Gospel reflection for Aug. 4, 2024, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Although we live in an area of the world where abundance abounds, we are always in search of food. We are fortunate, for the most part, that purveyors of substantive quantities and varieties of food are virtually available on every street in our communities. Some places have to destroy almost as much food as they sell. Yet are we ever truly satisfied?
The hunger we experience is far more than food, though many go through life unaware of their deepest longings and desires. We believe that food, drink, and other substances all of which alter to some extent our mood and disposition, will satisfy us. We end up obese, addicted and still craving for more.
Jesus taught the crowds at length — a period of three days — and then he fed them, performing a miracle of abundance, as over 5,000 persons ate until they were full from a meager five loaves of bread and two fish.
This miracle should have been enough for the crowd to understand more fully who Jesus was. The time that they spent learning from Jesus should have brought them back for more. How, we wonder, could any crowd have gotten enough of listening to Jesus teach? While today the miracles excite us, as they also enthused the crowds that followed Jesus, it is his teaching that should have enlivened, enriched and excited them.
Testing the crowd, Jesus and his disciples secretly left that place after the feast and moved on to another place. At least some from that crowd pursued them and caught up with them looking the next morning for another sign. As the food that he had given them passed through their systems, they came looking for “another sign,” perhaps even more food, because they were hungry.
For three days Jesus fed them with the Word. For an hour at most, Jesus fed them with bread and fish. Most of this crowd did not realize that Jesus had much more to offer them than more bread and fish. It is very unlikely that more than 5,000 people followed him to the second location. So, having heard the Word and being fed by a miracle, it is likely that many of those present went home and may never have even thought about it again.
Jesus promised the crowds much more than ordinary bread and a few fish. He offered them Bread from Heaven — himself — the very Word made Flesh. St. John, who emphasized in the great Prologue to this Gospel the Incarnation: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” now presents the implication and meaning of this flesh in our midst.
From here on Jesus and the crowd will get into what is perhaps the most intense dialogue with any of the individuals or crowds that Jesus encounters throughout his entire ministry. The evangelist, John, certainly sees this event as pivotal in his ministry as he devotes a great deal of space recounting this exchange.
This encounter presents a number of important themes. As often happens some among the crowd ask Jesus what they can do “to accomplish the works of God.”
Jesus connects their desire — and this is always understood as a desire for eternal life — within the framework of faith.
The mighty works of God — or as John calls them the signs — while visible to all are only seen with the eyes of faith. Faith is a necessary first step in understanding Jesus and in becoming a disciple. Faith enables us to see the signs more clearly and to look more deeply into the very fabric of life itself.
The crowd seeks a sign — they missed the sign they already experienced. As much as Jesus now tries to explain it to them they have lost it and will, as we shall see, never get it.
While, as I said, some of those who did not come to the second location never gave it a second thought. Others, with the eye of faith returned home changed by their experience, knowing what happened in their midst.
Where are we? Some of us who encounter the Bread of Life give it no attention as they missed it; some see with the eyes of faith and are changed; others linger in their doubts and demand yet more. While the Lord bestows upon each what we need, without the disposition to faith, it becomes pointless to explain.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.