August 5, 2018 — Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time
EX 16: 2-4, 12-15; PS 78: 3-4, 23-25, 54; EPH 4: 17, 20-24; JN 6: 24-35
In the Gospel from John, Jesus advises us, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” By calling Himself the Bread of Life, Jesus is telling us by what He says, how He acts, and in fact Who He is that He is the Word of God made flesh.
God reveals to us the Word alive in the most complete way possible, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to hear the Word and know Who Jesus is; we are to accept that Word into our minds and hearts — into our spirit — and we are to let that Word begin to change us.
That change is represented by knowing what God wants us to do. Today’s Holy Scriptures make that clear. We must pray that we respond and do be good stewards of our time, talent, and treasure so that we can do the work God wants us to do. In the Second Reading, Paul reminds us that we need to undergo a conversion — in effect put on a new self. Our entire lives need to be devoted to change, so that we renew ourselves from the inside and live a stewardship way of life according to God’s ways.
Charles Spurgeon, an English minister in the 1800s once wrote, “Conversion is a turning onto the right road. The next thing to do is to walk on it.” That is our trial. Once we experience conversion, we must follow through by doing what the Lord wishes us to do.
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