Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” Jn 24-35
There are two types of hunger. One is physical hunger, a craving in our stomach. The other is a spiritual hunger, a longing in our hearts.
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, there are also two types of bread to feed our hungers: barley bread and the bread of life. One type of bread brings satisfaction for a day or two to physical hunger. The other feeds the deepest hunger of the heart for all eternity.
Jesus says, “Do not work for [bread] that perishes but for the [bread] that endures for eternal life.” Too often we spend our time making the wrong kind of bread. In the gospel, Jesus tells us what is needed to make the bread of life, the bread that will satisfy our deepest longing.
We are a hungry people. It is a spiritual hunger instead of a physical hunger. We hunger for true joy, abiding peace, and a deeper purpose. We hunger for harmonious relationships, a sense of belonging, and acceptance for who we are. We search for ‘bread’ in all sorts of places, but we’re never fully satisfied. We spend countless hours seeing what others are doing on social media. We immerse ourselves in computer games and online shopping. We seek pleasure and entertainment where ever we can find it. We’ve replaced our motto “In God, we trust” with “In me, I trust.” or worse, “In Government I trust”.
The crowd in the gospel was also confused about what type of bread they wanted. After being fed on the grassy hillside by five barley loaves and two fish, they pursued the disciples and Jesus to Capernaum. They didn’t follow Jesus for religious reasons. They followed Jesus because they were hungry. They were thinking they would get more barley bread! Jesus saw their motivations and said, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”
Jesus saw both types of hunger. He reminded the crowd that if they eat that barley bread, they will be hungry again. He, however, can provide the bread that endures for eternity. The people essentially asked, “How can we make this bread?” “What can we do to accomplish this work of God?”
It was an important question. We take bread for granted, but making bread in the time of Jesus was a lot of work. You had to plow up the field, sow the seeds, remove the weeds, cut down the field, gather together the sheaves, separate the chaff from the grain, grind it into a powder, mix it with a little oil, knead it into a dough, shape it into a ball, start and fire and then bake it into a loaf.
After all of this work, the bread will only nourish you for a short time. You might see why the people were so intrigued about food that endures for a long time. They asked, “What can we do?”
Jesus then tells them the secret of making bread that endures. It is a very simple formula. He said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” The work of God, the labor of making ‘eternal bread’, is to believe. Those who believe will be satisfied. Those who believe will never hunger or thirst again.
Like making regular bread, making ‘eternal bread’ requires work. But a different type of work. The work of making this ‘bread’ is faith.
What is are the ‘works of faith’? One work of faith is to clear some space and become available to God’s presence. Another it to receive grace like rain on a field of wheat. Works of faith include cultivating the field – removing the weeds of discontent, discouragement, and division – and being surrounded by the good soil: healthy relationships, enriching reading, focused prayer.
By practicing my faith, I come closer to Jesus. I deepen and increase my faith – the main ingredient in making the bread of life.
As we nourish our own hearts with the gift of Jesus we, in turn, are able to nourish others with the fruit of his spirit. Our peace, joy, love, and patience spreads and multiplies. We become bread for a hungry world.
The cycle continues. Having been ‘bread for a hungry world’ we return to the altar. we bring to the altar the joys and hopes, the pains and sorrows we experienced during the week. This is our sacrificial offering. As the gifts are brought forward, our sacrifice comes with them. The priest intones, “Pray… that these sacrifices may become an acceptable offering to God the Father.” in the Eucharistic Prayer, the gifts raised up to God the Father ultimately become the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; the same Jesus, who feeds us with the bread of life. Thus nourished, we return to a hungry and broken world.
We sometimes look at the Eucharist as an object out there, to worship and adore, and belief as an intellectual ascent. The Eucharist is part of who we are, and belief is part of what we do.
Jesus says, “Do not work for [bread] that perishes but for the [bread] that endures for eternal life.” Spend your time making the right kind of bread.