18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Blessed Mother Teresa once said, "People are hungry for God.  Do you see that? Quite often we look but do not see. We are all passing through this world. We need to open our eyes and see." In  today’s gospel from John 6:24-35, the people who followed Jesus to Capernaum after the miracle of the loaves and fishes were looking for Jesus the prophet but they did not see God the Son even though he was standing right in front of them.  They wanted heavenly signs like manna in the desert, but they failed to recognize the miracle of the loaves and fishes that they participated in as a sign that Jesus came from God.  They wanted to satisfy their physical hunger, but they were ignoring their spiritual hunger.

The Bread of Life Jesus offered the crowd in Capernaum and the Bread of Life he offers us sustains more than our physical needs.  The bread Jesus offers provides us with fullness of life.  That fullness includes love, joy, peace, compassion, forgiveness, understanding and wisdom.  The Bread of Life unites us with God and fulfills all our inner longings.  The Bread of Life is anything that nurtures our spirits.  We receive the Bread of Life in scripture, in song, in art, in relationships, in family, in community, in worship, in our belief in Jesus and in Eucharist.

Like the Israelites in our first reading from Exodus, the crowd following Jesus wanted their daily bread, bread that would not keep.  Jesus wanted to offer them “food that endures for eternal life.” As Catholics, we consider the Eucharist our Bread of Life.  Eucharist is our manna from heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us “What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life.  Communion … preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death…” (CCC 1392).

 Our living God,
we hunger for lasting life and happiness
and the fulfillment of all our hopes.
Satisfy all our hungers
through your Son Jesus Christ,
our bread of life.
And when he has filled us with himself,
may he lead and strengthen us
to bring to a waiting world
the food of reconciliation and joy
which you alone can give to the full.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen