18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Bread is perhaps the oldest prepared food known to mankind and can be found in one form or another throughout the world and throughout all cultures.  It is considered a staple of life, and thus carries with it a significance beyond mere sustenance.  Its importance is also reflected in our scriptures as we see in this Sunday’s readings:

The Word for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15
Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54
Ephesians 4:17, 20-24
John 6:24-35

Our first reading comes from the Book of Exodus.  Moses has been successful in bringing the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, but their joy as a free people is short lived when they are faced with the realities of finding food and water for their long journey through the desert.  Moses brings their complaints to God, who in turn promises that they will not go hungry, providing then with manna, bread from Heaven.  This experience has such a deep and significant meaning that it carries through to our Psalm (“The Lord gave them bread from heaven”), not to mention being a recurring theme throughout our scriptures.

Our Gospel from John also directly references this moment, reminding the crowd that just as God provided bread for their ancestors in the desert, God is providing bread for them now, through Jesus.  The story of salvation is brought full circle through Christ in this moment.  The crowd’s desire to receive this bread from Heaven also gives this passage from John one of scriptures most memorable quotes as Jesus replies, “I am the bread of life.”  While this is the highlight of this Sunday’s passage, it’s just the beginning of a longer dialog that continues next Sunday.

Our second reading continues our study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  As we know, Paul’s language can sometimes take the long way around to making his point.  Not so with today’s passage.  Here Paul is very direct, declaring to the Ephesians that they, “must no longer live as the Gentiles do.”  This is not intended to rebuke them so much as it is an invitation to change their ways:  To “put away the old self” and “put on the new self.”  Ephesus is a long way from Jerusalem, so Paul’s mission thus far has had two purposes: first, as we have heard the last few weeks, to remind them that they are not alone, that they are part of the Body of Christ.  Now Paul is addressing the second issue: what exactly does that mean?  How do we live as Church?  As we can see, it is something radically different from what they have known before.

Final Thoughts:
There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread.  It stirs us like few other smells can, perhaps because it touches something in us that is ancient, almost instinctively drawing us toward it.  This Sunday’s readings reveal how bread plays an important role in scripture, and no wonder, because bread plays such an important role in our human experience.  Bread means life, an idea that was not lost on Jesus as he proclaimed, “I am the bread of life.”  In saying this Jesus wanted to draw us to himself, and by doing so, reconcile us with God.  This is why our Eucharist is a perfect offering and should never be taken for granted.

It is a sad day indeed when so many Catholics don’t understand the nature of the Eucharist, that it is in fact the body and blood of Christ.  It is not a memorial.  It is not a representation.  It is the true presence of Jesus – his actual body, his actual blood – in the form of bread and wine.  It is so because the priest has transfigured it, for us, through his blessing.  It is because we believe it to be so, regardless of what it might look like or taste like.  Most importantly, it is so because Jesus said it was so.  “This is my body… this is my blood… do this in remembrance of me.”  It is a mystery of faith, and a truth we Catholics embrace every time we celebrate the Mass.  This is the bread of life and the chalice of salvation.  Who wouldn’t want to join in this feast?