Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B August 5, 2018

First Reading
Exodus 16:2–4, 12–15
The Lord feeds the Israelites with manna.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 78:3–4, 23–24, 25, 54
A song of praise to God for his deeds to Israel.

Second Reading
Ephesians 4:17, 20–24
Christians become a new creation in Christ.

Gospel Reading
John 6:24–35
Jesus teaches the crowds that he is the "bread of life."

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."


Background on the Gospel Reading
This Sunday we continue to read from the sixth chapter of John's Gospel,
but not continuously. Our Lectionary omits John's report of Jesus' walking
on water. This event is reported much less dramatically in John's Gospel
than in the Synoptic Gospels. After the feeding of the multitudes, the
disciples leave in a boat and Jesus follows them. The disciples are said
to be terrified by what they see. Jesus reassures them and rejoins them.
In today's Gospel, we learn that the crowd has noticed the departure of
Jesus and his disciples and so seeks them out in Capernaum. In the
dialogue that follows between Jesus and the crowds, Jesus unfolds for us
the gift of himself that that he gives in the Eucharist.

In today's Gospel, there are four exchanges between Jesus and the crowd.
In the first, the crowd, having followed Jesus to Capernaum, asks a very
matter of fact question: "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus replies by
naming their motivation in pursuing him. They have been fed. Jesus
acknowledges this, yet challenges them to see beyond the fulfillment of
their material needs. The crowds have followed Jesus because they have
been fed. They ought to be seeking out Jesus because he can give them
eternal life.

As the second dialogue begins, it seems that the crowd might be on their
way to accepting Jesus and his mission. They ask: "What can we do to
accomplish the works of God?" Jesus replies that they must have faith in
the one sent from God. But in the third dialogue, the crowd reveals their
inability to see Jesus' true identity. They ask Jesus for a sign so that
they might know that Jesus is from God. How strange this sounds since
Jesus has just fed more than 5000 people. What more is expected?

But the crowd cannot see beyond the surface of the sign. They show this in
their interpretation of the sign that came from Moses. In their
description, they identify Jesus with Moses, as if to say, as Moses gave
the people manna in the desert, give us a sign so that we will know that
you are from God. They are looking to identify a prophet without realizing
that God is standing before them. Jesus corrects their misinterpretation,
saying that the manna received by their ancestors came from God. As God
fulfilled their ancestors' needs in the desert, so God has provided them
with food for eternal life. In the bread that they have received from
Jesus, they have received physical nourishment and also spiritual
nourishment. Jesus wants the crowd to see beyond the surface to the One
who provides true nourishment.

The conclusion of the dialogue reveals the crowd's blindness. They ask for
what Jesus has just told them they have found: "Sir, give us this bread
always." Jesus answers plainly that he himself is the Bread of Life they
seek. Jesus himself is the Bread of Life who will satisfy every hunger and
thirst. This is the first of several such statements found in John's
Gospel. We understand these better when we remember that God revealed his
name to the people of Israel as "I am," as Yahweh. Jesus is now claiming
this name for himself. In the weeks ahead, we will see the offense that
this gives to the people.


Family Connection

In today's Gospel, the crowd asks Jesus for a sign so that they can
believe that he has come from God. This is a curious request, because
Jesus has just fed more than 5000 people with just five barley loaves and
two fish. How quickly they seem to have forgotten the wonderful thing that
Jesus has done for them. Or, maybe they never recognized the miracle in
the first place. Sometimes we don't recognize the wonderful things that
God has done for us. And, sometimes, we simply forget and ask for further
evidence of his love and care. We pray that God will remove our blindness
so that we can receive with thanks and praise all the wonderful things
that God accomplishes in our lives.

Together as a family, name the wonderful gifts that God has given you and
some of the remarkable deeds that God has accomplished in our world.
Observe that it is important to stop to count our blessings because we can
easily miss recognizing all of the wonderful things that God does for us.
Read together today's Gospel, John 6:24–35. Ask: Why are the people
seeking out Jesus? (because he has fed them) What do they want from Jesus?
(a sign that he has come from God) What does Jesus tell them? (He says
that he will give them something greater and more important than the bread
that fed their physical hungers; he will give them bread that will give
them eternal life.) Recall that we have this gift from Jesus in the
Eucharist. Pray together, thanking God for all that he has given to us,
especially for the gift of eternal life and the Eucharist. Pray together
the Magnificat.


Sources: Loyola Press; Sunday Readings