Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The assigned readings are Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; and John 6:24-35. The  Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 78 (Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54).

For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:

YouTube: Psalm 78 The Lord Gave them Bread from Heaven

The Gospel reading is as follows:

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered them and said, “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.”

So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’?”

So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Reflections on these readings:

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 5, 2012)

Msgr. Charles Pope: You may have all this world, Just give me Jesus. A Sermon for the 18th Sunday of the Year (4 AUG 12)

A Concord Pastor Comments: Hungry? (5 AUG 12)

Dr. Scott Hahn: Endurance Test (August 5th, 2012 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

The Word Encountered: The Bread of Labor (Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time B)

Dominican Daily: Word to Life: Sirius XM: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (4 AUG 12)