18. Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B John 6,24-35

We go through different stages of life: The period before birth – for which we are grateful to our mother. The period after birth, when we were dependent on our parents, we gradually became independent. We are thankful to our parents, teachers, and priests for that period. A period of independence we followed. The world, with its wealth and beauty and people, began to influence our person. This period is still going on, but it will end someday. Is there another stage to come? Lord Jesus tells us about her today.  Let’s prepare for his words with gratitude to everyone who has helped us so far and regret for the wasted moments of life.

We should live an everyday, contented life. And why not be joyful, too? After all, the Creator, our Heavenly Father, gave us this life. Why would he give it to us as painful? After all, he takes care of a person in a fatherly way. It was described plastically in the first reading, as well as in the Gospel. However, there are problems on our planet Earth. And big! We know that man has left the ways of the Creator. However, we also understand that the Creator sent his Son – the Savior – into the world. So we also have a chance to have pleasant everyday lives on Earth. It depends on the person. A few years ago, a young Czech director filmed a documentary about how old, lonely women live in the Mountain of Or lice . Grandmothers talked about their lives and often lived in solitude, far from children settled in cities. The film was a remarkable documentary about the difference in their lives. There was no difference in social conditions – each grandmother had her cottage or room, and each was waiting for a few crowns of pension.

The difference was elsewhere – in the way of life, in those conditions. Some still had something to live for; they still had something to do. They could be seen with arms of wood, with knitting, with a book in hand, kneeling in concentration in front of the tabernacle, singing fervently at mass, or with a rosary in hand, with a smile of wise old age on the threshold of the house. But there are other older women in that movie. They live in the same conditions and often in the same village, but are full of complaints. She lost her cow years ago, and no one gave her a replacement. Another says she has a long moment; why are older adults not given free TVs? She is sad. And so he sits by the window and eats himself up with envy of all those who pass by and are young and laughing merrily. They criticize, envy, and slander; that’s the whole content of their miserable life. In all three Scripture readings today, we heard that this different life content has appeared among people for several millennia. The same today as in the days of Moses, Paul, and Christ. And at all times, it is a great tragedy when a person does not find the meaning of life.

The Israelites in the desert knew that God was leading them to a new homeland, that they were going from slavery to freedom. They would rejoice that this hope would help them through the temporary difficulties of the journey and lead them to freedom. But they grumble against their leaders and God. In the first reading, we heard that the entire community of Israel grumbled in the desert against Moses and Aaron. The children of Israel said to them: “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and bread, we could have eaten our fill.” Why did you bring us out into this desert? To starve the whole community to death?” They measured their happiness by pots of meat. And how did the Ephesians live when Paul had to write to them: “Brothers, I say and testify in the Lord: Do not live as the Gentiles live, in the vanity of your thinking. Saint John also writes his reproaches to the Ephesians (in Revelation 2:3-4): You are persistent, have endured much for my name’s sake, and have not weakened. But what I have against you is that you left your first love. After the initial zeal, the Ephesians were adjusting to pagan life again. They began to seek happiness and enjoyment.

Finally, in the Gospels, Jesus says: You are not looking for me because you saw the signs, but because you ate from the loaves and were satisfied. They were looking for food, not Jesus. He said to them: “I am the bread of life.” He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.” At all times, as at the beginning of the report, the times mentioned in today’s readings, we can observe around us and in us daily, based on our own experience, that we can look for happiness but also bury it. How not to bury happiness? How do you find the meaning of life? How do you live life in joy? First, let’s consider what can bring us joy. If a person wants to be happy, three primary conditions must be met:

Fulfilled basic human needs (eating, drinking, housing…).»   Solved human issues and good relationships.  Lets discuss these three needs from the point of view of today’s word of God.

Basic Human Needs

God provided basic human needs for the Old Testament people, even in the desert. The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will send you bread from heaven as rain.” I heard the murmuring of the children of Israel. Tell them: In the evening, you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be satisfied with bread. And you will know that I am the Lord your God.” God solved their basic human needs.

In the same way, Jesus provided bread for the people in the desert. After multiplying the loaves, they asked him, “What sign will you do that we may see and believe you?” What do you do? Our fathers in the desert ate manna, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” They wanted to have the “bread question” resolved. They cried: Lord, always give us such bread.”  Jesus fed them, but He gave them more. He says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” The Creator always gives us bread through nature – see the sermon from last Sunday. It gives us the ability to provide for basic human needs. In our environment, we should have no problems with this first requirement.

Human Questions Solved

What are these questions? The realization that we are more than animals and need more than being fed! We ask: where am I from, where am I going, why am I here… We also require freedom, not servitude and slavery. That is why the Israelites escaped from Egypt. After a while, however, they resigned. The first reading pointed this out: “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt.”  The Ephesians rebuke it: Live no more as the Gentiles live, in the vanity of your mind. That’s not how you learned about Christ. At once, they were satisfied with their bodily needs.  They are called to something higher that can fulfill them: you are to put off the older man with the former way of life, which pursues deceitful desires into destruction, and renew yourself spiritually by changing your mind, putting on the new man, who is created according to God in righteousness and truth holiness.

Jesus himself reproaches his contemporaries for wanting to remain at the first stage of the search for happiness: “Truly, truly, I say to you: You are not looking for me because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” Do not seek the food that perishes, but the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  Jesus wants to solve their human questions so they can progress in their search for happiness, the true meaning of life. He said to them: “I am the bread of life.” Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Good relationships

Those were missing for the Israelites seeking freedom. The whole community of Israel grumbled in the desert against Moses and Aaron. They did not pull together at all! Ephesians: Live no longer as the Gentiles live, in the vanity of your mind. These and other words do not indicate good relationships: you should put off the older man with the previous way of life, which pursues deceitful desires into destruction, and renew yourself spiritually by changing your mindset, putting on the new man who is created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. The Gospel is all about good relationships. Even today, the event described ends with the murmuring of the Jews against the Lord Jesus.

God helped the people of the Old Testament; he helped in the Gospel. In Jesus, it is necessary to put aside the older man’s previous way of life, which chases after deceptive desires to destruction, and renew himself spiritually by transforming the mindset, putting on the new man who is created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. (2nd reading).

A Christian is a happy person who will not spoil human issues and good relationships for basic human needs. Perhaps it is necessary to realize that God is with us and understands our happiness. For those who have known the joy of God’s closeness, of living, and deep faith, it is not a problem if they have more or less in their wallet than their neighbor. He knows how to live more happily than the one who has everything but does not have God. He does not expect too much from his surroundings, so they do not disappoint him. He trusts that God will take care of his faithful ones. Not only in the Eagle Mountains. Different destinies are experienced everywhere. It depends on how satisfied we are with the basic needs of life – whether we solve them at the expense of the meaning of life and what kind of relationships we create with God and people