Homily: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B
Hunger
and thirst are both real, physical experiences for us, as well as metaphorical
expressions. The lack of food over a
period of time causes us a physical feeling of hunger: an emptiness and
weakness that causes us to search for food to fill us and strengthen us. The lack of an emotional or spiritual need
can cause a similar feeling. For
example, if we are lonely, we say that we “hunger” for companionship. This is not a physical feeling of hunger, but
a desire of the heart that grows strong and can motivate us much in the same
was a physical hunger can move us to search for food.
Thirst
is similar, but takes more of the form of longing. When we’re thirsty, we feel a desire that’s
akin to a longing for something. We say
things like, “I cannot wait to leave this heat and get a cold drink.” So too, when we long for something that we
might obtain in the future, we have this same sense of thirst, only
metaphorically. “I cannot wait to take
that vacation to get some well needed rest”, we might say. These are fundamental human experiences and,
in our Scriptures today, this second week in which we read from chapter six of
John’s Gospel, we are reminded that God wants us to recognize that only he can
satisfy the deepest hungers and thirsts within us.
In
the first reading from the book of Exodus, we recall the experience of the
Israelites who recently have been liberated from slavery in Egypt: both by signs
and wonders in the land of Egypt and, definitively, by the crossing of the Red
Sea. Not knowing how long the journey
will last and finding that they are quickly running out of food (with no other
source of food in sight, since they were in the desert), the Israelites begin
to fear that they will die from hunger and turn to grumbling against Moses and
Aaron. God allowed this so as to reveal
to them that it is he who will provide for them in their need.
Therefore,
through Moses and Aaron, God revealed that he would both provide meat and bread
to strengthen them: food for which they would have to do no work other than to gather
it. He does this both to test them and
to show them that he is a God who cares for his people. By giving them specific instructions to
follow, he wanted the people to realize that his graciousness was not meant for
their indulgence. The test would be for
them to demonstrate their gratefulness by their obedience to the
instruction. Nonetheless, by indulging
them with both meat and bread, God is showing them that he truly is their God
and that he is a merciful God who cares for them.
God
provided miraculous bread to show the Israelites that, in their hunger and
thirst, they should turn to him, the true source of life. For the next forty years, God will
continually remind them of this truth.
In
our Gospel reading, Jesus encounters the crowd of people who have searched for
him after experiencing the miraculous multiplication of bread and fish. The people had seen Jesus’ power to feed them
miraculously and without their work. The
reading implies that they came to him again because they hoped to see (and,
perhaps, receive) more. Jesus then
teaches them the lesson for why he performed the miracle: that this sign was
performed to point to a greater reality.
Jesus’
teaching in this passage is pastoral and powerful. The people are awestruck at him and wonder
openly about him. Jesus, however, knows
their hearts and so teaches directly to their hearts. He tells them, “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.” With this beautiful teaching, Jesus is saying
to them, “Yes, I satisfied your physical hunger once (and I could continue to
do so), but I can do more than that. I
have the power to satisfy your emotional and spiritual hungers forever, and
will do so if you come to me and believe in me.”
Like
God the Father did for the Israelites in the desert, Jesus multiplied the
loaves and the fish in order to test the people and to show them that he cares
for them and will provide for their needs.
The test was whether they would receive the miracle graciously and not
demand more. Passing the test, they
would learn how Jesus would provide for their deepest spiritual and emotional
hungers. To say it succinctly: Jesus
multiplied the physical bread to draw true believers to him so that he could
show them that he is the “bread of life”: the bread that will satisfy every
hunger and every thirst. This is the
same message that God is inviting us to recall and to receive today.
Today,
God is calling us to check our hungers and thirsts, our desires and our
longings. Have we been caught up chasing
worldly bread, seeking material pleasures to try to satisfy the deepest hungers
of our hearts? Even if we have
previously recognized God as our final source of satisfaction, do we still
today behave as if he is? Remember that
one day the Israelites would complain about the manna that God had provided
them! We have to be vigilant not to
allow our hearts to grow sleepy because God’s care for us is so familiar that
we begin to take it for granted. And so,
we should ask ourselves: “Do I need to renew my trust in God: my belief that,
with him, I have everything that I need?”
I am sure that all of us here can admit to needing to renew our trust in
God on a regular basis. In these weeks,
as we continue to reflect on this beautiful teaching from Jesus in chapter six
of John’s Gospel, we are being invited and challenged to renew our trust that
only in God will our deepest hungers and thirsts be satisfied.
One
of my favorite saints is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. He once said, “Beyond the material body there
is the soul to which we must dedicate all of our energy.” Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us
take up this good work this week: examining our hearts to discover the ways in
which they have become attached to the things of this world, instead of the
things of God, as well as the anxieties that threaten our trust that God will
care for us in all things. Then let us
strive to turn back to God, making acts of faith and trust in his fatherly care
for us.
The
Eucharist is our ever-present sign of God’s promise to remain with us and to protect
us. As we celebrate today and receive
strength from this altar, may we find hope to live in peace: trusting in God’s
loving care for each one of us.
Given in Spanish at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – July 31st,
2021
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