Today's readings portray God as our ultimate provider and sustainer of both our physical and spiritual lives. In Exodus, God feeds the people of Israel with quail and manna. The psalmist urges God's people to remember the many occasions of God's faithful provision. Paul reminds his community that they must put away their old way of life and be renewed in Christ. In anticipation of his eucharistic gift of himself, Jesus declares that he is the bread of life.

First Reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Today's reading recounts one of the many instances of the people's murmuring during the time of the exodus as the Israelites demand that God live up to the divine demands of covenant partnership. As their God , Yahweh must demonstrate that he can provide and protect them as a household leader or father was required to do.

As their wilderness trip becomes more extended. the Israelites long for the meat and bread they ate in Egypt. God responds by providing for them both flesh and bread, but on God's own terms, one day at a time. Thus God provided for them but at the same time tested their faith.

God acts, saying: "You shall know that I am the Lord your God." This statement of recognition occurs in the priestly writings (Exodus 7:5), in Isaiah (45:3, 6) and in Ezekiel (7:27, 11:10). God's actions disclose, to believer and unbeliever alike, the Lord of our world and life. God provides from nature's bounty for the Israelites, reliably supplying the needs of an unreliable people.
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
The whole congregation of the Israelites
complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
The Israelites said to them,
"If only we had died
by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt,
when we sat by the fleshpots
and ate our fill of bread;
for you have brought us out into this wilderness
to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
Then the LORD said to Moses,
"I am going to rain bread from heaven for you,
and each day the people shall go out
and gather enough for that day.
In that way I will test them,
whether they will follow my instruction or not.
Then Moses said to Aaron,
"Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites,
'Draw near to the LORD,
for he has heard your complaining.' "
And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites,
they looked toward the wilderness,
and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
The LORD spoke to Moses and said,
"I have heard the complaining of the Israelites;
say to them,
'At twilight you shall eat meat,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread;
then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.' "
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp;
and in the morning
there was a layer of dew around the camp.
When the layer of dew lifted,
there on the surface of the wilderness
was a fine flaky substance,
as fine as frost on the ground.
When the Israelites saw it,
they said to one another, "What is it?"
For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them,
"It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 78:1-29
This psalm is a long recital of the story of Israel's relationship with God. After the introduction (vv. 1-11), the psalmist recounts the wilderness experience (vv. 12-39) and the journey from Egypt to the land. The pattern of history involves God's gracious action (vv. 12-16), the people's rebellion (vv. 17-20), God's punishment (21-31) and forgiveness (vv.32-39). It encourages the audience to learn the lessons from their history and respond more appropriately to God's choice of them as covenant partners.
Psalm 78:1-29
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
He established a decree in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
The Ephraimites, armed with the bow
turned back on the day of battle.
They did not keep God's covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
They forgot what he had done,
and the miracles that he had shown them.
In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all night long with a fiery light.
He split rocks open in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
Even though he struck the rock
so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,
or provide meat for his people?"
Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of rage;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
his anger mounted against Israel,
because they had no faith in God,
and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven;
he rained down on them manna to eat,
and gave them the grain of heaven.
Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
he rained flesh upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
he let them fall within their camp,
all around their dwellings.
And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-25
This reading continues the ethical exhortations from last week. It examines the basis for the new life of the Gentile converts, contrasting it with their former lives. Their new life is not a result of their own discoveries and efforts but originates from God. It is the new life God recreates, through Jesus, in the Christian.

The passage is very similar to Colossians 3:1-17 and may have been drawn from the pre-baptismal instruction of the early Church that led to the renunciation of the "former way of life" and through baptism, as illustrated by putting off one's clothes and putting on white baptismal robes. The convert is thus part of the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) of the body of Christ, which includes both Jews and Gentiles. He or she is "created according to the likeness of God" (v. 24) exhibiting right relationships and holiness, which are distinctively divine characteristics. And this incorporation into Christ will always demand specific behavioral consequences.
Ephesians 4:1-25
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord,
beg you to lead a life
worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in all.
But each of us was given grace
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it is said,
"When he ascended on high
he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people."
(When it says, "He ascended,"
what does it mean
but that he had also descended I
into the lower parts of the earth?
He who descended is the same one who ascended
far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
until all of us come to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
We must no longer be children,
tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine,
by people's trickery,
by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
But speaking the truth in love,
we must grow up in every way into him
who is the head, into Christ,
from whom the whole body,
joined and knit together
by every ligament with which it is equipped,
as each part is working properly,
promotes the body's growth
in building itself up in love.
Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord:
you must no longer live as the Gentiles live,
in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding,
alienated from the life of God
because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.
They have lost all sensitivity
and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness,
greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
That is not the way you learned Christ!
For surely you have heard about him
and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus.
You were taught to put away your former way of life,
your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts,
and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to clothe yourselves with the new self,
created according to the likeness of God
in true righteousness and holiness.
So then, putting away falsehood,
let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors,
for we are members of one another.

