The Right Stuff

​A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, August 4th, 2024:
​Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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John
6.24-35 

​When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were at the place where Jesus had given the bread, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

Then they said to Jesus, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who 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.”

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 be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

In this age of Catholic media, we have no shortage of options. We have podcasts, YouTube, podcasts played on YouTube, and probably YouTube played on podcasts, featuring some of the greatest thinkers of our modern age, in all languages, at all times. 

I find it very easy to “pig out” on Catholic thought. It’s all so darn amazing! Scripture, saints, miracles, angels, Mariology, history, philosophy, homilies — one bite, and I’m hooked. I can listen and read for hours. At the end of a typical day, I know I’m full, but I’ve retained maybe one idea from the many. I went to the buffet and had everything, to the point where very little was memorable.

On a retreat a few years ago, a priest warned against doing just this. He suggested instead that we content ourselves with a small morsel — a thought, a word from Scripture — and allow that to satisfy us for days. We should chew and chew on it, long after it loses its initial flavour. Ironically, of all the spiritual advice I admit to forgetting, I’ve remembered this gem.

When the crowds approach Jesus in the Gospel, He tells them to get stuffed. Well, okay — He tells them right way to get stuffed. He says of the day before, “You ate the loaves and were filled.” The word He uses for “filled” is a humorous word akin to “stuffed.” It’s the same word He uses for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake. He knows that nothing He said before He fed them yesterday sank in. Even though they had a lifetime of food for thought when they left, they show up the next day still asking about their Hebrew Fathers. 

Jesus uses this as a teachable moment. The crowd asks Him how to get their paws on God’s miracle bread again for dinner. Jesus tells them, "Believe in the one he sent." But to believe in Jesus, we have to understand Jesus. And to understand Jesus, we have to use our noggins. He doesn’t want us to passively approach Him to be fed, spiritually or otherwise. We have to keep doing our work — seeking and understanding — to be doing “the work of God.”

A case in point is Martha and Mary. Mary doesn’t just hear Jesus, she listens. We know this because she does what Jesus wants her to do, without asking. He came in the flesh to be present with humans in the flesh. Mary understands. So, while Martha is doing works for God, she isn’t doing the work of God. Mary knows what it means to live not by bread alone (or whatever Martha is cooking) but by every word that comes from Jesus’ mouth. Her appetite is satisfied.

I take this as a reminder to myself: don’t fill up on (intellectual) bread so that by the time the meal comes you’re too full to eat. Seek understanding, yes, but seek Jesus as its only end. And you’ll be stuffed to the end of the age.



Kate Mosher

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