Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 113
Reading I
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 II
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,
It is truly amazing how we can be so easily distracted by physical necessities and the things that we think we have to have so as to be comfortable, complacent, and satisfied. Many times we can find ourselves focused on desires that we convince ourselves are essential to achieve contentment. In reality, most of the time, we are chasing an illusion that is being offered by a society that really doesn’t have our best intentions in mind. Selfishness, greed, and indulgence are usually at the root of these thoughts as well as all things that are grounded in the desires of the flesh. If we take a step back from our daily routine and reflect just a little bit I feel we can see just how many things we chase after to feed our earthly desires that, ultimately, do not serve any purpose but just to satisfy some sort of longing which was developed in the moment. This can be defined as wasted time and meaningless in comparison to the bigger picture. These things can also serve as a catalyst for something deeper and more threatening to our relationship with God.
This condition that we most likely suffer from is nothing new. We read in The Book of Exodus today how The Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron because they were hungry. It is worth note that they were not starving and were only six weeks into their journey from captivity in Egypt. Even though they had obtained their freedom and were on a journey towards a new life they readily abandoned what faith they had because they were not completely comfortable with the amenities afforded to them: they actually chose slavery in exchange for being comfortable! This is seen earlier in The Sacred Scriptures when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob in a moment of weakness that also had its roots in earthly desires. This serves as a lesson to us that no one is above the temptations of the flesh: these can wreak havoc upon our best intentions and on our relationship with God.
In the Nicene Creed we profess, “I believe in one God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” The invisible is referring to the spiritual realm and all that it contains including the spiritual beings that dwell therein. This belief should offer an understanding that there is something beyond this physical world and that it also holds a higher importance to us than anything in this physical world; for we are also a part of the spiritual realm. Our souls are eternal and will remain while our earthen vessels return to the dust from which they were created. Believing this and understanding this should give us hope and enforce our faith that God indeed has a plan for us; a plan that exceeds all that we could expect from this world.
Our faith encourages us to look at everything differently; through the lens of Jesus Christ. If we allow Him to do so, Jesus will shape our minds to understand things the way He wants us to. This will pull back the curtain on that which has been hidden from those who choose earthly desires above that which is God. The Apostle Paul describes this as a “renewal of the mind.” We will then welcome in the emergence of a new self guided by The Holy Spirit and a new life with Jesus Christ. The desires of the flesh will be minimized; reduced to a secondary position while our spirituality will take command of our existence. These things have to be worked on but will eventually become second-nature with a complete surrendering to God.
Jesus emphasizes the path that all of us should be taking; telling us to focus on the food that endures forever. It other words we should be most concerned about feeding our spirituality. We are always at risk of focusing on the wrong things; things that are material and have an expiration date. This is usually done at the expense of the spiritual nourishment that we desperately need. One leads to temporary satisfaction while the other leads to eternal joy. The one that is temporary leaves us full for only a moment then we are empty once again; left dissatisfied and grumbling. The Bread of Life keeps nourishing us forever. When we consume it we want more but in a different way than which the flesh demands. The spiritual nourishment makes us hunger in a good way because the more we partake of it the more joyous we become; being lifted ever higher in our experiences and awareness of what is being offered to us.
All of what Jesus is offering us comes directly from God. All that comes from God is good. We will be provided for and our burdens will be taken away from us if we embrace that which is good. That is the biggest difference between walking with Jesus and pursuing that which comes from a defective world. We are guaranteed to overcome everything that ails us through the strength given to us by Jesus. We will receive wisdom, knowledge, understanding, fortitude, piety, good counsel, and a healthy fear of God amongst other things which will then define our very existence; preparing ourselves for eternity while experience insurmountable joy in the present. No longer will we be focused on the wrong things at the wrong time. Instead we will be nourished and strengthened in the right things that will never do us any harm. We will be new creations through, in, and by our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. His intentions will become our reality. God’s reality and our reality will be the same.
Deacon Tom
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