Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The fact is God made us never to be totally satisfied with the present, earthly state of affairs. And so, we are born grumblers. But all our grumbles express in little ways and in big ways, our impatience, our discontent with life as it unfolds, and ultimately, our longing, our craving for God. And God hears these grumbles with compassion and responds to them in love.

Every week, we gather in Christ’s name for Mass. We bring our share of grumbles, our assortment of complaints, laments, heartaches, regrets, hurts, frustrations. Some of these grumbles are about people (especially those we find difficult, both near and far away), others are about the circumstances of our lives, maybe even a few are about God and why He has allowed some things to happen and not others. St. John’s bread of life story gives us hope. We grumble… and Christ listens and respond by sending us bread from heaven with this divine assurance: your stomachs and hearts may continue to grumble but “whoever eats this bread will live with me forever.”