Ordinary Time

Jan 30 2025

Even Prophets Get the Blues

A favorite aunt once said to me, “We are living too long.” Her words stemmed from heart congestion that had sent her again and again to the hospital to have fluid drained from her lungs.

She was tired of it all and weary of life. She was having an Elijah moment. The prophet Elijah became weary of life. His recent work had brought on the wrath of the infamous Queen Jezebel (for the story, read 1 Kings 18:1 — 19:3), and she wanted his head. So Elijah goes out to the desert, asking God to let him die. But God still had work for him and dispatched an angel with food, drink, and a message: “Get up, eat, and move on. You’re not finished yet.” And Elijah found he had enough strength to walk for forty days to meet God on Mount Horeb. (My aunt also found she had the strength to go on.)

All of this goes to prove that God is the One in charge.

Jesus tells the Jews that his Father is in charge and that, if they listen to the Father, they will learn that he sent Jesus to bring eternal life. They think they know who Jesus is, reducing him to “the son of Joseph.” But Jesus is making it clear who he is to those murmuring and to us who might murmur: the One sent by the Father, who will raise us up on the last day, who has seen the Father, who is the bread of life.

Consider/Discuss

Have you had any “Elijah moments” lately?
Where did Elijah get his strength to go on?
Did you recognize who gave it to him?

Responding to the Word

Father, we ask you for whatever strength we need to do the work you have given us to do. Send your Spirit into our hearts to remove any bitterness, anger, or malice that has taken up residence there. Help us to be imitators of your Son, Jesus Christ.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The prophet Elijah goes into the desert, not to pray or to recommit himself to the service of the Lord, but in the hope that he will die. The office of prophet has become too heavy to bear. He sits under a broom tree, hoping to die. His prayer is not heard; his mission has not yet been completed. Instead, an angel of the Lord brings him food and drink. Then in the strength of this mysterious food and water, he walks forty days and forty nights, arriving at Horeb, the mountain of revelation. A story that begins in desperation ends with the prophet once again actively involved in God’s affairs.

The second reading opens with a plea directed to the Christians not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. They have been sealed by this Spirit, a seal that is a pledge of the fulfillment of their redemption. The author then urges the Christians to live lives of generosity of heart, compassion, tolerance, and patience. They are to forgive others as God has forgiven them, by accepting the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf. The Trinitarian theology is obvious. As imitators of God, and after the example of Christ, they have been called to live according to the Spirit.

The exchange between Jesus and his opponents was meant to enhance the status of one member of the exchange as it diminished the status of the other. In a clever turn of phrase, Jesus declares that only those drawn by God will be drawn to the one who was sent by God. If one does not come to him, it is probably a sign that person was never called by God. This argument ends with a declaration of Jesus’ ultimate authority and power. Not only is he the one who came down from heaven, but he is the one who will raise people up from the dead, for whoever believes this has eternal life.

Jan 30 2025

What Are You Eating?

Israel’s complaining can sound childish to us. Did the people really think that the God who brought them out of Egypt with such great signs and wonders was going to let them die? But God responds graciously to their complaints with a diet of manna in the morning and quail at suppertime. Scholars say the manna (the word means “What-is-this?”) was an excretion of desert insects, a kind of “bug juice.” Whatever it was, it came faithfully until Israel entered the Promised Land. Israel had to learn to trust God and eat what was put before them.

The Letter to the Ephesians speaks of “learning Christ,” learning the truth that is in Jesus, indeed, that is Jesus. Learning Christ calls for a different way of living, being made new “in the spirit of your minds,” and “putting on a new self.” We are talking about a different perspective on life. To learn Christ is to accept him as the one sent by the Father, the one who feeds our deepest hunger for the wisdom that brings life to our world. It’s another way of eating what is set before us.

John’s Gospel calls us to absorb into our minds and hearts the wisdom of the signs Jesus offers the people. While they focused on the surface event—Jesus providing bread to eat—Jesus calls them to “work for the food that endures for eternal life.” Jesus is that food. Jesus, who embodies God’s wisdom, is the bread come down from heaven. Are we eating what he sets before us?

Consider/Discuss

Do you give much thought to what you are feeding your mind? Your spirit?
What is the wisdom that Jesus brings to our lives?

Reflecting on the Word

Jesus, you are the bread that comes from heaven to give life to our world. You invite us to eat at the table of your wisdom, that we might grow into the maturity that marks us as true children of the Father, healthy in mind, heart, and spirit. We thank you.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The Israelites’ murmuring in the wilderness highlights more than their discouragement in the face of hunger. Their very real need for food put their faith in God to the test. The entire Israelite community grumbled to Moses and Aaron. Although it is God’s leadership that is being challenged, it is God’s appointed leaders who are being blamed. It is not the complaint itself but its content that is disturbing. The people prefer their former situation of oppression in Egypt with food, rather than their present freedom without food. God hears their rebellious grumbling and responds, not with punishment, but with provisions. Once again God’s divine power and mercy are demonstrated.

The admonition that Paul gives to the Ephesians is a wisdom teaching in which contrasts are drawn in an uncompromising manner. There are only two ways of living: the way of the wise or righteous, and the way of the foolish or wicked. Paul contrasts the life the Ephesians lived before their conversion with the one to which they have now committed themselves. This new life demands a radical change. However, this is not out of the reach of the Ephesians. They must further choose the path they will follow. Will it be the way of futility, or will they be recreated in God’s own righteousness and holiness?

Jesus’ discourse on the bread of life is actually a response to the challenge from the people who demand a sign that will verify his authority. Knowing that the crowds followed him for food, Jesus makes this an opportunity to teach them about food that would endure. Just as God gave their ancestors manna from heaven, so God gives them the true bread from heaven, the bread that gives life to the world. Through careful explanation, Jesus has led them away from a superficial search for physical satisfaction to a desire for the deeper things of God. More than that, he has prepared them for his self-proclamation: I am the bread of life.

Jan 30 2025

Looking More Deeply

Each Gospel presents this event with its own unique details. Philip and Andrew play a special role in John’s account. Each looks at the same situation, but their focus differs. Philip sees the immensity of the crowd and the impossibility of feeding so many, but Andrew spies a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, and senses another possibility. So much depends on where you direct your gaze.

The first half of John’s Gospel is called the Book of Signs (John 1:19 — 12:50), recording a series of events, beginning with the miracle at the marriage feast at Cana, that reveal God at work in Jesus. This feeding is the fourth sign, serving to remind us that the God who once fed Israel with manna in the desert is now feeding people through Jesus. But not only food for the body is involved here.

However, earthly food is what captures the crowd, leading them to recognize Jesus as the prophet Moses predicted, then to acclaim him as king (Messiah)— the long-awaited leader who would bring them freedom. Jesus flees from the crowd and this understanding of who he is.

This fourth “sign” continues to speak to us. It signals God’s desire both to nourish us and to satisfy the deepest hungers of the heart. Also, it reminds us that Jesus continues to work with what is at hand, even when neither the quality nor quantity seem adequate. Finally, this event will lead to a deeper appreciation of who Jesus is and why he came.

Consider/Discuss

Do you tend to see problems (Philip) or possibilities (Andrew)?
What are some of the ways God feeds you?

Responding to the Word

Nourishing God, you continue to feed us, often in surprising and unexpected ways. Help us to be attentive to our true hungers and to turn to you for the bread that will satisfy them. May we also recognize the hungers of our world and respond to them in the spirit of Jesus.