Sunday 5 August
John 6:24-35 • Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
There is something delightfully honest and upfront about the Scriptures. There is a way in which church or parish or school cultures create a kind of ‘goody two-shoes’ feel about things. People say the right things and do the right things and are rewarded by acceptance and affirmation. However, in the Scriptures, things are rather different, especially around Jesus. He breaks through the deceit or pretence and reveals the darkness, complexity and selfishness of the human heart. It is almost as if around Jesus it was impossible to pretend to be something you were not and, in any event, if you tried he would expose it.
In today’s Gospel he does this marvellously and not without a little irony. He is not deceived or taken in by the crowds. He knows precisely why they are following him and cuts to the chase: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves’ (v. 26). Imagine your parish priest standing up and saying, ‘You have come to the parish fête today not because you care about the parish but because you want to eat and drink the wonderful food and drink laid on.’ He just wouldn’t do it, would he? And why would he, because we all know and understand that we are driven by all kinds of appetites – but mainly our appetite for food, drink, sex and affirmation.
We often hear it said that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and it is true. God knows that our hearts and souls seek to be fed and nourished in ways that do not bring us lasting peace and happiness. Indeed, the more we drink from these cups the thirstier we become, and the more we feed from these pleasures the hungrier we become. This is the result of the depth of the Fall or the mark of original sin in our lives.
We seek happiness and peace in many other ways than through prayer, reading the Scriptures and partaking of the grace available to us in the sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist. The truth is, however, that there is a hunger deep in every human heart which no amount ofhedonistic pursuit or indulgence can satisfy.
Lord, teach me to eat of the food of eternal life: the bread of the Eucharist, the wine of your blood and the life-giving word of your Scriptures.
Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 • Psalm 77(78):3-4, 23-25, 54
Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 • John 6:24-35
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