BIBLE STUDY #104
TWENTYFIRST SUNDAY IF ORDINARY TIME
August 26, 2012
READING 1
JOSHUA 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B
Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,
summoning their elders, their leaders,
their judges, and their officers.
When they stood in ranks before God,
Joshua addressed all the people:
"If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve,
the gods your fathers served beyond the River
or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling.
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
But the people answered,
"Far be it from us to forsake the LORD
for the service of other gods.
For it was the LORD, our God,
who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt,
out of a state of slavery.
He performed those great miracles before our very eyes
and protected us along our entire journey
and among the peoples through whom we passed.
Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
EPHESIANS 5:21-32
Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the church,
he himself the savior of the body.
As the church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the church,
because we are members of his body.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 6:60-69
Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said,
"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them, "Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending
to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe."
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray him.
And he said,
"For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him by my Father."
As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Today's Gospel is the fifth and final week of the bread of life discourse in which we have been hearing about faith in Jesus and the Eucharist. In previous weeks, Jesus has been talking to people in general, but today he speaks to his disciples specifically. Not surprisingly, many of the disciples find Jesus teaching about the Eucharist too difficult to believe.
They are murmuring, like the Jews did in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, until God provides manna in the desert. The disciples find the concepts Jesus is teaching in the bread of life discourse too hard to believe, and who can blame them? The first problem they would have is the idea of eternal life. Until about 100 years before Jesus, the Jews didn't have any concept of eternal life; it was earthly life that was important. To think that they would live forever was a foreign concept to most people; certainly they wouldn't think about it as we do today.
A second issue causing difficulty is believing that Jesus came down from heaven and is the life giving revealer of God. In other words, they have a problem with the Incarnation, with the Son of God becoming human. They know Jesus' family, they know where he comes from; how can they believe this?
A third issue is believing in the Eucharist, in believing that Jesus body and blood, soul and divinity is contained in the bread and wine (see last week's bible study)
What will also be difficult will be to see Jesus suffer and die. But after he rises to the Father, he will send the Spirit which gives life, and they will begin to believe through faith, which is a gift from the Father. It is then that Jesus' words will begin to make sense and will become life giving to them.
It is the Spirit that guides and directs us to the truth because the flesh is weak. We aren’t able to be the disciples we can be on our own. We will doubt and fail unless we open up ourselves to the Spirit who will reveal all truth and give us faith in the Father. Jesus teachings become effective when we have faith inspired by the Spirit.
It seems to me that some of the disciples of Jesus find his teachings to be difficult and give up on him because they don’t understand in a human sense (with their human minds) what Jesus is talking about. Failure to have faith in Jesus means failure to have faith in what he teaches, and they go away.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t water down his teachings so his disciples will believe. He allows those who doubt to leave rather than be unfaithful to his God given mission.
Peter is willing to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think he understood anymore than anyone else, but he believes in Jesus as the “Holy One of God” who has “the words of eternal life.” He has faith in Jesus, and is led by the Spirit after Pentecost to fulfill the plan God has for him.
We don’t always understand how God works and where he is leading us or what he is trying to teach us through Scripture and Tradition, either, but we need to have faith in the Church, and in Jesus and his teachings, and let the Spirit guide and direct us to the truth so we can fulfill our God given mission, also.
In today’s first reading from Joshua, we see where Joshua gathers all of Israel and asks them to decide what god they will serve. People at that time believed that many gods existed; it wasn’t a matter of believing in God or not (atheism is a modern concept and alien to any ancient culture) but what god to believe in. Why did they choose Yahweh? Because he is the One who freed them from bondage in Egypt, fed them in the desert, gave them the Law, and brought them to the Promised Land. This was their concept of salvation, and earthly one, not a heavenly one.
The second reading is a difficult one. The church even provides a shorter reading that eliminates language that is objectionable to women. But the sentence prior to this objectionable language also states, “Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.” I take this to mean that we are to serve each other as Christ served us; we are to be kind, caring, sacrificing, loving, and generous to each other. In other words, to be virtuous and love as Christ loved us. At one time men did ‘rule the roost’ so to speak and wives did defer to their husbands decisions (at least publicly, anyway – we all knew who the power behind the scenes was!). St Paul was being culturally consistent. He was showing one way Christians fit into general society. We certainly don’t believe that anymore. We serve each other in humility and kindness, looking out for the needs of each other. If both partners do this, I think there will be a very successful marriage. Like Jesus, we came to serve, not to be served.
Fr. Phil
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
BIBLE STUDY #103
TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 19, 2012
Reading 1
Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
"Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding."
Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
The Word of the Lord
Reading 2
Ephesians 5:15-20
Brothers and sisters:
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,
but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
The Word of the Lord
Gospel
John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Jesus is bread from heaven because he is the revealer coming from God bringing to those who are receptive to God a life that is eternal. Jesus is called ‘living bread’ because he is endowed with the fullness of life, and he shares that life with those who believe in him. His revealing word is nourishment (food or bread) for our soul.
