18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year I)

Community Word: Believing in Jesus, the Bread of Life, nourishes us for eternal life.
Theme: We are nourished for eternal life when we live in God’s righteousness.
Promise: …“I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (Jn 6:35)

Reflection:
Living in God’s righteousness means that we are to pursue God’s character in our desire to become more like Christ. It entails turning away from our natural and sinful desires and following Christ’s perfect and righteous ways in obedience to His commandments. There may be challenges, but we can rest in the fact that God sovereignly works everything for the good of His people, especially in restoring us through the righteousness of His Son, Jesus. Our righteousness began in Christ and is completed in Christ. Hence, we are instructed to follow Jesus Christ and pursue Him daily as our Living Bread.
The liturgical readings clearly tell us that God is the Giver of the Bread of Life, the food which will sustain us with what is necessary for our faith journey. The First Reading and Psalms narrate how God provided manna for the Israelites as they journeyed through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. In the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul reminds how the faithful should discard their old ways and put on the new self – that of being righteous in God’s eyes.
And in the Gospel of John, the people who have been fed at the multiplication of the loaves (in last week’s readings), continue to question Jesus – “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?” This shows that they missed the point of His teaching including His signs and miracles. Jesus answers in a simple but profound way, that the point of all He is doing is to reveal that it is only God who gives the true Bread from heaven. Simply put, God offers us His Son Jesus who is the Living Bread, not only to sustain us physically, mentally and emotionally, but more so spiritually.
We need to take seriously the words we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread,” because this prayer should help us realize how God is truly present, in providing our daily needs, each and every moment, through the compassionate care of those He has placed in our lives, such as our own family members, friends in our workplace and our community brothers and sisters.
Let us not forget that more than the nourishment we receive from God daily, He too is working on our faith. Jesus tells us that His work is to be faithful to the one who sent Him. This is what God wants us to focus on, that believing in Jesus is what will nourish us. If we are to live in God’s righteousness, we have to imitate Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father. This pandemic may cause us to get side tracked from the key message God wants us to know. But through prayer, we must trust that God is being made known in and through Jesus. Hence, living in God’s righteousness will help us reap the promise for this week: “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” (Jn 6:35). We need to rely only on Jesus, our Master and Teacher, who is our Bread of Life, for our daily spiritual sustenance.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us our daily bread. Your Son, Jesus, is our Bread of Life who nourishes not only our bodies, but more so, our soul. Forgive us for the times we may have missed Your message and sought satisfaction opposite to Your will. May Your Holy Spirit help us focus on that food which satisfies the longing of our bodies, minds & spirits. May we continue to trust in Your goodness, especially as revealed in the life, ministry, passion and resurrection of Jesus. Amen.
Reflection Guide Questions:

1. What are the ways that I can keep myself spiritually nourished?
2. How can I remain focused on Jesus, the Bread of Life, and away from the lures and anxieties of worldly distractions?
   This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
   August 1, 2021 (Sun) – Ex 16:2-4,123-15/ Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54/ Eph 4:17, 20-24/ Jn 6:24-35
   August 2, 2021 (Mon) – Nm 11:4-15/ Ps 81:12-13, 14-15, 16-17/ Mt 14:13-21
   August 3, 2021 (Tue) – Nm 12:1-13/Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 6-7,12-13/ Mt 14:22-36
   August 4, 021 (Wed) – Nm 13:1-2,25-14:1, 26-29, 34-35/ Ps 106:6-7, 13-14, 21-22, 23/ Mt 15:21-28
   August 5, 2021 (Thurs) – Nm 20:1-13/ Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9/ Mt 16:13-23
   August 6, 2021 (Fri) – Dn 7:9-10, 13-14/ Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 9/ 2Pt 1:16-19/ Mk 9:2-10
   August 7, 2021 (Sat) – Dt 6:4-13/Ps 18:2-3,3-4,47,51/Mt 17:14-20

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”