Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missalette July-August 2021

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
2nd week of the Psalter

FIRST READING

From the Book of Exodus (Ex 16:2-4, 12-15)
In those days, in the desert the whole community of the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them: “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate bread to our hearts’ content! Instead, you have brought us out into this desert to make this whole assembly die of hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses: “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people shall go out and gather their daily portion, so that I may test them, to see whether they follow my law or not. I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them this: ‘At sunset you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord, your God.’” In the evening quail came up and covered the camp; in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a fine, flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them: “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the first reading

“Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you 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” (Jn 6:32-33). This is the authentic interpretation of this passage from Exodus, offered by Jesus himself. On the one hand, there is the drama of God not being understood by his people: freedom is given through the Lord’s wonders, yet rebellion breaks out among the people because of the hardship and because they no longer have the pot of meat beside them in which to dip their bread. It is the tragedy of those who even today think that living means only stuffing themselves with food, drinks, money and success; in short, they feel so profoundly ignoble and insignificant that they need a pedestal on which to raise themselves so they can command others. And this is a drama as old as humanity. The mystery of divine compassion and condescension: manna is given freely, in portions corresponding to the liturgical life (on Friday, double the amount was given to allow for the Sabbath rest). Let us learn gratitude.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (Eph 4:17, 20-24)
Brothers and sisters, I declare and solemnly affirm in the Lord: 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 him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupted through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the second reading

How can we discover, first of all within ourselves, the difference between “the old self, corrupted through deceitful desires” and “the new self, created according to God in righteousness and true holiness”? Saint Paul offers a very concrete criterion that remains valid today: measuring ourselves by our conduct. It is not a single action, or a shopping list prepared both for the supermarket and for going to confession. Rather, conduct consists in the style of our lives, in making concrete choices in the service of goodness, not being content merely to avoid doing evil, but truly doing all the good that is possible for us. The old self becomes corrupt, declines and rots. The new self grows in holiness, welcoming God’s gift within. The old self is enslaved to itself, to the various fashions that come and go, and to conventional thinking. Above all, however, it falls prey to the deception of the liar, who would have it believe that it would be happier without God: a thought from the beginning (with Adam and Eve ensnared), but also a temptation of our own days. Let us allow ourselves to be clothed in and permeated by true holiness.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 6:24-35)
At that time, when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him across the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them: “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 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.” The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

An old and ever-new question, valid today as in the Lord’s time: “Why have you come? What drives you to follow me?” The same question was put to those who presented themselves to the first Fathers of the Church, to medieval monasteries, and to those who even today recognize consecrated life as valid for themselves. “What are you seeking?” The fulfillment of your “self,” your personal happiness, or that your steps should follow the footprints traced by the Master? But this applies not only to religious life in the strict sense. For example, in your engagement and through your marriage, what is your true purpose? To satisfy yourself, or to sow joy together with the person accompanying you on this fascinating, beautiful and delicate journey? In an outburst with your wife/husband, are you seeking genuine growth along your shared path, or merely an outlet? And what about that excessive scolding directed at your children? What are you seeking? In reality, we all desire nourishment (including spiritual nourishment!), listening, comfort, hope and strength. The men and women beside us can offer us all these things, but they will never fully satisfy our hunger and thirst for happiness. Only a relationship with Jesus, the bread of life, gives us authentic and lasting happiness.