Gospel Reflection for Sunday August 4th 2024 – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Fr Brian Maher OMI

Gospel Reflection for Sunday August 4th 2024, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time | John 6:24–35

A danger I have become aware of when writing these reflections is the danger of giving trite or clichéd answers to questions and issues which are complex and nuanced. Another danger is imagining that the Gospels have the answer to every question of the Universe, and therefore putting words of ideas in the mouth of Jesus that very likely were never there at all.

We forget sometimes that his own followers and close friends misunderstood him or misinterpreted what he said. Thomas doubted, Peter denied, Judas betrayed and at one time his own family wondered about his sanity. If this is true of those who walked with him, talked with him, listened to him teach on a daily basis, then why should we imagine that we understand the mind of Jesus in any kind of comprehensive way. The more I read the Gospels and reflect on them the more I come to realise how little I know about Jesus.

These rather gloomy thoughts came to me as I read this week’s Gospel. To pretend to know what Jesus meant when he referred to himself as “the bread of life” or “the bread that comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.” risks, I think, belittling the mystery of the Incarnation or the mystery of the Eucharist (if that is what we think John is referring to).

When read I the Gospel first I was tempted to latch on to, “…Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life…” and talk about the many false things in life we hunger for – possessions, power, success, wealth, prestige, fame, reputation, etc. – and point to Jesus and the Gospels as giving us the answers to all we truly need. While that sounds good and convincing, isn’t it just a little too ‘easy’! I mean, what is so wrong with possessions, power, success, wealth, prestige, fame, reputation, etc. if they are properly used in the service of others? Anyway, if Jesus and the Gospels do give us the answers to all we truly need, then surely in the last two thousand years the many Churches and traditions within Christianity would have done a better job of building Gospel values into society. But that has never happened.

I thought about continuing from last week’s reflection with a further look at the “bread of Heaven…” being the Eucharist, maybe teasing out how the Eucharist can affect our daily lives. But somehow that did not seem to me what this Gospel is about.

And then, almost by accident, I came across the verse, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” and suddenly a whole new vista opened up to me.

That statement stands out in this Gospel because its meaning is wonderfully simple and clear. There are no layers of meaning to unravel, no symbols or metaphors to interpret, just the single, unambiguous statement that “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

G.K. Chesterton famously said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” What if Chesterton was partly wrong in what he said? What if that statement should read, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found too easy; and left untried!”?

“Impossible!…”, you say, “…the Cross is very real and Gospel values are incredibly difficult to live.” That is correct and all of us who try to live as Christians experience it every day. But suppose that trying to live Gospel values misses a previous step – a step which is vital in our Christian journey? And suppose that that vital first step is present in this week’s Gospel, staring us in the face…… “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”?

Every single thing we try to do as Christians brings us back to the person of Jesus Christ. Before we can live as Christians; before we can embrace the crosses of life as Christians; before we can experience the deep joy of the Resurrection, present even in grief and sadness, we must first come to believe in the one (Jesus Christ) sent to us by God. The first vital, crucial, essential first step in Christianity is to encounter (meet, converse with) Jesus.

When we try to live Gospel values without this first step we are making of Christianity just another nice ideology – like the ideologies of Marx, Mao Zedong, Lenin or Adam Smith. All of these ideologies propose a way of governing and a set of values which benefit everyone in society. If we make of Christianity just another lovely ideology, then we miss the whole point of Christianity.

Jesus was not offering a new political system, or a new morality for society. The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is not his ‘manifesto’. Christianity without first meeting the person of Jesus is doomed to futility and disappointment.

But Christianity with “belief in the one sent by God” is utterly different. Christianity with belief in the one sent by God means that we are not alone. Jesus, Risen from the Dead, is with us. What he brought was not an ideology or new moral code; what he brought was himself, the Messiah, the one chosen by God to show us ‘the Kingdom of God’ – nothing less than that!

Could it actually be as simple as that? Could that single sentence in this Gospel be the beginning, middle and end of it. “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

When things are too easy we tend to reject them. Parents who give their children everything they ask for, will find their children grow up without an appreciation or respect for what they have. Give something away for nothing and it will not be respected, but make it just a little bit more difficult by asking for something in return and there will be a far greater appreciation for what is given.

When Pope Francis said, “Ours is not a joy which comes from having many possessions, but it comes from having encountered a Person, Jesus.” was he pointing to a joy so deep and so simple that it is just ‘too good to be true’ and we reject it?

When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are overburdened, and I will give you rest…” he was offering rest, peace and happiness with only one condition – that we “come to him”. Is it that simple? Surely not…yet it’s what he said.

When Jesus visited the sisters Martha and Mary, Martha who had worked hard to welcome Jesus to her home complained that her sister, Mary, simply sat at his feet and listened to him. Jesus’ reply to Martha’s complaint is telling: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42

Is that all that is needed – to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him? Surely not! There must be more to it than that? Yet that is what he said.

The more I think about it, the more examples I find of Jesus calling us to come to him, to meet him, to believe in him, as the first essential step to following him.

So why have we missed this, so simple, call to meet Jesus? Maybe it is too easy and we don’t bother trying it; Maybe it costs nothing and we don’t appreciate its value or importance; or maybe it is too good to be true, and we simply reject it?

There is, of course, one very important point to make before finishing. We are called to meet Jesus, to encounter him. We are not called to BE Jesus, and this is a major stumbling block for many of us.

What God wanted from Jesus is not the same as God wants from us, and unfortunately, we often confuse them. God called Jesus to be the ‘Messiah’ – the anointed one who would bring the Kingdom of God to Earth. God did not call me or you to be the Messiah. There is only one Messiah – Jesus.

I have never subscribed to the idea of telling people (like school children) to ask the question, “What would Jesus do (WWJD)….” in any situation in which they find themselves. The inference is that we can, or must, do the same as Jesus …and we can’t!!

Much more serious is this; The harder we try to be Jesus the more we will feel failures and unworthy and guilty.

We ask too much from ourselves – and others – if we try to be Jesus We set the bar too high for ourselves – and others – if we imagine we can be Jesus.

Too many people feel they can never come to know the person of Jesus because they have built a huge, false wall of guilt and unworthiness that makes it impossible.

WE don’t have to BE Jesus to know him!

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” It is just so wonderfully simple.

Why not try it? To begin to meet Jesus read the Gospels (not all at once – little by little!). Think about the person of Jesus you see in each story you read (use your imagination. It’s God’s gift too!). Talk to him quietly and gently. Ask him about the scene you’ve read. Be yourself with Jesus. He knows you, loves you, wants only to be your friend if you let him. Talking to God is ‘prayer’. You don’t have to ‘say prayers’ in order to pray. Just talking is enough sometimes. If you can, find someone else to chat with about what you read, what you pray, what you learn about Jesus as you watch him in the Gospels.

Don’t read the Gospels to ‘learn’ about Jesus – there are no examinations to pass. Just read the Gospels to meet him.

We stress too much about Church, issues, rules, laws, problems, behaviours. Remember what Jesus said to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing…” and that is “…to believe in the one he has sent.”

We need to learn to relax in God’s presence…We speak to God only because God first wants to speak with us!

And now for the conclusion, and the best part of all.

IF we want to come to know Jesus, to meet him in the Gospels then … it will happen.

Why? Because it is what God wants too. We have to do very little except want to believe in the one sent by God.  God will do the rest.

It’s too simple!

It’s too good to be true!

…But it is true…..

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Many thanks,

Brian.

If you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection, please feel welcome to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie