Homilies

19th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: CHRIST AS SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT

THE "MANNA" WHICH is mentioned in the gospel is worth reflecting. Two things came to mind in my reflection on the “manna”: a) the manna as physical nourishment (natural bread) and; b) the manna which God himself gives as spiritual nourishment (supernatural bread).

First, the God in the Old Testament shows Himself that He is indeed a provider. We can see in Exodus 16:1-15 how the Lord gives manna to his people so that they can have their fill of bread.  In today’s First Reading, the Lord sends a messenger to Elijah with food and water to drink. We can also find the same theme in the New Testament. Jesus feeds the five thousand out of five loaves and two fish (Mk 6: 34-44; see also Jn 6:1-15).

Second, let us take note of another manna that God himself gives for spiritual nourishment (supernatural bread). It is the food that lasts for eternal life. In the Old Testament, in Dt 8:3, Moses told the Israelites that there is something more important in the manna that they received; the manna that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Here the Lord wants the Israelites to go beyond the “materialistic” understanding of manna.

Likewise, in the Book of Amos (8:11-13), the Lord Himself says, “Behold the days are coming when I shall send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst of water, but from hearing the word of the Lord… they shall run back and forth taking the word of the Lord but they shall not find it.”  Here the Lord tells the prophet Amos a famine in a different plane; a famine of not finding or hearing the word of the Lord, the supernatural bread, if the Israelites will not stop from the bondage of greediness.

In today’s gospel, Jesus says that He is the bread of life. Here, He talks about Himself as a sacrificial offering and somehow affirming that human being cannot gain eternal life on his own. When we reflect on this, we are confronted with a question which of the two “kinds” of manna we should eat; which we should seek in our lifetime?  

On the one hand, physical nourishment would naturally appear as something important. The world of materialism and consumerism tells us that this is what matters. But the manna that we could get here does not give us complete nourishment. We will always feel the hunger.

Thus, on the other hand, there is a drive to search for spiritual nourishment; for a manna which lasts for eternal life. Every day, we have the opportunity to eat of this kind of manna. In the Holy Eucharistic celebration, we have the opportunity to listen to the Word of God. In the same Eucharist, we have the chance to eat the Body of Christ. The Word gives eternal life. The Body of Christ gives eternal life. Yet, we somehow act like Jews and the Israelites. We reject them both. Why such a rejection? Because there is a problem in one’s faith. Faith is the gateway of accepting, knowing and believing the very person of Jesus; a faith that is only made possible through the help of the Holy Spirit. If one does not have this gateway, then, it is impossible to experience Christ as the Bread of Life.

                       [Sem Moises Robert Olavides, MSP
                          MSP Seminary, Tagaytay City]

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