Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
August 1, 2021
Broadway Danny Rose is a Woody Allen film that depicts a talent agent whose struggling and hapless clients are the entertainment acts nobody wants to hire. But Danny cares for them like a family, and tries his best to find them work. In the movie’s most touching scene, he invites all of them to a Thanksgiving dinner consisting largely of TV dinners. The meal is nevertheless a celebration of love that goes beyond the meager fare.
Today’s Gospel continues our five-week selection from the sixth chapter of John, where Jesus is portrayed as the “Bread of Life.” Jesus has just fed a crowd of hungry people with a few loaves of bread and some fish, but the people misunderstand the sign, focusing only on getting something to eat. Jesus wants them to look beyond the earthly food to “the food that endures for eternal life.”
A popular Eucharistic song of some years ago urged us to “look beyond” the physical signs of bread and wine we receive at Eucharist, to our Lord and Savior who is present there. What are our expectations as we gather each week for Mass? We may find fault with the music, the homily, the behavior of the neighbor’s children, but our faith tells us that this is the place we are to be fed and healed and forgiven.
