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Eighteenth Sunday – Year B – Ordinary Time
Readings: Exo 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35.
Reading 1 (Exo 16:2-4, 12-15):
The priests and prophets said to the princes and to all the people,
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.”
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.
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.”
Fr. Anthony Dinh Minh Tien, O.P.
I. THEME: Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.
The temptation for food is always the best tactics which the devil use to tempt human beings. They used this tactics to tempt Jesus after he fasted for forty days in the desert; they said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God'”” (Mt 4:3-4). Jesus wanted people to know that food is necessary, but not all. If people pay too much attention into food, they shall get sick, both spiritually and physically.
Today readings want to highlight two realities: Food that perishes and food that endures for eternal life. In the first reading, the Israelites complained against God and Moses because they were hungry in the desert. God gave them manna which descend from heaven in the morning, and quails which came to them in the evening. They could eat all they can; but can’t store them up. God commanded them to take enough for that day; if they were so greedy to store up, manna shall be spoiled the next day. In the second reading, St. Paul differentiated between the two ways of life: the Gentiles’ and the Holy Spirit’s way. The Gentiles live their life according to vain ideas; they only work to get food that perish and to enjoy the worldly life. In opposition to them, the faithful should live according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and Christ’s teaching to get food that endures to eternal life. In the Gospel, people were looking for Jesus after they witnessed his miracle and were abundantly fed by him. Christ knew the reason why they were looking for him, so he said to them: “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.”
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: God gave the Israelites bread and meat in the desert.
1.1/ The Israelites complained against God and Moses: In desert, 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!”
Some people said that the Israelites have a reason to complain because if they must die of famine in the desert, it is better to stay in Egypt to die by the fleshpots! But this shouldn’t be the problem because if God, out of love, had a plan to save the Israelites from their slavery to the Egyptians to enter the Promise Land, how could He let them die of famine in the desert! These complains indicated that:
(1) The Israelites didn’t completely trust in God: They had just witnessed the Exodus in which God let them safely pass the Red Sea while the Pharaoh’s armies were sunken in it, in addition to seven catastrophes which God punished the Egyptians. Why shouldn’t they pray to God to ask for food instead of complaining with these unkind words?
(2) The Israelites valued food more than spiritual values: Slavery to Pharaoh is a terrible suffering as they called out to God. Why should they already have freedom, wanted to go back to their former slavery again in order to have bread to eat and to sit near the fleshpots? This must be an important lesson for us that the desire to have food can overcome spiritual values.
1.2/ God gave people to eat manna and quails in the desert.
(1) He gave people manna: 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.” What God said is happened: 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 which the Lord has given you to eat.” The important point here is the daily portion, can’t be stored up.
(2) He gave people quails: The Israelites not only want to eat bread but also to have good food. They said that we were tired of this tasteless food (manna) and they remembered good food when they were in Egypt. God knew what they had thought, so He again said to Moses: “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.”What God said is happened: “In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.”
2/ Reading II: Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.
2.1/ The way of the Gentiles: Ephesus is a Greek’s city, all of the Ephesian believers were Gentiles. Paul came to preach the Good News and received them to the Church of Christ. Like the Israelites, the Ephesian believers are always tempted to return to their formal life before their baptism. St. Paul realized this tendency and wrote these words to them: “So I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”
The Gentiles’ lifestyle which St. Paul mentioned here contain many bad habits. Based on his other Letters, we can cite a list of sins, such as: worshipping idols, not believing in God and the eternal life, enjoying material and sensible things, incest, thirsting for power and fame, division and hatred.
2.2/ The Holy Spirit’s way: In opposite with the Gentile’s way, the believers must live according to two important doctrines.
(1) Live according to Christ’s teaching: “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.”
What they believe, must live according to it. If they believe in one thing, and live according to another thing, their faith shall not benefit them and they aren’t different with unbelievers. They must live according to what Christ teaches them through the Gospel.
(2) Live according to Holy Spirit’s guidance: “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.”
The Holy Spirit which the believers received in baptism shall enlighten them so that they understand the truth which Christ has announced. He also bestows enough grace for the believers to live according to Christ’s teaching. Chapter eight of the Letter to the Romans describes a full meaning life under the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
3/ Gospel: Do not work for food that perishes.
3.1/ People look for Jesus because they were satiated: Today passage continues last week passage in which Jesus multiplicated five loaves and two fishes to feed more than five thousand people. After people ate, there were still remained twelve full baskets of bread. After that event, people wanted to honor Jesus as their king; but Jesus knew their thought, he commanded his apostles to sail on other side first, he went to a mountain to pray alone. That night, the sea became violent and the apostles’ boat was near to sink; but Jesus came up from the mountain and walked on the sea to save them. He gave an order to the sea and it was quiet; Jesus and his aportles safely sail to Capernaum.
About people, when they saw both Jesus and his apostles weren’t at the place where the miracle happened, they embarked and went to Capernaum to look for him. 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.” Jesus knew well of people’s thought as the devil tempted him in the desert that he should convert stones into bread. They shall make him a king if he continues to work miracle to feed them so they don’t have to work!
3.2/ Jesus advised people to work for the food that endures to eternal life: Jesus didn’t approve people’s thought as he denied the devil’s temptation in the desert. However, he was patient to teach people about the good and everlasting than material values: “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.”
The perishable food isn’t only food and drink, but also the passing values of the world, such as: money, property, enjoyment, fame and power. About the everlasting values, the Church shall help us to learn in the next three consecutive weeks of the Gospel according to John. Generally, Jesus wanted to mention two basic things:
(1) God’s will: 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.”
The most basic and important thing in our life is to find out and to do God’s will until our last breath on earth as Jesus did. According to God’s plan of salvation, Christ, the Son of God, was sent by God to save human beings. According to God’s will, people must believe in him in order to inherit the salvation. The faith in Christ isn’t simply an intellectual thought; but is to believe and to all what Christ revealed and taught. Moreover, people must also accept suffering to witness for him.
(2) The sacrament of the Eucharist: It isn’t accidental that John mentioned the event which God fed the Israelites with manna in the desert and the multiplication of the loaves event before Jesus’ discourse about the Eucharist. St. John wanted to lead us to the importance of the sacrament of the Eucharist when Jesus changed the topic and said to the Jews as follows: “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.” We shall discuss about the sacrament of the Eucharist in the next three weeks.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– We need to have divine wisdom to differentiate between the perisable food and the food that endures to eternal life, so that we know how to spent correspondent time and to make an effort to work for that food.
– In God’s providential wisdom, He has power to give us daily food. Do we have enough trust in Him?
– One of the very bad human attitudes is to store up for themselves so others have not enough to eat. Jesus teaches us to ask for daily food, not to ask for food or enough money to buy food for the rest of our life.