August 02, 2015 18th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading:
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15
2nd Reading: Eph 4:17,
20–24 Gospel: Jn 6:24–35
When they saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Master, when did you come here?” Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, you look for me, not because you have seen through the signs, but because you ate bread and were satisfied. Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for he is the one the Father has marked.” Then the Jews asked him, “What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?” And Jesus answered them, “The work God wants is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent.” They then said, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe you. What sign do you perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says: They were given bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.” And they said to him, “Give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Jesus’ conclusion that people went looking for him because he was capable of multiplying bread was not a mere suspicion. After all he could read hearts. Since he didn’t want followers with this motive he urged them to search instead for lasting food.
There is nothing wrong with searching for perishable food. What is wrong is dedicating life solely for that search, for that could reduce life to a fall headlong into a bottomless pit of endless thirsts. “Satisfied human need” is a misnomer; humans are never satisfied. When one pursues earthly pleasures without letup, he lives in an exhausting emotional state as he attempts to live both the present and the future just to provide for his biological, social, and psycho-emotional needs. This is slavery plain and simple.
Faith frees a person from this bottomless search. Marianne Moore wrote in her “Spenser’s Ireland”: “You are not free until you’ve been made captive by Supreme belief.” When we are held captive by Jesus, we shake ourselves free from material concerns and commit ourselves to the search for the bread that gives everlasting life.
— Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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