Bread from Heaven (18th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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One of the most amazing things about this story is how quickly Israel appears to forget about the God’s miraculous providence. It was not that long ago that they witnessed God bring about the ten plagues, and then parted the Red Sea to let them escape from Egypt. Yet here we see them complain as though the previous miracles hadn’t happened, and they no longer believed that God could provide for them.

What is more, they even express a desire to return to Egypt, and accuse Moses and Aaron (and indirectly, God) of bringing them out of Egypt just to kill them with starvation. It seems as if they actually preferred slavery over the (seemingly) uncertain future that was ahead of them! This fickleness on the part of Israel shows that even among God’s people, there is bound to be doubt and unbelief.

And yet, God still chooses to work with and through such people. Although God would have been more than justified to simply strike the Israelites dead right there and then, He instead chooses to condescend to them by providing them with what they desire. He gives them manna, which is elsewhere described as the food of angels (Psalm 78:25, Wisdom 16:20).

Thus, they were sustained for forty years with sustenance that came directly from Heaven, which served as a constant reminder to them that their lives were in God’s hands at all times, and that they were to trust in Him. The Catechism eloquently explains it in these words: “The remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the Word of God; their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God’s faithfulness to his promises” (CCC 1334).

This heavenly provision later on becomes a foreshadowing of Jesus providing Himself as the Bread of Life. As the Catechism tells us, “[The] manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, ‘the true bread from heaven.’” (CCC 1094). We see Jesus Himself making this connection in our Gospel reading (John 6:24-35). He teaches us that whereas the manna only sustained physical life, He would sustain spiritually by providing eternal life.

We receive Him as the bread of life every Sunday in the Eucharist. However, in order for this to benefit us, we must receive Him by faith, and not doubt God the way Israel did in the wilderness, lest we risk being struck down like they were in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:5).

J. Luis Dizon