18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
August 5, 2018
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 4:00pm and 8:00am
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 11:00am
A Couple Realizes…
Ten years ago, in 2008, one of the biggest financial frauds in history took place.
A New York stockbroker named Bernie Madoff swindled 20,000 investors out of more than $64 billion – imagine that, $64 billion! Investors found their portfolios, their retirement savings and the college funds for their children all wiped out.
Madoff is now serving a 150-year prison term in North Carolina. Many of Madoff’s investors, besides losing their money, also lost their homes and in some cases, they lost their marriages and their families.
But some of them have shown great strength and have gained a new perspective on life. And this is why I am recalling all of this today.
A New York Times article told the story of one couple. They had been enjoying a luxurious retirement but then, they lost 80% of their assets in the Madoff scheme.
They had to sell homes in New Jersey, Florida, and Vermont. They now live in a small house in a Vermont community.
This couple says that they feel lucky. They realize that what they lost has not affected their health and the love between them and with their children.
He says,“When your life gets altered overnight, you realize that you don’t have to belong to a country club or drive an expensive car. You certainly don’t have to own three separate dwelling places.”
Several years ago, they went to their old country club for a wedding reception. This made them realize that it is not just their circumstances that have changed.
They themselves have changed. She says, “That’s not who we are anymore.”
“…What Endures for Eternal Life”
This husband and wife may not realize it, but they help to illustrate what Jesus is saying in today’s gospel.
Some of the people who had experienced Jesus feeding the 5,000 – last Sunday’s gospel – some of these people are pursuing Jesus. But Jesus, in effect, says that they are only interested in him to see what else he could give them.
Jesus is not discounting the importance of food and of eating. What he is getting at is our being absorbed in things that are not of lasting value.
So, Jesus says: “Do not work for food that perishes.”Instead, “Work for food that endures for eternal life.”
Jesus wants us to focus our energy on things of long-term importance and deeper value. And then he identifies the two “things” he has in mind.
The Two “Things” That Endure
First, Jesus stresses the importance of relationships.
He says: “I am the bread of life.”His point is that the “thing” that really gives life is a person or persons and not money or comforts or possessions.
So, we need to put our energy into the persons in our lives – your husband or wife or friend, your son or daughter or parent. These relationships will have far greater value than any amount of money or material things.
We need to give priority to these relationships. What they do for us and for the others as persons will, as Jesus says, “endure for eternal life.”
And then, Jesus gets very specific about therelationship that is most important and most valuable.
He says: “Iam the bread of life; whoever comes to mewill never hunger.”In other words, the relationship with him is paramount.
Why? Because it will positively affect all of our other relationships and our entire life.
So, we need to make our relationship with Jesus central to our lives. We do this through personal prayer, through reading the Scripture, and through the Eucharist.
Jesus, his way of living and his way of relating will be both a glue and an enrichment for all of other relationships. It will “endure for eternal life.”
Conclusion
So, as we receive the Eucharist, let’s allow this Sacrament of the “bread of life” to enliven our relationship with Jesus.
And then let’s allow this relationship to move us to make a priority of the other important relationships in our lives. This, as Jesus says, will be “the food that endures for eternal life.”
