FIRST READING
Exodus 16:2–4, 12–15
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 78:3–4, 23–24, 25, 54 (24b)
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, we will declare to the generation to come the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength and the wonders that he wrought.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven; he rained manna upon them for food and gave them heavenly bread.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels, food he sent them in abundance. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountains his right hand had won.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
SECOND READING
Ephesians 4:17, 20–24
Brothers and sisters:
I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
ALLELUIA
Matthew 4:4b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
John 6:24–35
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 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.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” 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.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
REFLECTIONS:
What do you most hunger and thirst for in life? Jesus
addressed this issue with those who sought him after the miracle of the
multiplication of the loaves. Where they simply hungry for things which
satisfy the body or for that which satisfies the heart and soul? Jesus
echoes the question posed by the prophet Isaiah: "Why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not
satisfy" (Isaiah 55:2)? Only God can satisfy the spiritual hunger in
our heart and soul the hunger for truth, for life, and for companionsip
and love.
Jesus makes a claim which only God can make: He is the true bread
of heaven that can satisfy the deepest hunger, thirst, and longing
which every human being experiences in life. When the Israelites journeyed
in the desert wildnerness they could find no food to keep themselves alive.
They complained that God had left them there to perish. God tested them
to see if they would trust in his personal care and provision for them.
He gave them sufficient manna each day to sustain them on their journey
to the promised land. This daily provision of manna in the wilderness could
not produce long lasting satisfaction nor eteral life for the Israelites.
It did however prefigure and point to the superabundance of the unique
bread of the Eucharist or Lords Supper which Jesus gave to his disciples
on the eve of his sacrifice. The bread which Jesus offers his disciples
sustains us not only on our journey to the heavenly paradise, it gives
us the abundant supernatural life of God which sustains us now and for
all eternity. When we receive from the Lords table we unite ourselves
to Jesus Christ, who makes us sharers in his body and blood and partakers
of his divine life. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.) calls it the "one
bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death,
and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Ad Eph. 20,2).
This supernatural food is healing for both body and soul and strength for
our journey heavenward.
Jesus also spoke about the works of God and what we must do to
be doing the works of God, namely to believe in God's Son whom
he has sent into the world. Jesus offers a new relationship with God
which issues in a new kind of life: a life of sacrificial love, selfless
service, and the forgiveness of others which corresponds to God's mercy,
goodness and loving kindness; a life of holiness, purity, and truth which
corresponds to God's holiness; and a life of obedience and trust which
corresponds to God's offer of abundant life, peace, and happiness. This is the work which Jesus directs us to and enables us to perform in the
power of the Holy Spirit. Do you hunger for the bread which comes down
from heaven and thirst for the words of everlasting life?
"Lord Jesus, you are the true Bread of Heaven. Only you alone can truly
satisfy the deepest longing and hunger of my heart. Nourish me with the
bread of life that I may be truly satisfied in you alone as the giver of
life."
praise the lord
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