by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.

August 1, 2021

Eighteenth Sunday in OT (B)

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15  / Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25-26 /

Eph 4:17, 20-24 / Jn 6:24-35

THE MISTAKEN SEARCH

Word:   This gospel account is the opening section of the discourse on the bread of life. Looking closely to its details we find its dynamics to be similar to those in the dialogue with the Samaritan woman on the well (Jn 4:1-30). The passage moves forward on the basis of misunderstandings by the crowd and corrections by Jesus.

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus (Jn 6:24). The crowd seeks Jesus because he gave them bread to eat. 

Discovering to their surprise that Jesus is not already there, they ask him when he had arrived. To that question Jesus simply does not reply. This is no time to talk of things like that; life is too short for pleasant gossip about journeys.

Immediately Jesus challenges them to see the bread as a sign of something deeper, not to focus only on the physical bread. He calls them to work for eternal food. Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, 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. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal” (Jn 6:26-27).

This leads them to ask Jesus what work of God they must do. Jesus responds that the only thing necessary is to have faith in him.  Despite the sign they just experienced in the feeding of the five thousand, they demand another sign to convince them, mentioning the manna in the desert as an example for Jesus to imitate.  After all, he had only given them earthly bread, while Moses gave them bread from heaven.  

So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (Jn 6:32-33).

When the people continue to focus on physical bread to eat, Jesus declares “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (Jn 6:35). The final line links the two images of Jesus as the living water (as he declared to the Samaritan woman) and as the bread of life.

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Order:  There are two types of life and food: the food for our body, which gives a “life destined to end”; and the food “come from heaven”, which gives “the life that will never end”, that is, eternal life.

Created by God and for God, the human person is hungry and thirsty for God. Nothing except God, can fully satisfy any man or woman.  All the “earthly pleasures” leave us hungry and thirsty.

Jesus does not ask us to despise the “daily bread”, but to desire also “the bread of life eternal”. Jesus does not want us to be lazy and refuse the work necessary for the earthly life, but he wishes us to work with the same enthusiasm and energy for the life which will never end! Unlike the Buddha, Jesus does not exhort us to suppress our desires but to enlarge and sublimate them, that is, not to be contented with the little bit of temporary life which our human nature entitles us to hope for. We should wish for Eternal Life and do everything that is needed to reach it.  Live of this eternal Life even now!

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Realities:   Once there were seven wood sawyers, each with a cord of wood to saw. Said the first sawyer, “This wood is green, and the saw sticks in it. I will go away and wait till it gets dry.” He did so. 

The second sawyer said, “This saw is dull and I can never saw a cord of wood with it. I will tell the master to have it sharpened and then I will saw the wood for him.” He did so. 

Said the third sawyer, “This wood is knotty; and it will be very hard to saw. I will ask the master to change it for straight wood, which I will gladly saw for him.” He did so. 

Said the fourth sawyer, “This wood is kwilla, which is twice as hard to saw as garamut. I will ask the master to exchange a cord of garamut for a cord of kwila, and then I will saw for him.” He did so. 

Said the fifth sawyer, “It is very hot today. I will wait till it gets cooler.” He did. 

Said the sixth sawyer, “I have a headache and will wait till I feel well.” He did. 

The seventh sawyer had green wood and knotty wood, and it was kwila. He also had a dull saw and a headache. The day was hot for him too. But he sharpened the saw and set it, so that it cut through the knotty kwila and did not stick at all. The exercise drove away his headache, and the perspiration cooled him off. 

At the end of the day the master gave him the other cords of wood to saw. (A. R. Wells, WORK EXCUSES) 

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Direction:   JESUS, during your life on earth you satisfied both the natural and the spiritual hunger of all who came to you.  You instructed Nicodemus who visited you by night. You gave the crowds who flocked to you by day material food to satisfy their hunger and spiritual food to satisfy their spiritual hunger. You promised the Samaritan woman water that would quench her thirst forever. (DIALOGUED PRAYER RECALLING JESUS’ LIFE)