18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

A lack of fresh drinking water earlier in the journey was an opportunity for the Israelite community to display confidence in God’s care for them (Ex 15:22–27). Instead they complained. Yet God was patient and provided fresh water for them. Did they learn from this experience of God’s grace? This reading reveals they have yet to arrive at a more mature faith.

John begins chapter six by having Jesus feed over 5000 people with just five barley loaves and two fish (Jn 6:1–5).

Jesus then confirms his divine identity, “I Am,” when he walks on the water (Jn 6:16–24).  Now Jesus will engage the crowds in a dialogue addressing the misunderstanding of the meaning of a “sign” (Jn 6:24–35).

The crowds misunderstand Jesus’ sign. The crowds are attracted to Jesus and they put great effort into finding him. Jesus knows, however, that they have totally misunderstood the meaning of sign (feeding the 5000). For them the miracle is that their stomachs are full and that is good enough.  They missed the entire sign value of the miraculous multiplication of bread and fish.  The food the crowds are chasing will ultimately perish.  The food that Jesus, the Son of Man, offers will endure for eternal life. God has given a formal mark of identification to the Son of Man (“set his seal”).

The works of God. The misunderstanding on the part of the crowds extends now to the meaning of the works of God.  Jesus very clearly identifies the “work of God” as faith in him whom God has sent.  The crowd and Jesus use the same word, “sign,” but certainly not with the same understanding. The crowds demand another sign as proof of who Jesus really is.  The irony is that they do not recognize the sign that has already been enacted before them.

The miraculous feeding of the 5000 is linked to the manna story of Ex 16.  The crowds make reference to the miraculous feeding of the chosen people in the desert with manna. Jesus informs them that the one doing the feeding there was God and not Moses. The real bread of life comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  This is a present reality and not something that happened in the past.  Just as the Samaritan woman at the well in chapter four responded to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water” (Jn 4:15), the people here reply, “Sir give us this bread always.”  Jesus makes the final point.  “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”  But the people still do not understand who Jesus is or what he has done.

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius