2015/08/02 — 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15  The Lord had heard the cries of the Israelites as they suffered slavery in Egypt and had afflicted Egypt with the ten plagues so that the Egyptians let them go. He had brought them through the Red Sea. Almost immediately they began grumbling. They wanted food. Of course they needed food, but it was of a type and delivered in a way that made it clear that the Lord was providing for them on their journey to the promised land. It was a miraculous bread from heaven, manna, which sustained them for forty years while the Lord led them by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night until they crossed the River Jordan and entered the Promised Land. Something similar happened with water. The Lord told Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and water flowed out.


Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 invites us to reflect on the mighty deeds of the Lord in bringing Isreal from Egypt to the Promised Land.


Gospel: John 6:24-35  This reading takes us to the beginning of what is called the "Bread of Life Discourse," in which Jesus presents himself as the true bread from heaven.

After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the disciples had gotten into a boat to go to Capernaum, but Jesus stayed behind. During the night, Jesus, Jesus came to them, walking on the water. The first question from the crowd is natural enough in this context: they knew that Jesus hadn't left with the disciples, yet there he was. But Jesus doesn't answer it. Instead, he directs them from their concern for physical food to a food that will give eternal life.

Several times in the gospels people ask Jesus what they must do to be saved or what is the greatest commandment. The response of the people to Jesus' mention of eternal life is similar. They ask what they need to do. Jesus does not give them a list of commandments, works to perform: the "work" that is needed is faith in him as the one God has sent. The people's demand for a sign may seem strange, considering that he has just fed them with the loaves and fishes, even more so when they allude to a miraculous feeding as the sort of sign they want. But Jesus had previously presented himself as a teacher and had performed signs which related to current life. Now he was claiming to be the channel of eternal life. This new, higher level, claim may justify a request for another sign.

The people seem to attribute the manna to Moses, but Jesus reminds them that it was God, not Moses. who gave the manna. God also gives the bread from heaven which confers and sustains eternal life. When the people ask for this bread, Jesus says that he himself is the bread "which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." What this means will be explained as the discourse continues.


Second reading: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24  In the past couple of weeks, Paul had rejoiced over God's calling of the Gentiles into unity in the Church. Although it is a gift of God, not something we must earn, our response to God's call has consequences for our lives. We must live as God's children, not like the pagans. (Verses 18 and 19, omitted from today's reading, give a further description of how the pagans live.) We are to live righteous lives in the truth of Jesus, not corrupted by worldly desires and deceitful ideas.


The first reading, the psalm, and the gospel, along with the whole history of the wanderings of the Israelites from the Exodus until they crossed the Jordan into the  promised land, are the background of the hymn "Bread of Heaven."  Here's a video. There are lots of others available, including some from rugby matches, royal weddings and funerals.

The hymn's text compares our present life to the sojourn of the Israelites in the desert. We need to be guided through our life by the Lord. We need the bread from heaven to sustain us. And whe we approach death and "tread the verge of Jordan," we ask God to give us the assurances of faith and bring us through death to the promised land of heaven.

This is not a new idea on the part of the writer of the hymn. It has been a constant part of tradition from earliest times. Jesus himself, by calling himself the bread from heaven, has made the comparison. Baptism is our entry into the Christian pilgrimage, as crossing the Red Sea set the Israelites on their journey.

But if we are the new Israelites, fed by the true bread from heaven, we are subject to temptations comparable to theirs, temptations Paul cautions us against. We can long for the pleasures of the "Egypt" we have left behind: our secularized culture. The culture's materialism is manifested in consumerism and greed, in unrestrained lust, and in refusal to admit of any standards of morality one does not choose for oneself. We must remain appreciative of and grateful for all God gives us — above all salvation, but whatever earthly good we can enjoy as well. The bread from heaven strengthens us to live holy lives.