August 5 // Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading I: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15
Responsorial Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54
Reading II: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24
Gospel: John 6:24-35

Last Sunday, we heard, once again, the story of the miraculous feeding of the 5000, as recorded in John’s Gospel. (This is one of the few stories about Jesus that is found in all four Gospels).

That evening the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum and Jesus came near them “walking on the sea” (John 6:18).

Today’s Gospel is the start of a dialogue between Jesus and the crowd of people who caught up with him in Capernaum the following day. These were the same folks who had eaten the miraculous loaves of bread. Yet they were looking for another sign or miracle from their teacher. One gets the impression that they would never be convinced that Jesus was sent to them by God.

The crowd referenced the famous story of the Israelites eating manna from heaven, when they were wandering in the desert. (This story from Exodus is today’s first reading). Jesus responded by saying that it was not Moses who gave them miraculous bread, but the Father.

He also advised them not to “work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life,” (John 6:27).

And today’s Gospel ends with one of Jesus’ best known statements about himself and about his mission: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” (John 6:35).

Jesus asked the crowd and asks us not to work only for short-term goals but to consider the ultimate purpose of our lives and to keep that purpose always in front of us. He asks us to believe in him. This belief is not some passive acknowledgement of his divinity. It’s a new way of living every moment of our lives, so that we can become the human beings God intends for us to be.