OT XVIII [B] Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35
 

During one of the busiest times at Houston's Hobby Airport, a flight was delayed due to a mechanical problem. Since they needed the gate for another flight, the aircraft was backed away from the gate while the maintenance crew worked on it. The passengers were then told the new gate number, which was some distance away. Everyone moved to the new gate, only to find that a third gate had been designated. After some further shuffling, everyone got on board. As they were settling in, the flight attendant made the standard announcement, "We apologize for the inconvenience of this last-minute gate change. This flight is going to Washington, D.C. If your destination is not Washington, D.C., then you should 'deplane' at this time."

A very confused-looking and red-faced pilot emerged from the cockpit, carrying his bags. "Sorry," he said, "wrong plane." What happens when the pilot does not know where he is headed?

There are people today who are very confused because they have looked to the wrong persons to help them find the meaning they seek. There are hundreds of Religions in today's world. New ones are born every year. Many people are blindly accepting strange theologies --- theologies that will not help them find the life that Jesus offers to you and me --- the Living Bread of God.

There are thousands of protestant denominations in the world today which provide to the faithful nothing more other than the sacrament of baptism. Because for any sacrament other than baptism, they need a validly ordained minister which they cannot have as they do not have a Church with tradition of validly ordained ministers. So they try to cater to the deepest needs of the heart with entertainment in their churches with good preaching and cup holders in the pew so they get satisfied with the peripheral needs. They satisfy the hunger of the heart with appetizers, namely the breaking of the word, but leave you without the main dish, the breaking of the bread: the Eucharist. To cover up this deficiency they will provide you with rock music and coffee and donuts so you won’t really notice what you are missing.   

In the gospel today we see, Jesus fed the people with loaves of bread and fish he had  miraculously multiplied. The next morning, it did not take long for the crowd to realize that Jesus had disappeared. As such, they set out to Capernaum where Jesus and His disciples were known to resort. The people were looking for a repeat performance of their miraculous feeding. When they found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

 In answer to their question about his arrival, Jesus told them that they looked for him for another free meal and that such meals would not satisfy them. The people had not perceived the true meaning of the signs but only considered the material aspect of the miracle, having failed to reflect on its significance. Hence, he instructed them to labor for food that would give them eternal life. Jesus continued, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you."

This  echoes the words that are found in the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant..." [Is. 55:2-3] The Jewish people were very familiar with these words. Yet, the difficulty that Jesus was experiencing was the worldly mindedness of the people.

Material things do not necessarily bring us happiness. That is a fact of life. It is a hard fact to understand sometimes, especially in a society that tries very hard to teach us otherwise.

Buddhism is a religion based on seeking enlightenment, and not desiring material or tangible things. They believe that suffering is caused by desire. The principle is, we desire, we suffer because we do not own the thing we desire, and once we own the thing, we desire something else, so the suffering continues. There are too many desires in the world, and a human, will never be truly happy.

It is very common to get into a mode where you think, "If only I had object X, my life would be perfect and I would be happy." You  really want something: a new TV, a new car, a special pair of shoes, whatever. Then you buy it and you love having it for a few days. But over time you get bored or it wears out. You can see this pattern repeated constantly in our own life. For example, our parents and grandparents likely spent thousands and thousands of dollars on toys for us as we were growing up: Dump trucks and Barbie dolls and video games and electric cars and on and on and on. All of those toys got boring or broken or outgrown eventually. They brought happiness for a moment or a week, but over time they became worthless and our desire turned to a new object.

Jesus was asking His listeners to change their hearts and minds in order to see God in a new light. Instead of asking for bread for their stomachs as their ancestors did when Moses led them out of Egypt they should ask for the Bread of Life, the Bread Jesus was going to give them, His Body and Blood. 

As the Bread of Life from Heaven, Jesus claims that only he can satisfy man’s spiritual hunger. While bodily food helps us to stay alive in this world, spiritual food sustains and develops our supernatural life which will last forever in heaven.

Only God can satisfy our various forms of spiritual hunger. St. Augustine said: "O God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” 

We believe that the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian Life“(Lumen Gentium), because it contains the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Jesus Christ himself. 

Let us nourish our souls with this Heavenly manna and carry Jesus to our homes and workplaces, radiating his love, mercy and compassion all around us.