Deacon Tom Anthony

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 113

Reading 1 Ex 16:2-4, 12-15

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them,
"Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!"

Then the LORD said to Moses,
"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;
thus will I test them,
to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.
Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,
so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.
In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,
and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert
were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?"
for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them,
"This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

R. (24b) The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
What we have heard and know,
and what our fathers have declared to us,
We will declare to the generation to come
the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength
and the wonders that he wrought.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
He commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven;
he rained manna upon them for food
and gave them heavenly bread.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels,
food he sent them in abundance.
And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountains his right hand had won.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Reading 2 Eph 4:17, 20-24

Brothers and sisters:
I declare and testify in the Lord
that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their minds;
that is not how you learned Christ,
assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,
as truth is in Jesus,
that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,
corrupted through deceitful desires,
and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Alleluia Mt 4:4b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered them and said,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
you are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."
So they said to him,
"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
So they said to him,
"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
So Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world."

So they said to him,
"Sir, give us this bread always."
Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 As Christians we are challenged to believe everything that Jesus Christ has said and what is written in Sacred Scripture. It is through the words of God that we are given wisdom, comfort, and instruction to bring our lives to a state of fulfillment and joy. It is easy sometimes to choose what we believe and discard that which we do not agree with. This is a by-product of our pride and our rebellion. There can be none of this if we truly want to unite ourselves with Jesus and live a transformative experience daily as a result. The Words of God should be ingested, savored, and experienced with the same zeal we chased the physical and mental desires in our lives which brought many of us to the breaking point.

In the Scripture Reading today, the Jewish People were hungry and demanded food. They lamented how they had left Egypt where they reminisced how they were well fed and did not face the conditions they were currently challenged with. They sought food to satisfy their physical urgings all the while ignoring their spirituality and special relationship with God. God, for His part, did not forget His relationship with the Jews and gave them what they needed. We too are always in danger of forgetting our special relationship with God in favor of physical and mental satisfaction. This, more often than not, can lead us astray and into a pattern of sin and brokenness. God will never forget us. It is us who forget God.

As Christians, we are encouraged to surrender everything over to Jesus Christ. We are told that He will provide everything that we need in this life to sustain us if only we invite Him into the experience. Focusing on our spirituality first and our relationship with Him with produce profound changes in our outlook and the way we perceive the world. What was important before, especially material things, will no longer matter while the anxieties of daily living will diminish. In the Gospel Reading today, Jesus reminds the people that they were fed and provided for physically and now they had the opportunity to be nourished both mentally and spiritually. Nothing was to be lacking through Him. All were encouraged not to focus on the physical needs and desire of the world, for they were to be provided for. It was that which is eternal, Jesus Christ, that should take precedent over everything else.

Our time on this earth and in God’s Creation is limited. It is but a mere phase in our existence. Important that it is, there is so much more to look forward to and experience. Being in a positive, open relationship with Jesus Christ enables us to look beyond the thoughts and desires of the physical world. Jesus Christ is present throughout this creation and to participate in it rightly, He must be a central focus of our thoughts and actions. When we do this, we are then fed spiritually, nourished completely through His words and His presence. Being with Jesus then enables us to completely satisfied in everything that we do.

Being open to Jesus Christ and surrendering to Him are the first steps to a joyful life and one that God intended for us. What He says and what is revealed to us through our faith-life should not be approached with apprehension. Instead, it should be approached with acceptance. As Christian, we believe and know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is through Him that we go to the Father. The Holy Spirit enables us to feel their love for us and to benefit from the experience. The journey becomes the destination. The only struggles that we will have will be those that we bring about on ourselves. Letting go of our pride and prejudices is the key to a love and life that we can only have imagined before. A life with and for our Creator.

Deacon Tom.

Deacon Tom