18th Sunday Ordinary Time August 4, 2024

Readings: Exodus 16.2-4, 12-15, 31a, Ephesians 4.17.20-24, John 6.24-35

Jesus started by this gospel by considering about the crowd “why are you here”. What he wants to tell them is why they should be there. The crowd came seeking another meal. The crowds were right to seek Christ out, but they did it for an inadequate reason – It was not that seeking out food when hunger was bad, but what they also should of been seeking was Christ himself, for Christ himself is the.

bread of life.

 And today, the primary place we seek out Christ is here at Mass. The Eucharist is nothing other than the body blood, soul, and divinity of Christ – who is the bread of life – But Jesus asked the crowd why they were there, knowing that they were not to fast satisfaction to things in the short term – When most people think about Mass, thrilling excitement is not what usually comes to mind – but what satisfies and what seems so at first is often not the same. A meal of bread and fish likely seemed more attractive to the crowd than what Jesus was proposing - Eating Cake and Ice Cream for dinner is great in the moment – that satisfaction ends very quickly when one is sick in a few hours.

 But we do have many reasons for coming to Mass - It could be out of habit, to make someone happy, to hear the good organ music, to learn about the scriptures in the homily, to meet and talk with people after Mass? None of these things are bad. Having a habit of coming to mass is a good thing - Just as it was not bad that the crowd was hungry – but the ultimate reason we come to Mass is not these things, but to  encounter and receive Jesus himself.

Fr. Terry