2024/08/04 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

- Leo Rubinkowski, Manager of Events & Ministry Engagement

“...you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” — John 6:26

Like last week, Our Lord speaks to a crowd in this Sunday’s Gospel. Some of the crowd are newcomers, having heard that five thousand had been fed the day before, but many—perhaps most—were there when He gave thanks and multiplied the loaves and fishes. Yet, Christ tells them, “you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

With a little sober reflection, I think very few of us can judge the crowd too harshly for their short-sightedness. I certainly can’t. How often in my life have I received, and then preferred the gift to the giver, or how often have I looked at what someone chose for me without giving any thought to why they wanted me to have it? How many times has God blessed me, only for me to overlook the power of the One showing favor?

In last week’s Gospel, the crowd that had been fed called the Lord “the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world,” and they wanted to crown Him king, so it’s not as though they didn’t recognize something wonderful in their midst. They simply misunderstood, because—and not unreasonably, mind you—they had needs in mind that they felt more urgently: hunger, thirst, independence, the worldly dominion promised to Israel. Against this focus on passing things, Our Lord teaches them that the true bread from heaven “endures for eternal life.”

When the Father provides for us today, what is our response? Do we gladly acknowledge Him, and then immediately ask, “More?” Can worldly comforts endure, or does God reveal Himself in blessings large and small to draw our attention to something greater, to Himself?