Friends,
The liturgy for this Sunday builds on the theme of Eucharistic Communion that we began to explore last week in St John’s Gospel. Today, we are invited to be transformed by the Bread of Life, made flesh in Jesus, and present in the word of God.
The First Reading tells how the people of Israel grumbled about their painful new life in the desert. God heard their cry and gave them all that they needed to survive. Together with the Psalmist, we can celebrate how the Israelites were fed in the desert.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul nevertheless calls the Christian community in Ephesus to adopt a completely new way of life, with a more radical understanding of God’s loving providence. The true abundance of God’s love for us is not to be found by focusing on our material needs; instead, it is found in the goodness and holiness of the Gospel truth.
In the Gospel, Jesus challenges us not to follow him just for material security and a guarantee of plenty of food to eat. But following him requires a more radical response from our awareness that true spiritual food isn’t manna from heaven; rather, it is to be found in a personal encounter with the risen Christ, the Bread of Life and truth eternal.
This week, let us ask for a spirit of complete transformation and renewal in ourselves and in our faith communities and be sustained by the life-giving word of God.
Joy and peace.
