18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Whenever we embark on a journey, we need directions or we are likely to venture off course and get lost. Apps like Mapquest come in handy for those who are tech savvy. Until smartphones came along, we depended on maps and if we didn’t have one, we often stopped and asked for directions.

Life is much like taking a trip. For some, life has been very satisfying, for others not so. Some people just ramble through life day be day, oblivious of any ultimate destination, while others plan life down to the last detail, mindful of where they are going and where they intend to be. Think of the Olympic athletes. None of them would have made it to Tokyo had they not planned out their trip well.

A successful high school teacher once commented, “There is nothing more beautiful than watching young people preparing to go off to college to begin an exciting new life. And that’s the way it should be. It’s an exciting time for them. The world is out there, just waiting for them to enjoy everything it has to offer.

“But the day will come when these same young people will discover that what the world has to offer will leave them more hungry and more thirsty than they were before. The day will come when they will discover the truth of Jesus’ words, ‘Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.’”

That teacher was right. What motivated me along the way in making the significant decisions of my life was the quest for happiness and satisfaction. Quite likely, they were your motivations as well but have we found the lasting satisfaction that makes life so meaningful? Are we happy with what God has given us?

The Declaration of Independence proclaims we have the right to pursue happiness but the founding fathers did not provide the blueprint for finding happiness. We presume happiness will be ours when we pursue the American dream, which for many people is symbolized by wealth and good health. Many graduates leave school bent on that pursuit but do they find lasting happiness in the process? The happiness many experience may be as fleeting as a breeze on a humid summer evening, enough to provide a moment’s relief but nothing lasting. In spite of their material success, some are left feeling dissatisfied.

The passages from Exodus and John suggest that humans have always struggled with dissatisfaction. Forgetting how miserable they had been in Egypt, the Israelites bemoan their plight in the desert. “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we ate our fill of bread. But Moses, you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!”

In the gospel, Jesus observes that in spite of having been fed with their fill of loaves, the crowd was not yet satisfied. They came to Capernaum looking for him. To remedy their emptiness, Jesus offers them the assurance that lasting happiness can be found in him. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Such reassuring words! To celebrate that truth, Catholics have gathered countless times to celebrate Eucharist, a sacramental moment of thanksgiving wherein we partake of bread and wine that have become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ himself. The Catechism teaches that the Eucharist keeps us moving in the right direction by separating us from sin, those acts that draw us away from God and lasting happiness.

Should life seem empty for you at the moment, Paul provides a useful prescription. He is urging us to lay aside the old self of our former way of life, corrupted by deceitful desires, and acquire a fresh spiritual way of thinking. We can do this by putting “on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

Does what you value guide you toward God’s kingdom? At times we bypass Paul’s advice. After all, ridding ourselves of our self-centeredness isn’t an easy thing to do. Yet as Paul notes, if we are to acquire a fresh spiritual way of thinking, we cannot be both pagan and Christian. Otherwise, we could find ourselves becoming less Christian in our way of thinking, judging, and acting since we live in a society that is saturated with non-Christian values.

To be truly Christian being with Christ must be our ultimate goal in life. “Have faith in me,” Jesus tells us. Like tourists on a vacation, we are often tempted to veer off course with countless daily distractions and temptations yet the direction for getting to lasting happiness is simple. That route is daily prayer. Be renewed in Christ each day through prayer and you are likely to remain on course in your pursuit of lasting happiness, namely the kingdom of heaven.

Soon we will share the Bread of Life and as we do, let’s ask for the grace never to forget the great truth that Jesus teaches in today’s gospel. May God give us the wisdom to live lives grounded in this food, the Bread of Life that endures beyond the fleeting and the perishable, and feeds us for our lifelong journey to the dwelling place of God.