18th Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: Jesus: true satisfier of our hunger
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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
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