Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Many of us engage in a fair amount of complaining, and sometimes for valid reasons. We frequently complain about the weather and may grumble about various things. If we're not careful, we can find ourselves constantly griping about anything and everything. This can lead to a negative mindset, where we only see problems without noticing anything else, failing to see the bigger picture, which always has some brighter aspects. Our vision becomes limited to what is wrong, absent, or inadequate.

Today's Gospel passage begins with the people murmuring (i.e. complaining) about Jesus. They saw Him as a problem. They knew His father and mother, but He claimed to be the Bread that came down from heaven, which scandalized them. They couldn't believe someone they knew so well could make such claims. Their response to Jesus was to complain. But complaining alone is rarely an adequate response.

Jesus calls for a unique response from us: to listen to and respond positively to His Father's teaching; those who do, He says, will come to Him. As followers of Jesus, we continually go to Him throughout our lives. We never fully reach Him in this life; we never fully understand Him, so we find ourselves always journeying to Him to know Him better. And wherever we are on our faith journey, the Lord continues to call us to come to Him.

Jesus proclaims that no one can come to Him without God's help. This help isn't merely passive but is an engaged, steering power in our lives, constantly drawing us to Jesus. There is a drive within us from God, an impetus that will guide us to Jesus if we are receptive to it, even in the slightest way.

Jesus refers to Himself as the "Bread that came down from heaven" and urges us to consume this Bread. This invitation is to come to Him by participating in the Eucharist and the Word. In the Old Testament, bread often symbolizes the Word of God. As it is said in the Book of Deuteronomy, "…it is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord." We require the nourishment that comes from receiving the Body and Blood of Christ – His REAL Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – AND we need the nourishment we receive from God's Word in the Sacred Scriptures.  To feed on the Word of the Lord means to reflect on it, allowing it to guide our thoughts and actions, thus enriching our souls.

By continuously coming to Jesus in the Eucharist, in His Word, in prayer, in His presence among us always, He will shape our lives; He will provide us with what we need to live the kind of life Saint Paul describes in our second reading, a life of love in which are "kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven [us] in Christ, [being] imitators of God, as beloved children, and [living] in love."