We Are in the Capernaum Crowd If…

Rev. Marcel Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Church, Baton Rouge, LA

August 2, 2015

After Jesus had fed the five thousand people to their satisfaction, they wanted to stick around him for a longer period of time. In fact, they planned to “carry Jesus off to make him their king.” But the Lord was not interested in earthly praise and kingship. So, he withdrew to the mountain. Jesus was aware that what moved them to want to crown him their king wasn't their religious conviction. It wasn’t because they had fallen in genuine love with him. It wasn’t because they had accepted him as their messiah. It was their belly needs that moved them. After the miracle of five loaves and two fish, their bellies were full, and they wanted more, not more of Jesus, but more of what he could give—material blessings. So, the next time their bellies demanded for food, they started looking for Jesus and his disciples. Previously, they were so full that they didn’t even know when Jesus slipped away from their midst. But when belly duty called, they started searching for their “belly filler.”  They got into boats and came to the town of Capernaum looking for Jesus. On finding him, they exclaimed, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (John 6:25) Jesus did not waste time to tell them why they were actually looking for him: “Amen, amen I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal” (John 6:26-27). Surprisingly they asked Jesus for another sign before they could believe: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?” (John 6:30) In actuality they did not need any further sign before they could believe because Jesus had already demonstrated that when he multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish to feed them. But of course, they were not interested in Jesus per se, they were after food. And they proved it when they said: “What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus quickly reminded them that it wasn't Moses who supplied bread to their ancestors but his Father. He also taught them that the true bread, the bread of God is the one who came down from heaven. That bread, he emphasized, gives life to the world. Hearing Jesus make mention of bread finally triggered them to bluntly say: “Sir, give us this bread always” (John 6: 34). I am sure Jesus disappointed a good number of them when he said in reply: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35).

It is quite easy for those of us reading this Gospel (John 6:24-35) to harshly judge the Jewish folks of Jesus’ time. From where we stand today, it is easy to say, “Man, how did they miss that? How is it that the multiplication of five loaves of bread and two fish was not enough to make them genuine seekers of Jesus?” But we may not be different from the crowds who went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. Some of us have been regular churchgoers for years without anything to show for it spiritually. Some of us search for Jesus for the wrong reasons. The crowds in the gospel were moved by hunger to go in search of Jesus, which means that they placed more priority on what He could give them rather than on Jesus himself. Their chief concern was purely material. Do not think we cannot fall into the same category. 

If we come to church just to be blessed, but not to bless God and others, then we are in that crowd. If we come to church to be healed, yet, refuse to be healers, we are in that crowd. If we come to church to be delivered and set free and not deliver and set free others we have held captive, we are in that Capernaum crowd. If we come to church to be fed by the word of God, but not to feed others with the same word, we are in that crowd. If we can never miss coming to church when we have fellowship meal, but wouldn't mind staying at home on other Sunday, then we are in that Capernaum crowd. If we come to church to have our tears wiped away but never bothered to wipe the tears of another, we are a member of the Capernaum crowd. If we have been coming to church for years, still all the bad and sinful habits of old are still winning and dinning with us, and we are not making any serious effort to put them out of the house of our life, we are a member of the Capernaum crowd. If we come to church to be forgiven but would not forgive our offenders, we are in that crowd. If we talk about others but don’t talk to them, we are in that crowd. If we come to church just to avoid conscience attack, we are among the Capernaum crowd. If the reason we search for the Lord is more material than spiritual, then we are in the crowd that went to Capernaum. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life…” This bread heals, saves, and quenches our thirst and hunger. But it can only heal us when we become healers. It can only save us when we become co-redeemers; it can only quench our thirsts and hunger when we reach out to quench the thirst and hunger of others. It is in healing others that we too are healed. We become whole by seeking the wholeness of others. We become what we sincerely desire for others. It’s only in the service of the Lord and humanity that we discover and find ourselves.