DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 2, 2009
18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B

EXODUS 16:2-4, 12-15
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The
Israelites said to them, "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!" Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will now
rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out
and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether
they follow my instructions or not. "I have heard the grumbling of the
Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may
know that I, the LORD, am your God." In the evening quail came up and
covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and
when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine
flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites
asked one another, "What is this?" for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them, "This is the bread that the LORD has given you to
eat."

EPHESIANS 4:17, 20-24
Brothers and sisters: I declare and testify in the Lord that you must
no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;
that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of
him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put
away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through
deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put
on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of
truth.

JOHN 6:24-35
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for
Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Amen,
amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food
that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which
the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his
seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of
God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that
you believe in the one he sent." So they said to him, "What sign can
you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our
ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them
bread from heaven to eat." So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say
to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father
gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that
which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they
said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I
am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and
whoever believes in me will never thirst."

REFLECTION
Today's Gospel is a continuation of last week's reading where we saw
Jesus feed the hungry multitude. Because they were fully satisfied,
they always wanted to be with Jesus. Jesus, in turn, reveals their
motivation and thus challenges them to go beyond what they perceived
Jesus to be, that is, someone who is able to satisfy temporal needs.
Jesus is the only One who can fully satisfy us.

It must, however, be noted that these people are eager to do God's
will as evidenced in their inquiry "What can we do to accomplish the
works of God?" Jesus replies by saying that they are to believe in
Him, whom the Father has sent.

This challenge of Jesus is none other than to put their faith in
Jesus. Jesus tells them to believe and then they will see. Jesus then
claims that he is the bread of life. This is the first of the ego
eimi, the "I am" formulas containing self-definitions of Jesus. These
are directly inspired from Old Testament parallel expressions used by
God to reveal himself. Like in the burning bush incident with Moses,
Yahweh responds to Moses' inquiry about God's identity. Yahweh said:
"I am who am." These self-definitions insist on definitive and
exclusive character of the value affirmed. Later on, Jesus would refer
to himself, as the light of the world, door of the sheep pen, good
shepherd, resurrection and life, way, truth, and life, and true vine.

This self-definition of Jesus as the bread of life then invites us to
believe in him for anyone who goes to Jesus shall not hunger and shall
never thirst. If we allow ourselves to believe, then we will truly
see. So, instead of what we have been accustomed to as seeing is
believing, Jesus challenges us by saying believing is seeing.

How do we show that Jesus is truly the bread of life? It is
essentially to show this reality as operative in our life. In our
relationships with others, it is to believe in the inherent goodness
of people. Some might readily object to this as something so naive as
we have had unfortunate experiences in the past that can serve as
stumbling blocks to believe and have faith in people, institutions,
and relationships.

This attitude of lack of trust likewise is extended in our
relationship with Jesus. And so; it might be good to ask ourselves
whether we are interested in Jesus only because we are able to get
whatever we ask from him. Instead, it is more ideal and inspiring to
hear people say that they follow Jesus because he deserves to be
followed because he was willing to offer his life for us and thus,
shows his deep love and affection for us, because he shares the truth
of God and he is utterly good and merciful. Jesus fills us with our
spiritual hungers in life that include love and meaning.

Today, let us ask for the grace to allow ourselves to have a deeper
faith in Jesus, the bread of life. Rest assured that if we believe, we
would truly see something greater than all what we have expected
before which, hopefully, in turn would eventually translate in deeper
trust and faith with ourselves and other people as well.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the special intentions: Pauline
… for the strength and healing of:
- Tony
- Tessa
- KK
- Cristina Daland
- Francis Torres
- Shiappee
- Ester Marcelo
- Richy Ozoa
- Brenda Domingo-Solis
... Birthday: Dr. Richard V. Condor
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Christine Marie Bernardo
- Justice Emilio A. Gancayco
- Corazon C. Aquino
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Angel Salvar
- Birthday: Carol Hernandez
… for the healing and peace of all families

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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