Gospel: John 6:24-35
Today's passage is the preface to the bread of life discourse. It illustrates John's favorite ways of shaping a dialogue. One is the use of misunderstanding; another is that a question asked on one level is answered on a higher level. Set in the synagogue at Capernaum (6:59), this discourse relies on concepts and structures common to rabbinic sermons at the time.

The crowd addresses Jesus as "Rabbi" or teacher, often the first title of respect given to Jesus by strangers (1:38, 3:2). The crowd's factual question: "When did you come here?" is answered theologically in terms of Jesus' origin (7:28-29). Jesus here identifies himself as "Son of Man...from heaven" (vv. 27, 33).

Jesus charges the crowd with having responded only to the material meaning of the feeding, not to its spiritual significance. They answer by picking up the theme of works, asking what the works are that God desires them to do (3:21). The reply is that there is only one work that God desires to accomplish in them, obedient trust in Jesus. This is John's contribution to the faith/works issue: faith is itself a work, the acceptance of God's work in Jesus.

The crowd requests a sign from him to validate his teaching so that they may "believe" (rather than "believe in") him. They challenge the prophet-like-Moses (6:14; Deuteronomy 18:15) to produce manna. Jesus answers that their desire has already been fulfilled. Bread was, in rabbinic writings, a symbol of the Torah given to Moses. Jesus' teaching is the bread they should crave. The bread God gives in the present is "that which comes down from heaven" (v. 33), the revelation of God made personal in the incarnation of Jesus.
Verse 35 is the first of the many "I am" statements in the Gospel of John. Jesus uses the "I am" statements (bread of life, 6:35; light of the world, 8:12; door, 10:7; good shepherd, 10:11; resurrection and life, 11:25; way, truth and life, 14:6; true vine, 15:1) to reveal the dimensions of his relationship to humankind.
John 6:24-35
So when the crowd saw
that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into the boats
and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea,
they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you come here?"
Jesus answered them,
"Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me,
not because you saw signs,
but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Do not work for the food that perishes,
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."
Then they said to him,
"What must we do to perform the works of God?"
Jesus answered them,
"This is the work of God,
that you believe in him whom he has sent."
So they said to him,
"What sign are you going to give us then,
so that we may see it and believe you?
What work are you performing?
Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness;
as it is written,
'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
Then Jesus said to them,
"Very truly, I tell you,
it was not Moses
who gave you the bread from heaven,
but it is my Father
who gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God
is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world."
They said to him,
"Sir, give us this bread always."
Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Reflection and Response
Psalm 78 describes one purpose of religious education: to declare "things that we have heard and known," to "tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has wrought." The Judeo-Christian religion is historical, based upon God's saving acts, directly experienced by God's people. That God is, above all, a saving, life-preserving presence is the conviction of scripture;. Trust in God is the singular challenge of the Bible. Yet when adversity comes, we may forget all yesterday's providence in our present panic.

Despite the parting of the Red Sea and a miraculous provision of water, hunger caused the Israelites to grumble. So God rains down food in abundance: bread from heaven, a reversal of the natural order. God wanted the people to know the generosity of their God. In a miracle of even more astounding proportions, Jesus reverses the order of human nature. Just as he transforms the people's skepticism into earnest request, so he turns scarcity into abundance.

The Johannine version of the feeding of the five thousand is followed by a discourse between Jesus and the crowd. The people asked Jesus, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" The work of God in Judaism meant a practical list of deeds and duties. Jesus' answer to this question is hardly in accordance with tradition. Therefore, the people ask for a sign that they might believe such an astonishingly simple explanation of God's work. After all, they say, "Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness." Then Jesus interprets for them the spiritual meaning of the physical sign of manna.

Jesus alludes to his own life, come down from heaven, which feeds the world and preserves life forever. With no understanding, the people plead, "give us this bread always." With perhaps a degree of understanding, we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." We are not praying merely for physical necessities. We are also praying for that daily bread of divine encounter with Christ, who brings us into eternal life. Without him, we perish from hunger and thirst in the wilderness.

Quietly consider:
What is the manna that will satisfy my deep longings?

Prayer Starter
O Giver of breath and bread, fill me so that...