Jesus also tells us that he will “give us his flesh to eat…For my flesh is true food and my blood true drink.” This term “flesh and blood” is a Hebrew idiom for the whole person; this sacramental communion is a personal communion (encounter) with Jesus who shares his life and his Father’s life with us.
Eucharist is a mutual abiding, that is, Jesus dwells in us and we dwell in him; it is a mutual presence of one to another; this indwelling does not submerge one personality with another.
Through the Eucharist, Jesus continues the life giving mission he received from the Father, who is the source of all life. Jesus, the source and bread of life, who came down from heaven and gave his life for the world, becomes the sacramental bread of life. Having ascended to the Father, Jesus leaves us his flesh and blood, the whole of himself, under the auspices of bread and wine as food and nourishment for our journey.
The two themes of this section are faith and Eucharist which cannot be separated because they are unified in Jesus, who offers us a living relationship through faith and sacrament. Sacrament doesn’t replace faith, but expresses and confirms it since this whole discussion is Christ centered, from incarnation, to death and resurrection, to Eucharist. For John, Eucharistic faith is to believe that Jesus continues to give himself to us in a personal communion
The Eucharist is the foretaste and promise of what is to come: it is the pledge of eternal life. Receiving Eucharist will enable us to live forever. We will have eternal life through the Eucharist, but it is only guaranteed to the person of faith. Through the Eucharist, we will also have life in abundance now.
This is why we encourage all to attend Mass regularly. We are fed by God’s presence in the Eucharist which gives us the strength and grace to be the best disciples we can. Jesus is just as present in the proclaiming and the hearing of the Word, sand Jesus is also present in the assembly. When we attend Mass, we are fed three ways.
In the first reading from Proverbs, wisdom and folly are represented as women who are inviting people to their banquets. Wisdom’s banquet symbolizes joy and closeness to God. Folly’s banquet gives stolen bread and eater of deceit and vice that brings death to her guests. The readers are encouraged to choose wisdom.
In the second reading from Ephesians, Paul is encouraging the people of Ephesus to be careful how they live, to be wise, to choose God, and to do God’s will. To avoid sin and be filled with the Spirit and to pray and give thanks is the way God wants us to live. We will not be foolish and will avoid evil.
Fr. Phil
TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 19, 2012
Reading 1
Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
"Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding."
Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
The Word of the Lord
Reading 2
Ephesians 5:15-20
Brothers and sisters:
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,
but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
The Word of the Lord
Gospel
John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Jesus is bread from heaven because he is the revealer coming from God bringing to those who are receptive to God a life that is eternal. Jesus is called ‘living bread’ because he is endowed with the fullness of life, and he shares that life with those who believe in him. His revealing word is nourishment (food or bread) for our soul.
Jesus also tells us that he will “give us his flesh to eat…For my flesh is true food and my blood true drink.” This term “flesh and blood” is a Hebrew idiom for the whole person; this sacramental communion is a personal communion (encounter) with Jesus who shares his life and his Father’s life with us.
Eucharist is a mutual abiding, that is, Jesus dwells in us and we dwell in him; it is a mutual presence of one to another; this indwelling does not submerge one personality with another.
Through the Eucharist, Jesus continues the life giving mission he received from the Father, who is the source of all life. Jesus, the source and bread of life, who came down from heaven and gave his life for the world, becomes the sacramental bread of life. Having ascended to the Father, Jesus leaves us his flesh and blood, the whole of himself, under the auspices of bread and wine as food and nourishment for our journey.
The two themes of this section are faith and Eucharist which cannot be separated because they are unified in Jesus, who offers us a living relationship through faith and sacrament. Sacrament doesn’t replace faith, but expresses and confirms it since this whole discussion is Christ centered, from incarnation, to death and resurrection, to Eucharist. For John, Eucharistic faith is to believe that Jesus continues to give himself to us in a personal communion
The Eucharist is the foretaste and promise of what is to come: it is the pledge of eternal life. Receiving Eucharist will enable us to live forever. We will have eternal life through the Eucharist, but it is only guaranteed to the person of faith. Through the Eucharist, we will also have life in abundance now.
This is why we encourage all to attend Mass regularly. We are fed by God’s presence in the Eucharist which gives us the strength and grace to be the best disciples we can. Jesus is just as present in the proclaiming and the hearing of the Word, sand Jesus is also present in the assembly. When we attend Mass, we are fed three ways.
In the first reading from Proverbs, wisdom and folly are represented as women who are inviting people to their banquets. Wisdom’s banquet symbolizes joy and closeness to God. Folly’s banquet gives stolen bread and eater of deceit and vice that brings death to her guests. The readers are encouraged to choose wisdom.
In the second reading from Ephesians, Paul is encouraging the people of Ephesus to be careful how they live, to be wise, to choose God, and to do God’s will. To avoid sin and be filled with the Spirit and to pray and give thanks is the way God wants us to live. We will not be foolish and will avoid evil.
Fr. Phil
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
BIBLE STUDY #102
NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 5, 2012
READING 1
1 KINGS 19:4-8
Elijah went a day's journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
"This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
EPHESIANS 4:30-5:2
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
"I am the bread that came down from heaven,"
and they said,
"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
'I have come down from heaven?'"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Today’s Gospel reading is about faith in Jesus. It is only the last three verses that talk about Eucharistic bread, which is a transition into next Sunday’s gospel: that Jesus is the living bread given for the life of the world.
