Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Remember last week when Father Tom preached?  The crowd had just finished the meal of fish and barley loaves. Their stomachs were filled but they were still unsatisfied.  They were looking for something more.  They wanted a more spiritual meal, something not as ordinary as fish and barley loaves.  They reminded Jesus how their ancestors were fed, not with an ordinary meal of fish and bread, but with a spectacular, spiritual food that fell down from heaven.

Actually, there is a great irony about this bread from heaven, called manna.  Even today, the Bedouins gather manna from the desert ground.  For you see, there is an ordinary explanation for this extraordinary food.  Because of insect damage on the tamarisk trees, a sweet sap falls from the leaves.  The sap solidifies during the night and forms the manna.  Think of it this way: manna was one of the original fast foods because once the day warmed up, it melted away and was lost to the sand.

There has always been a temptation to make religion something magical, more than ordinary.  Jesus tells the crowd in today’s gospel that the real heavenly bread is right in front of them, in the one they call Rabbi.  Jesus is telling us to pay attention to what is right in front of us, to embrace with gratitude the ordinary and imperfect life that God has given us.  Jesus is the one who unveils the grace that exists in our very lives.  Jesus is telling us today that real religion is noticing, in faith, the mystery right here among us.

One of my favorite lines of poetry is from Elizabeth Barrett Browning who wrote, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only they who see, take off their shoes.”  Jesus tells us, “I myself am the bread of life.  No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in me shall thirst again.”  Jesus always brings us back home.  That’s where God is.  There’s no need to search for anywhere else.

Paul A. Magnano