From The Pastor's Desk….

August 3, 2003

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Are you a grumbler?  Do you know any grumblers?  A grumbler is someone who can always find fault with anything or anyone.  When the day breaks with a cool breeze, a grumbler complains about it being too cold.  When the day dawns in bright sunlight and warm, a grumbler complains that it is too hot.  The tendency after awhile is to begin to tune these people out and not pay attention to their grumbling.

How different God is!  He always listens --- even to the grumblers!  We have an example of this in our first reading for this Sunday, the 18th in Ordinary Time, from the Old Testament Book of Exodus.  God says to Moses:  "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites…" (Exodus 16: 2-15)    God satisfies their physical hunger by sending them bread from heaven.

As bad as physical hunger can be, there is another type of hunger that needs to be satisfied in our world today --- spiritual hunger.  People want to find purpose and meaning in their lives.  God also wants to alleviate this hunger as well.  That's why he sent His Son, Jesus, into our world.  In today's Gospel, Jesus proclaims: "I am the bread of life…"  (John 6:24-35)  Some people in our world today try to satisfy this spiritual hunger unsuccessfully by joining self-realization fellowships.  When we accept Jesus' leadership in our lives, then He shows us the true way to happiness: putting away our "old" selves with our faults and bad habits and putting on a "new" self that is created in God's way.  (See our second reading - Ephesians 4:20-24.)  Some say that you are what you eat.  Jesus challenges us to be transformed into Him by letting Him be our bread of life.

Sincerely yours,

Fr. Ray Tintle, OFM
Pastor