Fr. Marsel R. Taruk sx
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reflection
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”
Interestingly to notice that the reading of this Sunday (the First and the Gospel) both talk about food- Bread. In the first reading, the Israelites, who were marching through the desert, were hungry and angry, “God should have killed us in Egypt at by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread, then to starve now, wandering, through the desert”. Their joy of being freed people, free from Pharoah’s hand lasted for short while. They began grumbling and longed for the good old days of slavery in Egypt. They soon were hooked on food, a slave to their bellies and forgot all of God’s astounding action to redeem them.
In response, God feeds them by sending a huge flock of quail for meat as well as “bread from heaven” (Manna) falls from the sky during the night, and in the morning, they can pick the manna up off the ground. Why the Israelites are so lucky? In the exodus, something very big and lovely are trying to be born God was holding their falling to pieces gently all the while. God is a God of history. He intervenes in human affairs in particular ways at particular times to provide for his people what will do them good at that time.
From the story of the Israelite in desert we get the clue that God presents Himself to us as food, bread from heaven. They ate the manna and survived till they reached the promised land. The Gospel reading flows right out of this incident. The people who came to look for Jesus, grumbled by saying, “our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: he gave them bread from heaven to eat”. What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?” A strange question for only the day before, they had seen how Jesus had multiplied five barley loaves and fish to feed the huge crowd. They soon forgot just one day later. In response to them, Jesus stated that it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven, but my Father did; and my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. A crucial distinction: God has fed their ancestors with manna from heaven; now God sends Jesus, the true manna. The eternal bread would be his sign-the new manna, the new bountiful gift of God. Jesus himself is to be our sustenance, and that is the work of God. “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry; no one who believes in me shall thirst again.” Jesus not only gives the bread of life but also is the bread of life. The giver and the gift are one and the same.
All of us are in a desert, so to speak, suffering from spiritual hunger. So great is this hunger that we long for the good old days of innocence, when life seemed simple and all our needs were satisfied. Jesus come to us in the desert and gives us the bread of life so that we shall never be hungry again. Our vital labour as Christians is nothing other than our working to believe that Christ is indeed our bread of life, our sustenance. If there is any pre-eminent task for us as we celebrate the Eucharist, then, it is not that we execute it well or work out our different roles, helpful as these things may be. Our task is to believe that our God, in Jesus, is our very food and drink. Indeed, the liturgy is not just a meal we have made, not just fellowship, not something we have artistically dreamed up. Its reality does not depend upon our ingenuity or virtue, our expertise in preaching or singing. It is fundamentally an act and gift of God. Our act and gift in return is to receive it, to be nourished by it, to believe it.
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reflection
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”
Interestingly to notice that the reading of this Sunday (the First and the Gospel) both talk about food- Bread. In the first reading, the Israelites, who were marching through the desert, were hungry and angry, “God should have killed us in Egypt at by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread, then to starve now, wandering, through the desert”. Their joy of being freed people, free from Pharoah’s hand lasted for short while. They began grumbling and longed for the good old days of slavery in Egypt. They soon were hooked on food, a slave to their bellies and forgot all of God’s astounding action to redeem them.
In response, God feeds them by sending a huge flock of quail for meat as well as “bread from heaven” (Manna) falls from the sky during the night, and in the morning, they can pick the manna up off the ground. Why the Israelites are so lucky? In the exodus, something very big and lovely are trying to be born God was holding their falling to pieces gently all the while. God is a God of history. He intervenes in human affairs in particular ways at particular times to provide for his people what will do them good at that time.
From the story of the Israelite in desert we get the clue that God presents Himself to us as food, bread from heaven. They ate the manna and survived till they reached the promised land. The Gospel reading flows right out of this incident. The people who came to look for Jesus, grumbled by saying, “our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: he gave them bread from heaven to eat”. What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?” A strange question for only the day before, they had seen how Jesus had multiplied five barley loaves and fish to feed the huge crowd. They soon forgot just one day later. In response to them, Jesus stated that it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven, but my Father did; and my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. A crucial distinction: God has fed their ancestors with manna from heaven; now God sends Jesus, the true manna. The eternal bread would be his sign-the new manna, the new bountiful gift of God. Jesus himself is to be our sustenance, and that is the work of God. “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry; no one who believes in me shall thirst again.” Jesus not only gives the bread of life but also is the bread of life. The giver and the gift are one and the same.
All of us are in a desert, so to speak, suffering from spiritual hunger. So great is this hunger that we long for the good old days of innocence, when life seemed simple and all our needs were satisfied. Jesus come to us in the desert and gives us the bread of life so that we shall never be hungry again. Our vital labour as Christians is nothing other than our working to believe that Christ is indeed our bread of life, our sustenance. If there is any pre-eminent task for us as we celebrate the Eucharist, then, it is not that we execute it well or work out our different roles, helpful as these things may be. Our task is to believe that our God, in Jesus, is our very food and drink. Indeed, the liturgy is not just a meal we have made, not just fellowship, not something we have artistically dreamed up. Its reality does not depend upon our ingenuity or virtue, our expertise in preaching or singing. It is fundamentally an act and gift of God. Our act and gift in return is to receive it, to be nourished by it, to believe it.