Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6: 35
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus proclaimed as the “Bread of Life” for all who hunger and thirst. We are often left wanting for more when we put all our hopes in the world’s ability to take away our hunger and satisfy our thirst. For those who are searching for more than what the world offers, Jesus reminds us that it is God who wants to satisfy the longings and hunger of the human heart.
In the homily I heard this morning the priest used a quote from Pierre Teilhard Chardin, “The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.” When I heard this quote, it caused me to pause and think. Our world is suffering greatly between natural disasters, the resurgence of the Covid virus due to the Delta variant, the flood of migrants at our southern border, and violence in our streets. Where can we find hope in these times? I believe our hope lies in our Gospel reading today. Our loving God wants to feed both our spiritual and physical hunger. God rains down bread from Heaven to feed the people’s physical hunger and Jesus teaches them about how God wants to satisfy the desires of our hearts.
We are transformed through the Eucharist. Each time we receive the Eucharist our spiritual hunger is satisfied. May we always seek the Lord who desires to feed us.
God’s grace transforms us through the Eucharist. We are invited to reflect during this week about our spiritual hunger and thirst and seek out the Lord who always feeds us.