Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time. August 4, 2024. The Gospel of St. John 6:24-35. Theme: Satisfying Our Spiritual Hunger
In today's Gospel we pick up where we left off last Sunday with the excitement that followed Jesus’ miracle of the loaves. Many from the crowd that were fed had followed Jesus to the other side of the lake because they wanted more of the same from this miracle-worker! Then Jesus and the people enter into a conversation in which both sides are talking about hunger, but they’re not at all on the same wavelength. They use the same words but are talking “apples and oranges” as we sometimes say!
The people are focusing on material hunger and the possibility for more miracles to satisfy their physical needs. Jesus, on the other hand, is referring to spiritual hunger and nourishment for the soul. They are stuck at the level of the body while Jesus is trying to have them go deeper. And you know, we’re not all that different from those people and their misplaced priorities. Peek into a gym window or notice the joggers and walkers on the streets on any given Sunday while you’re on your way to Mass, and you will see way more people working on physical fitness than you’ll see in church working on spiritual fitness. Now there’s nothing at all wrong with healthy living or wanting to look our best, but these things become significantly displaced when they supersede the needs of the soul. This is what Jesus means when we hear him say in today's Gospel, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” In other words, “Get your priorities in order!”
Now just to be clear, Jesus doesn’t deny the importance of our bodies and neither does he advocate ignoring their very real physical needs. After all, he became a man just like us in all things except sin, and so he totally understands what we need and experience as far as the body goes. But in today’s Gospel he is using this interplay between body and soul as a launching pad to jump into a very vital teaching. He knows, both as our Creator and in his experience as a human being himself, that spiritual hunger is a deeper, more persistent need within us than the physical. He knows that even those who have everything they need to make life happy and easy can still be so deeply empty and unhappy inside. Their physicality has its needs more than met, but their souls are crying out for spiritual attention and nourishment. I think we would do well to pause and ask ourselves if we are expending at least as much time and energy on the health and beauty of our souls as we do for our bodies?
The health of the soul should really be a priority to us for two reasons. First, the condition of the soul affects everything else about us, even our physicality. For example, it is not uncommon for someone who has finally confessed a longstanding burdensome sin to leave the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the physical sensation of unimaginable joy that feels like a ton of bricks have been lifted off their chest. And conversely, it is sadly not that rare to meet someone who seems to become increasingly negative and bitter because they hold onto a hurt and nurse a grudge. These are two rather common spiritual actions that manifest themselves tangibly in our physical selves. This is because the body and soul are not two independent and opposing parts, but are united together to form one single unique person. The soul is our life-source and the wellspring of our personality. This is why we define death itself as the separation of the soul from the body.
The second reason we need to have a priority of concern for the soul is because it is immortal. This innermost spiritual part of who we are survives our physical death and is destined to experience either unimaginable glory or eternal alienation from all that is good. And while it is true that the body will eventually be resurrected and share in this immortality, it will only do so in obedience, so to speak, to the soul. It does not lead the way but bows to what the innermost spiritual self has chosen.
And so Jesus goes above and beyond to do all that he can to help attain and maintain excellent spiritual health. He declares himself to be the Bread of Life in which we can find nourishment through both Word and Sacrament. While most people think that this self-identification by Jesus refers only to the Holy Eucharist, the Church teaches us that Bread of Life also means Jesus as the Word of God. In the Scriptures bread is often used as a metaphor for religious instruction, such as when the hungry Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread by the devil, but replied that it's more important for men to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
This is why the Liturgy of the Word always precedes the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It’s a reflection of the way things were on that day of the miracle of the loaves in Galilee. First the people heard Christ’s teaching and then they ate of his miracle-bread. And the same kind of experience happens for us at Mass. Jesus becomes the Bread of Life for us first through the Sacred Scriptures in which the Word of God becomes food for our souls and light for our minds. Then during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, God sends down for us the True Bread of Heaven, the Bread that gives life to our souls, satisfying all of our deepest needs.
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