18th Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: Jesus: true satisfier of our hunger
Readings: Ex 16:2–4,12–15; Eph 4:17,20–24; Jn 6:24–35
On this eighteenth Sunday of ordinary time, we rejoice because of the daily nourishment that God gives us through Christ, who is the Bread of Life. Today’s readings challenge us to be more concerned with spiritual food than with material food, and to get our spiritual food regularly from the word of God and from the Holy Eucharist — the Heavenly Bread — because only God can satisfy the various manifestations of our hunger.
The first reading shows us how God satisfied the hunger of His chosen people in the desert by giving them manna and quail to eat. This was after the Israelites rebelled against God, forgetting the good deeds of God for them in the land of Egypt and in the red sea. From their complaints, they preferred being slaves in the land of Egypt to the freedom they received from God just because they were hungry.
This reading has many lessons for us. It tells us that we have a God who listens to our voices when we call upon him in our difficult times. He hears us and comes to our rescue even when our shouts of pain deny all the marvellous deeds He did for us in the past. The reading also tells us that we have a God who will not abandon us to the forces that threaten our existence. Hunger threatened the existence of the people of Israel in the desert, but God came to their rescue. Dear friends, what are the things threatening your life and wellbeing today? Is it hunger, sickness, loneliness, lack of job, bad friends and bad relationships, bad habits or sins? Hand them over to God; he will rescue you.
Through this first reading, the Church also enjoins us not to act like the Israelites who forgot the greatness of God in their lives and in their history just because of lack of material things. As we saw in this reading, just because of hunger, the same Israelites who rejoiced and praised God for liberating them from the hand of Pharoah and from death in Egypt were seen blaming Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. Because of hunger, they forgot all the mighty works that God did for them to free them from slavery. Dear friends, many of us are like that, whenever they feel pains and disappointments in their lives, they renounce their faith in God, they start blaming God and even go to the extent of bowing to the devil. Whenever things don’t work as they planned, they forget all the blessings they have received from God in their lives and prefer the company of the devil.
For this reason, the second reading calls us to stop living our lives like pagans, those who are controlled by their hunger for material things. St Paul calls us not to live like those who do not know the greatness of God. He tells us not to allow material gains to govern our relationship with God, rather, we should be rooted in God in such a way that we become more interested in the spiritual things than in the mundane things.
In the gospel of today, we saw the same line of teaching playing out, namely: a call to go beyond the satisfaction of the material hunger in order to satisfy the spiritual hunger. Jesus had finished feeding the crowd, as we read in the gospel of last Sunday. In today’s gospel, the same crowd went in search of him, not to listen to the word of God nor to find God in Christ, but only to be fed with bread again.
The response of Jesus to them contains lessons of great importance to us. In the first place, he said to them, “Work not for the food that does not last, but for the food that remains for eternal life and that the Son of man will give you.” Dear friends, what are all our works and efforts in this world for? What do you seek for in your works? Is it only for material satisfaction? Do you only work for material gains? Today, Jesus challenges you to devote some of your time to spiritual growth and spiritual benefits. He urges us not to be material-bound in our works and desires. Thus, as we work for our material gains, let us create time for the spiritual relationship with God.
Secondly, he said to them: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will not be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty!” Dear friends, Jesus wants us to look beyond the daily provision of life and wellbeing, and then enter into a relationship with the God who supplies these things. Such a relationship will save us from future hunger and threats to our lives. All the blessings God has given us are invitations to know this God who is the source of blessings. But then, many people, like the crowd in the gospel of today, stop at the reception of these blessings without raising their eyes to know the author of the goodness of life. Friends, just as Jesus invited the crowd to look beyond the bread that satisfies the physical hunger in order to discover the true bread — Christ himself — who satisfies their true hunger, the Church invites us to understand that our gifts, talents, blessings, and healings are invitations from God to us, so that we can know Him, the one and only true God, the author of our wellbeing.
Happy Sunday.
Fr Isaac C. Chima