All of us can identify with the Israelites in today’s first reading from Exodus when they complain to Moses about not having enough food to eat. Everyone of knows what it is like to be hungry and we can only imagine how awful it must be to be starving. So the Israelites go to Moses and Moses to God. God hears their plight and sends them Manna from heaven, the bread that appears after the morning dew disappears.
That theme of feeding the hungry is repeated in the Gospel reading as well. Last weekend we heard how Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. Today the people go in search of Jesus. When they find Him He reminds them that they come simply because He fed them.
Both stories take on a symbolic nature. As God fed the Israelites and saved them from death, Jesus feeds them the bread of life in this Eucharist to save them from eternal death. Jesus make that clear when He talks to the people about that hunger they have for not only physical food but for food that sustains them to life eternal.
Deep within our hearts we have that same hunger, that same longing. We can try to satisfy that hunger in many ways; but the only way that truly satisfies it is God Himself. Let us bring that hunger before God today and partake in the bread of life that nourishes us into eternity.