us understand more deeply the mind of Christ.

We too need a way of understanding the mysteries of our lives. The daily care of our lives sometimes overburdens us and we ask ourselves, why suffer? Why this disappointment? We fail to understand ourselves or others. We seem to be in a "wilderness". Particularly during these moments we need to understand the mystery of our lives. This is seen in Jesus' saying when He clarifies for us that we need to look beyond the wilderness to gain strength and knowledge for understanding our lives. The way to look beyond the wilderness is believing in the food Jesus gives: a food that gives us enduring power to overcome the wilderness of our lives which enables us to understand the mystery of our lives.