Homily 18th Sunday OT 4^th August 2024

This Gospel passage we have heard is another in a five or six week-long series of readings all taken from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. Taken together, these readings give us a picture of Christ’s attempt, for the first time, really, to introduce to his followers the idea of the Eucharist.

But before he could do that, there would have to be a good deal of preparation. So Christ calls back to the minds of people instances from their own history in which God revealed God’s nature by providing God’s people with food, such as the multiplication of the loaves by the prophet Elisha in last week’s first reading, the manna in the desert today, and so on.

To this people responded, “show us why we should follow you. Do something God-like. Feed us. Keep us comfortable and happy.” In effect they are saying, “if you want to be God, fine. But be God on our terms. Then we will follow you gladly.”

Here Christ has to radically alter the direction of the conversation and of the people’s understanding. He says, “Oh, I will give you bread all right. But the bread I give you doesn’t have much to do with being comfortable and full. It has to do with being alive.”

The people say, “Well, that sounds good. Give it to us” and Christ says, “I am the bread of life.” It is as if he is saying, “the bread I give will never make any sense to you until I do. Until you can say that a thing is true because I say it, or a thing is good because I do it, you will never be ready to take the bread of life.”

You may remember that last weekend we talked a little bit about the meaningfulness of our efforts at virtue. How each of us sooner or later reaches the point at which we must ask “is it really worth all the trouble it takes to try and make one’s way through life in at least a halfway decent and Christian way?” Well, anything that Christ did is meaningful, valuable, purposeful, because Christ did it.

Why is there a point to being patient and forgiving over and over again in an exasperating and frustrating world? Because Christ was patient and forgiving over and over again in an exasperating and frustrating world, and Christ acts meaningfully.

Every claim that Christ makes for himself, he makes for the Eucharist. Every promise that he made to those who accepted him, he makes to those who accept the Eucharist. The Bread of Life is still with us, if we do take it , and eat it in memory of him, because he did, then our lives will be purposeful, satisfying, valuable.

They may not be always comfortable, those lives, but they will always be good.

Fr Andrew