Homily for The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

The readings for The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time may be found at:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080121.cfm

We all have a relationship with food.

And like most any relationship, it’s not always good, is it?

I mean, we don’t don’t always eat because we’re hungry.  

Someone once said - and I can’t recall who - that it’s not what we’re eating, but what’s eating us - that decides for us most of the time.  

Sometimes we eat, just because it’s time or we’re bored or we’re stressed or for some other random reason, but not always because our bodies are truly hungry.

And much like the crowd following Jesus, we’re always looking for our next meal.  

But the problem we all suffer from, is not that we are hungry, but how we try to fill our hunger.

Our world is full of bread of all kinds and not all of it is good for us.  

In fact, in order for us to know if a food is good for us to eat, we need to know where it came from and what ingredients it’s made from.

That’s what Jesus is teaching in today’s gospel. 

The people have shown up hungry. Just as we heard last Sunday, Jesus fed 5,000 of them with five loaves and two fish. 

Today they show up and their first question is, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

They don’t marvel at His last miracle or give thanks to God for His generosity or even wonder who He is.  

Instead, they’re focused on where their next meal is coming from and whether Jesus already set out the free food and they’ve just arrived too late to eat it.

They were interested in their own wants and Jesus knows it.  He always does.  We can fool ourselves, but we can’t fool Jesus.

He says to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled”. 

The people are concerned about filling their bellies, but Jesus is concerned about filling their lives. 

The people want to feed themselves with bread, but Jesus wants to feed them with God. 

“Do not work for the food that perishes,” He tells them, “but for the food that endures for eternal life.”

The food that is Jesus himself. 

He is the bread that is broken and freely given for the life of the world. 

He is the bread that is eaten and yet never runs out. 

He is the bread that consecrates those who believe in Him, eat his flesh and have a real relationship with Him.

When we truly believe in Jesus, eating and taking him into our lives, we live differently. 

We see ourselves and others - as persons created in the image and likeness of God rather than as obstacles or issues to be overcome. 

We trust the silence of prayer, rather than the words of argument. 

We choose love and forgiveness rather than anger or making someone pay for what they’ve done. 

We live in a place of humility and gentleness rather than of maintaining appearances and being divisive. 

We listen for God’s voice rather than our own - and ultimately, we seek life rather than death.

Jesus tells the crowd, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” 

He is offering the people - Himself. 

He is the bread that never spoils, that nourishes and sustains life and is more than enough to fill them up. (Pause)

Jesus makes us the same offer. 

He offers Himself to us to sustain and to nourish us.

And in every situation in our life we have a choice what we consume, the “quick fix” or the one that truly satisfies. 

And in that choice, we choose the life we want today, tomorrow and for all eternity.

So I ask you to consider - how will you choose to fill the hunger inside of you?

What “bread” will you choose to fill yourself up?

Homily for The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

The readings for The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time may be found at:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070421.cfm

Earlier this week, I watched a video clip from the old Johnny Carson show.  For those too young to remember, that show is now hosted by Jimmy Fallon.  

The clip included the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield and was hilarious.  

You see, Rodney Dangerfield was famous for pointing out, in hilarious ways, that he didn’t get any respect.  He’d have audiences cracking up as he listed how his neighbors, coworkers, strangers and even his wife - made fun of him, disregarded his feelings and treated him badly.

I think he was able to make people laugh at something so unfunny, because most of us can relate to how it feels to be overlooked or under-appreciated at times. 

Almost all of us have had the experience of feeling that we don’t matter, especially to those people who know us the best.

Jesus experiences this same thing when He returns to His hometown of Nazareth. 

If you recall from last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus had just performed an amazing miracle when He touched the hand of a little girl who was dead, told her to rise, which she did and then asked, while everyone stood amazed, that she be given something to eat. 

He transformed that family’s life with that miracle. 

But things couldn’t be more different this week when he arrives in his hometown.

For the people of Nazareth, they knew Jesus only as the child of the carpenter and his wife, Mary.  A nice enough guy, but no one to take note of.  In their eyes, he was still a neighborhood kid who nothing special was expected from.

Jesus, of course, knows who He is and has a clear sense of His mission. He enters the synagogue, probably the same place where he had spent countless hours growing up learning about the prophets, the psalms and God’s laws and love.  But instead of sitting with the congregation where he had grown up, Jesus began to teach. 

Jesus had so much to offer the people of his hometown, but they were not ready to receive it.

            

Instead, they were - astounded.  Their preconceived judgements blocked them from receiving what He offers. It was impossible for them to imagine that He might be sent by God to teach and enlighten them.

 

Now, we’ve all experienced this kind of disrespect and probably even delivered some of it ourselves.  Based on what we see or have heard or where we’ve been or who we think someone is - too often we assume a person has nothing of value to offer. 

Instead of listening to Jesus, the townspeople spend their time whispering amongst themselves - where did this man get all this?  What is this wisdom that has been given to him? 

The Son of God is standing in front of them, offering wisdom from heaven, but their hearts and their minds are closed and as a result, they miss out.  You know -

            

This is the power that we all have. 

This is the power God allows us to have. 

We can say no to God.  

With generosity and love, God offers bounty and blessings, but God will never force us to accept what is best for us.   

Instead, we can turn away from God and refuse to recognize His presence.

            

This is how much God loves us.  God offers love, forgiveness and new life over and over again.  But we have to acknowledge our need for God’s gifts and be willing to receive them. 

            

Thinking about how much the people of Nazareth missed out on, this week, we might want to ask ourselves - 

Who is the child of God in my life that I am ignoring because that person doesn’t fit my description of what God’s beloved looks like?

How could my day to day thoughts and choices be blocking God’s love and presence in my life?

How often do I walk by the miracle about to happen and keep walking because my eyes tell me that what I see is the same old thing, nothing out of the ordinary?

This week, let us remember that Jesus, from an ordinary hometown, may often enter our lives in surprisingly ordinary ways and often in ways we don’t expect.

            

And unlike the people of Nazareth, let us stand with open minds, open arms and open hearts - ready to welcome Him and all He has to offer.