Bread from heaven

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 5, 2018

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15            Manna and Quail in the desert

Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54        You gave them bread from heaven

Ephesians 4:17-20-24           Put away the old self

John 6:24-35                          The quest for the true bread

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080518.cfm

The multiplication of the loaves and fishes has occurred, and the Bread of Life discourse is yet to begin. Jesus has left the area for Capernaum, but the crowds followed him there.

An initial exchange between Jesus and voices in the crowd prompt him to claim that they are more interested in the food than the meaning—the sign—of the event. In response, they request a sign, that they may believe. They cite the precedent of Moses: “Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus points out that it was not Moses, but God who provided the bread, but his Father, who “gives you the true bread from heaven.”