18th Sunday in O.T. (B); 8-1-2021

Ex 16:2-4,12-15. Ps 78. Eph 4:17,20-24. Jn 6:24-35

Deacon Jim McFadden

This Sunday we continue our reflection on the 6th chapter of John’s gospel. After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the people went in search of Jesus. The crowd seems to be following Jesus from one side of the lake to the other; wherever he is, they are there as well. As we reflected last Sunday, the presence of the crowd symbolizes our deep desire for wanting genuine Life—one of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Seeking Jesus is a good beginning, but we can’t stop there. Our Lord wants people to know him. He wishes that the search for him and the encounter with him go beyond the immediate satisfaction of their needs. Jesus came to bring us something more—to open our lives to a greater Vision than the daily concerns of getting our immediate needs satisfied, whether they be material, psychological, or social. Thus, turning to the crowds, he exclaims: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled” (Jn 6:26).

Jesus is trying to move the crowd away from a ‘me-centered’ religion in which we relate to God and to the Church according to how our needs are being met. Such a disposition may appeal to us at first, but it’s really cheap grace as it doesn’t satisfy our deepest spiritual hunger. Jesus knew that people wanted a quick fix and easy answers instead of entering into the mystery with heart and soul open to receiving the new life that discipleship would bring.

So, Jesus is encouraging people to go a step further, to take the risk of venturing into a deeper level of faith. Just don’t take advantage of the miracle, but take a step back and wonder about its significance. To begin with, when the crowd witnessed the multiplication of the loaves, they did not comprehend that the bread, before it was distributed, was first broken for so many. In other words, the breaking of the bread corresponds to the fracturing rite during Holy Mass, which is the expression of the Jesus’ love for each of us. All the crowd saw was the gift of the bread and they lost sight of the donor. Before this spiritual blindness, Jesus challenges them of going beyond the gift, to discover, come to know the donor. God himself is both the gift and the giver. Thus, from that bread, from that gesture, the people can find the One who gives it, who is God in

the Flesh. So, Jesus challenges them and us: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”

(v. 35). Jesus challenges us to move beyond having our needs met, being taken care of, or being healed. Jesus tells us that “the bread of God…gives LIFE to the world.” And, to fully receive the Bread of Life, we must do what Jesus faithfully does: to do the will of the Father by giving our lives away.

The crowd listens to Jesus invitation, but they still don’t get it, which often happens to us as the spiritual journey unfolds in a ‘two-step forward, one-step backward’ fashion. So, they ask him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God? ” (v. 28). Those who are listening to Jesus are still in a transactional mode of religion: tell me what to do—what precepts, rules, and commandments must I follow in order to obtain more miracles, like the multiplication of the loaves. This is a common syndrome: namely, to reduce religion to laws in which we have a master-slave relationship with God. If I do this—follow these laws, Commandments, Church prescriptions—then you, O God, are bound to do this for me. Such an attitude is one of mercantile self-interest in the domain of religion: I will do such and such to gain your benevolence, eventually obtaining the big pay day: eternal life. The crowd wants to relate to Jesus in a conditional sort of way: what must I do to get on your good side. Underlying this assumption is that God does not love us very much and that we only curry his favor by playing by the religious rules.

Jesus’ reply is unexpected; he moves us from transactional religion to an ‘I- Thou’ faith relationship. He says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the him whom he has sent” (v. 29). This is it, brothers and sisters! If we allow ourselves to be involved in this loving and trusting relationship with Jesus, we will be able to perform good works, our lives will become rightly ordered as we follow the Commandments, and we will live Gospel values for the good of our brothers and sisters.

The Lord Jesus recognizes that while we do have temporal needs—such as physical hunger and psychological yearnings—we have another hunger that goes to the very core of our being, which can’t be satisfied with ordinary food, the goods of the world. We have a hunger for intimacy, communion with God, which is reflected in our solidarity with each other, and harmony with Creation. All of this is realized in our relationship with him, who is the sole mediator between Heaven and earth. If our faith in Jesus is strengthened, who is the ‘bread of life’, our deepest yearning for Truth, Goodness, and Beauty will be realized.

People of God, Jesus is the radical measure of what it means to be a human being. As Yahweh is enfleshed in Jesus (the Incarnation), we are raised to a unique relationship with Christ through the reception of the Eucharist. The meaning of human life is incredibly transformed by our capacity to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Such a reception does not mean that we are morally superior to other Christians, but it does mean that there is an intimate bond between Jesus and those who receive in him in the consecrated bread and wine. We become what we eat. We become more fully the Body of Christ, the Church. And, we receive the Bread of Life, we become the Bread of Life to the world. Amen.