A Tremendous and Irreplaceable Gift

HOMILY: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

John 6:24-35

4 August 2024

Fr. Ricky C. Montanez

A friend’s family always eats out on Sundays. Instead of going to the same place each time, she chooses to take her family to new restaurants. Normally, the whole family is happy to enjoy the new experience and culinary adventure, but their mom always finds something unpleasant about the food and repeatedly makes mention of it over the meal, dragging down the mood of those at the table. On one occasion my frustrated friend jokingly told her mom that next time they eat out, they would just buy her favourite Jollibee Palabok for her to eat at the restaurant so they can all be happy with their meal.  Sometimes, we can be such complainers that we miss out on the good things happening to us.

In today’s passage from Exodus the Israelites are said to have expressed their discontent against Moses and God. Although they were consistently reassured of God’s presence, provision and guidance on their journey through the wilderness; still, they grumbled. They complained. They seemed to have forgotten all the good God had done for them. Despite the fact that God provided more than enough food, for them to eat their fill, they still weren’t satisfied. They were so focused on their craving for their typical meals in Egypt that they forgot that the price they paid for that convenience was actually the loss of their freedom!  “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!” (Ex 16:3). For them to choose slavery over their freedom is proof of their ingratitude and ignorance.

Like the wandering Hebrews in the desert, and the mom in my opening story, we, also find ourselves whining at times. We tend to be discontent with so many things in life that we fail to see the grace God has been sending us. When the sun is shining, we complain it is too hot and pray for rain.  When it rains continuously, we complain because all the surroundings are wet, we cannot dry our laundry in the sun, etc.  Just recently, I have been hearing many complaints about the Church as well such as… “These Bishops are too strict and demanding especially when in comes to issues on Christian faith and morals.” or “Our priest never stops asking us for donations.” (And yet they find no issue with the strict regular tithing policies of other faith groups.) We should be grateful that we still have priests to administer the sacraments. In Europe, churches are closed, turned into museums or sold and converted into pubs and congregations have vanished due to lack of priests. It is so much easier for us to be complainers, whiners, and grumblers instead of looking on the bright side of things and counting our blessings.

In today’s gospel Jesus acknowledges the people’s hunger and offers them bread that will satisfy them forever. Yet, they are not convinced and ask for a supernatural sign just like the manna that came down from heaven to feed their ancestors. Jesus tells them, “My Father gives you the true bread…. (John 6:32) which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33) They are impressed and want to have this for themselves. “Give us this Bread of Life.” (John 6: 34) Jesus says “I am the Bread of Life, whoever comes to Me will never hunger and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35) This is in reference to Himself, His mission of salvation and the sacrifice that He is prepared to make for humanity which is by far a tremendous and irreplaceable gift!  If we continue to read the story, we find out that the people are horrified that they must eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood. They once more grumble at what they do not understand and keep their preference for what is convenient. This keeps them from recognising and accepting this foretelling of the Holy Eucharist, which we all benefit from now. The story ends with many of the disciples leaving Jesus and going back to their old ways. Simply put, they missed out on an opportunity of a lifetime.

People who truly believe in Jesus are always open to the stirrings of the Spirit. The faithful recognise that God works in mysterious ways and although things don’t always go according to their expectations, every moment is a grace. Every moment is something to be grateful for because God knows the big picture and He is working tirelessly that we may all have eternal life in His presence.  Now there is a couple that is very close to me. Pre-pandemic, they frequently invited me to share a good meal. The wife became blind because of Diabetes. I saw how this became a moment of grace for both of them. The husband did practically everything for her without complaint even to the extent of learning to put make-up on his wife to make her feel pretty and confident. On his part, he is a model of patience and true love. On her part, she learned to be trusting of her husband and accepting of life’s surprises. Despite the difficulty of guiding his wife in public, they are always present at Sunday Mass and receiving communion regularly. It is a testament to their faith in God and His providence.

In Jesus, God feeds us with “food that lasts for eternal life.” (John 6:27) St. John Mary Vianney says this happens out of God’s infinite love. There should be no reason for us to complain because the very hand of the Lord feeds us and He answers all our needs. Every celebration of the Eucharist, must therefore be a reminder of how tremendously loved we are!