Aug 2, 2009  18th Sunday
 
During this liturgical year, cycle B, we are proclaiming Mark’s gospel.  But this is the shortest gospel—not long enough to fill up the whole year!  So the church interrupts the Markan sequence today and the next three Sundays, inserting the musings of John’s gospel on the story of the feeding of the multitude, last Sunday’s gospel.
 
Many scenes in John’s gospel follow the same pattern: first, there is an event or encounter, then some dialogue often with some misunderstanding involved, which leads to a long discourse by Jesus—really a theological reflection by John.
 
This sixth chapter of John follows this pattern: it begins with the feeding of the thousands (last week we heard Mark’s account).  Today is the dialogue, with the people wanting ordinary bread instead of the wisdom of Jesus.  Signs can be misunderstood.  This dialogue serves as a preface for the discourse: next week, we will hear Jesus describing his teaching as real food, the bread of life; the following week, the focus switches to the Eucharist as real food.  The final week offers the people—and now us—an opportunity to respond.  Some walk away; others renew their commitment.
 
In chapters five to ten in his gospel, John describes Jesus as transcending the great feasts of the Jews.  Here in chapter six, Moses, manna, and the Law no longer provide sufficient nourishment. Only Jesus will satisfy the deepest hungers of humanity.  John uses many images of the Exodus experience and Passover celebration in his attempt to present Jesus as the fullness of God’s revelation, as Wisdom Incarnate.  The main concern of this chapter, then, is the identity of Jesus.  (Keep in mind that the final form of John’s gospel was probably written in the 90s, and so contains decades of earlier Christian experience and preaching.  Indeed, as Richard pointed out last week, the community’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, shapes the way this story is told.)
 
So much to ponder! You may want to take time this week to read the whole chapter six at one time in order to appreciate it better.
 
Today’s first reading, from the Book of Exodus, gives a glimpse of the Hebrew experience John refers to.  It also gives us an example of God’s providence and people’s lack of understanding, even hardness of heart.  The excerpt from Ephesians also calls for new understanding, a new way of life.
 
Let’s listen to God’s word!
 
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As we begin this four-week meditation on the identity of Jesus and the mystery of life, our gospel offers us much food for thought.  God so desires to share the fullness of divine life and love with us that God speaks the Word, Jesus.  And this Word is Wisdom. Week by week, day be day, we are nourished by the wisdom Word and by the bread of his body and blood.  We desire to shape our lives according to Jesus’ life and teachings: compassion and gentleness, justice and nonviolence, love and solidarity with all the outcasts.
 
Yet the sweet aromas of other breads, worldly wisdoms, attract us: profit, power, superiority, consumerism, or one’s favorite addiction.  And all these breads are found in our everyday markets: in politics and media and business, in family life and religion.
 
John’s Bread of Life chapter offers us much food for prayer.  What are your deepest hungers?  How do you try to satisfy them?
 
 
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Petitions:
 
For discerning hearts and minds . . . to choose the Bread of Life rather than junk food, we sing:
 
 
For joy and hope . . . to nourish life all around us, we pray:
 
 
For compassion . . . to express our solidarity with the one billion people in our world who are hungry every day, we sing:
 
 
For creativity . . . to reach out to those who are malnourished in spirit, we pray:
 
 
For love of enemies . . . to change our violent world, we sing:
 
 
For wisdom . . . to live lives worthy of our calling, we pray: