Reflection for August 4, 2024

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

​Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 | Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 | Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 | John 6:24-35

​The readings for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time remind us to celebrate and remember God's goodness, put on a new self, and seek Jesus for the right reasons.  

​Ruben, a farmer had a complaining wife, Daleng. From morning till night she would complain about something or the other. The only time he got relief was when he went to the farm with his carabao. One day as Ruben was plowing, Daleng began her complaining. All of a sudden the carabao went wild, got loose, charged her, and killed her on the spot. At the funeral, Fr. Renato, the pastor, noticed something unusual. When the townswomen would come, the farmer would listen for a minute, nod his head in agreement, but when barrio men approached him, he would listen for a minute and shook his head in disagreement. This was so consistent that Fr. Renato decided to ask him about it. After the burial the pastor asked him as to why he nodded his head in agreement to the women but always shook his head in disagreement with all men. The farmer said, "The townswomen would come up and says something nice about my wife — how she cooked, how good she was and so on. I’d nod my head in agreement." "And what about the men?" the pastor asked. "The barrio men knew that the carabao killed my wife and all they wanted to know was if my carabao was for sale."

In the First Reading, we find the Israelites grumbling to Moses about their immediate physical needs not being met, even though they had just witnessed God working miraculously to free them and lead them out of Egypt. How can the people of Israel complain like they do? How could they be so forgetful? They complained, murmured, and quarreled rather than trust in God. They forgot that God has a plan for them and he would see that plan through. After all he has done for them, God must be steamed at their lack of faith. Instead of denouncing or brushing off the people’s complaints, God, in his great mercy, responds quickly and generously by sending them quail and bread so that they might know that the Lord is God. How deep the patience and forbearance of God toward provoking sinners! This story is not just about the Israelites in the desert. This story is also about us. Most of us are quick to grumble and complain when things don't go the way we think they should. We grumble about the weather, our government, our churches, our circumstances and so many other things. Whenever we grumble about anything we’re complaining against God who is sovereignly working all things for good in our lives.
Again and again God will bring us to wit's end — to test us, to see if we would trust Him. When we grumble, and complain, we lose sight of all the good things God is doing. God gave the Israelites what they needed and God gave them only what they needed for the day. He could have provided at once the quail, manna and everything else the Israelites needed. But, God didn’t do that. God gave them only enough for the day. This lesson taught them not just dependence, but habitual dependence on God. Each new day brought them a new reminder of their utter dependence on God. Remember that Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He was telling us that to acknowledge every day our dependence on God.

John, an alcoholic, went to the church to find a solution for his drinking problems. Fr. Paul, after a long talk, asks, "Are you baptized?" John replies, "No". "Well then", says Fr. Paul, "I'll give you the holy baptism and you'll be a new man." The priest plunged John three times in the water and says, "You are now a new creature! There will be no more alcohol in your life! You're not John anymore, you'll be Joseph instead, a new clean and healthy man!" Joseph found the method odd but really liked the experience. So he went home, directly to the fridge, took a beer and dip it in the water saying, "You're now a new creature! You're not beer anymore, you're now orange juice!"

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul points out that the new life in Christ raises the Christian to new responsibilities of ethical behaviors. Ephesian Christians were not immune to this society’s influence. They were formerly a part of this pagan world, and they continued to interact with it daily. "You must no longer live as the pagans do." Paul could tell this because the lifestyle of the Ephesian Christians had become merely modified paganism. Some sought compromises, and looked for ways to adapt their Christian faith and practice to the pagan society. By doing this they endangered their integrity and faith commitment. Paul maintained that when the Ephesians learned Christ, they should have learned a new lifestyle by laying aside their former way of life and acquiring a fresh, spiritual way of thinking". Paul assumed that commitment to Christ entailed a radical change of lifestyle. God’s way is one of righteousness and holiness. He exhorts them and us to be renewed, to “put on the new self.”

An old man goes to a diner every day for lunch. He always orders Cream of Mushroom Soup. One day the manager asks him how he liked his meal. The old man replies, "It was good, but you could give a little more bread. Two slices of bread is not enough." So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him four slices of bread. "How was your meal, sir?" the manager asks. "It was good, but you could give a little more bread," comes the reply. So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him eight slices of bread. "How was your meal today, sir?" the manager asks. "Good, but you could give a little more bread," comes the reply. So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him a whole loaf of bread, 16 slices with his soup. "How was your meal, sir?" the manager asks, when he comes to pay. "It was good, but you could give just a little more bread," comes the reply once again. The manager is now obsessed with seeing this customer satisfied with his meal, so he goes to the bakery, and orders a six-foot-long loaf of bread. When the man comes in as usual the next day, the waitress and the manager cut the loaf in half, butter the entire length of each half, and lay it out along the counter, right next to his bowl of soup. The old man sits down, and devours both his bowl of soup, and both halves of the six-foot-long loaf of bread. The manager now thinks he will get the answer he is looking for, and when the old man comes up to pay for his meal, the manager asks in the usual way: "How was your meal today, sir?" The old man replies: "It was good as usual, but I see you are back to serving only two slices of bread!"

Last Sunday’s Gospel presented the miracle of the loaves and fish. In today’s reading, Jesus is speaking to the people who came looking for him the day after the multiplication. Jesus’ opening words to them suggests that they were searching for him for the wrong reasons. He tells them that they followed him across the Sea of Galilee because he fed them loaves and fish. They came to Jesus because perhaps once again he could feed them – and even continue to provide more material things for them. The people are focused on the miraculous food and what Jesus can do for them and how he can fill their tummies. ‘Do not work for food that cannot last’, he says, ‘but work for food that endures to eternal life’. Jesus wants people to recognize that there is more to him than someone who works to satisfy people’s basic bodily needs. He calls on the crowd to see him as someone who can provide not just physical food, but food that endures to eternal life. We are no different than those who followed after Jesus two thousand years ago. We too get caught up in chasing after the things of this world. Hoping that God will provide us with all our wants and desires. We focus on food, wealth, health, and even the extension of this life but fail to see that all these things are perishable. Our Lord presents himself as the bread of life, as the one who can satisfy those deeper hungers and thirsts in our hearts. Jesus did not come into the world mainly to give bread, but to be bread. It is in coming to him, believing in him, that our hunger for the food that endures to eternal life will be met. 

<enrique,ofs>