Missing the “Wow!”
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Exodus 16:2–4, 12–15 / Psalm 78:24b / Ephesians 4:17, 20–24 / John 6:24–35
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Reflecting on the Word
By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger
I thought about the chocolate bar that I had eaten for lunch. I plodded along, thinking of the mountain we’d just climbed, but even more of my sleeping bag. I stared down at the path. Suddenly the young woman in front of me stopped. I almost ran into her. The person behind me bumped my shoulder before she stopped. I looked up. There, standing six feet in front of us in this Maine wilderness, was the largest moose I have ever seen.
Today I feel as though I am staring at a well-worn path, too. There is an occupational hazard in writing many reflections and studying the same scriptures over and over again. What are the perils? I begin to skim. I think of “mining” the word of God for “the lesson.” I think about pontificating about “those (other) folks” who dwell in the futility of their minds as I dissect Paul’s thought system.
Some of the Israelites in the first reading may have analyzed the biomass of the desert. They scrutinized their path. They correctly concluded that there was not enough forage there to support them. Their whole community was going to die of starvation.
Folks scrambled off to find Jesus. Their brains were racing: “What might we do with a man who can feed five thousand people? Many are starving in Israel.” Like me, they were staring at their path, thinking about their chocolate bar and their sleeping bag.
Jesus is like that moose in our midst. He stops us in our tracks. He says to us, “Hey! Look up! I am the Bread of Life! I am here!” God sent the Israelites manna from heaven to say, “Look up! I am here!”
The moose lumbered off. We trudged back to camp. But that startled “wow!” has never left me.
Consider/Discuss
- Sometimes we trudge along the well-worn path of religious practice, staring at the ground. We may figure that we’ve pretty much “got this.” When we are plodding along, thinking about the “how” and the “what,” how might we miss the Who, the “wow!” of the One who is our faith?
- The passage just before today’s reading from John is the story of Jesus walking on the water. Are we trudging down the weary path of life absorbed in our own thoughts? How can we allow the Holy Spirit to help us “look up!” to walk on water?
Living and Praying with the Word
In love’s deepest longings, we don’t just want to know about someone, we want to know them. Remind us that St. Paul encourages us to “Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” So, Lord of heaven, this day, we want to see you. Step onto the mundane path that we trudge and surprise us! Step into our way and say, “Hey, here I am!” Open our eyes to see you.