The WORD in other words (2013) by Fr Dante Barril SVD – Rome, Italy
Monday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
In the first reading (Year 1, Numbers 11,4-15), we read that the Israelites, were complaining again. This is not the first time nor the last. They like to whine about something like babies who did not get their favorite candies.
Remember that after they crossed the Red Sea and witness awesome power of God they grumbled that they had nothing to eat. So God gave them manna. When Moses was delayed in coming back from Mount Sinai, they complained that they had no God and so they made the golden calf. Later on they would whine about water and how they are dying of thirst and so at Mariah water came out from a rock.
“This is a stiff necked people,” God would say over and over again. Stiff necked and thick faced. Yet if there is one good thing that we can pick up from the story Israel, it is that through it all, God did not turn his back on them. True, every now and then, God would be very angry and would punish them but never ever totally abandoned them.
In the Gospel we hear of God’s response to his people complaining and longing. In the past he gave manna, water, land etc. but they always failed to satisfy… they were never enough. So, he gave us all that he has, his only begotten Son, the Bread of Life, the living stream guaranteed to shut us all up, satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst.
It is interesting to note that the “crowds” who were following Jesus never murmured or complained about being hungry or thirsty or tired. People who are in love would always say that lose track of time and forget about food and water and all bodily needs whenever they are with their beloved. There is just something about the person whom we love that can make us say, “Bahala na kung saging basta labing.” (No matter what goes, as long as we love one another.)
The “crowds” felt in love, they must have heard and saw something that made them ignore their empty stomach and aching muscles. And it must be the same thing that Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus) when Jesus visited their house that made her sat at his feet and forget about food, water and work. Mary Just wanted to be near Jesus. The crowd just wanted to be near Jesus. The crowd just wanted to be near Jesus. A song I love says: “There is no greater joy, Lord, than being with you.
Being near the Lord is salvation. When you are saved, you are fed, body and soul. People who are truly close to God are taken care of by God. He feeds the birds, no reason why would not feed you. He does not promise condos, or SUVs or trips abroad but our daily bread.
In the Gospel, the crowd followed Jesus and listened to him and in the end they were fed. Oh we are so worried about so many things… we might as well sing the song: “When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?