It was difficult (as you can imagine) for the Jews to accept Jesus as the bread from heaven. They knew his parents, how could he come down from heaven? They seem to reject him out of hand; these were the same ones Jesus just fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish. This should have brought some faith in Jesus, but it didn’t. It should have reminded them of the time when God fed them with manna in the desert while on the way from captivity to freedom in the Promised Land. The feeding of the 5,000 gave 12 baskets of leftovers, much more of an abundance than enough manna for one day.
The process of coming to believe (to have faith) in John’s gospel is called being drawn to God. If we believe in Jesus, we are drawn to him and receive the gift of faith, and then we will be taught be God. It is a combination of free will and divine initiative. Faith is a free gift from God that we can accept or refuse.
Those who refuse God’s beckoning are closing themselves off from God; and therefore they refuse the bread that will feed and nourish them. In this part of the discourse, bread refers to the teachings of Jesus and the revelation of the Father
through him.
However, if we are drawn to God, believe in his Son, and are fed by the God’s word, then we will have eternal life
Jesus then says 2 things that will turn people away from him. He says that their ancestors ate the manna in the desert and died; but if anyone eats the bread that comes down from heaven he will not die. He is setting himself as one greater than Moses, the great leader and lawgiver of the people. That in itself would turn many Jews away.
Secondly, he says that the “bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” He is referring to the sacrifice of himself on Calvary, and the giving of his ‘body and blood, soul and divinity’ in the form of bread and wine in the Eucharist. How was anyone suppose to understand prior to Pentecost?
Jesus is not calling us to an intellectual assent to a doctrine of faith only, but primarily to a relationship with him. We believe, that through Jesus, we have a share in God’s divine life. God has not left us hungering in the wilderness but is with us to feed, nourish, and guide us through life. Jesus life gives us hope.
We are called to offer our lives in service to others as Jesus did. We are called to be hope to a world full of despair, compassion in a world of pain, loving in a world of hate, and truth un a world of lies.
We believe that through faith we possess eternal life. Let’s share that great gift with others.
Fr. Phil
NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 5, 2012
READING 1
1 KINGS 19:4-8
Elijah went a day's journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
"This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
EPHESIANS 4:30-5:2
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
"I am the bread that came down from heaven,"
and they said,
"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
'I have come down from heaven?'"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Today’s Gospel reading is about faith in Jesus. It is only the last three verses that talk about Eucharistic bread, which is a transition into next Sunday’s gospel: that Jesus is the living bread given for the life of the world.
It was difficult (as you can imagine) for the Jews to accept Jesus as the bread from heaven. They knew his parents, how could he come down from heaven? They seem to reject him out of hand; these were the same ones Jesus just fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish. This should have brought some faith in Jesus, but it didn’t. It should have reminded them of the time when God fed them with manna in the desert while on the way from captivity to freedom in the Promised Land. The feeding of the 5,000 gave 12 baskets of leftovers, much more of an abundance than enough manna for one day.
The process of coming to believe (to have faith) in John’s gospel is called being drawn to God. If we believe in Jesus, we are drawn to him and receive the gift of faith, and then we will be taught be God. It is a combination of free will and divine initiative. Faith is a free gift from God that we can accept or refuse.
Those who refuse God’s beckoning are closing themselves off from God; and therefore they refuse the bread that will feed and nourish them. In this part of the discourse, bread refers to the teachings of Jesus and the revelation of the Father
through him.
However, if we are drawn to God, believe in his Son, and are fed by the God’s word, then we will have eternal life
Jesus then says 2 things that will turn people away from him. He says that their ancestors ate the manna in the desert and died; but if anyone eats the bread that comes down from heaven he will not die. He is setting himself as one greater than Moses, the great leader and lawgiver of the people. That in itself would turn many Jews away.
Secondly, he says that the “bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” He is referring to the sacrifice of himself on Calvary, and the giving of his ‘body and blood, soul and divinity’ in the form of bread and wine in the Eucharist. How was anyone suppose to understand prior to Pentecost?
Jesus is not calling us to an intellectual assent to a doctrine of faith only, but primarily to a relationship with him. We believe, that through Jesus, we have a share in God’s divine life. God has not left us hungering in the wilderness but is with us to feed, nourish, and guide us through life. Jesus life gives us hope.
We are called to offer our lives in service to others as Jesus did. We are called to be hope to a world full of despair, compassion in a world of pain, loving in a world of hate, and truth un a world of lies.
We believe that through faith we possess eternal life. Let’s share that great gift with others.
Fr. Phil
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
BIBLE STUDY #101
EIGHTENNTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 5, 2012
READING 1
EXODUS 16:2-4, 12-15
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them,
"Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!"
Then the LORD said to Moses,
"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;
thus will I test them,
to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.
Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,
so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.
In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,
and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert
were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?"
for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them,
"This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
EPHESIANS 4:17, 20-24
Brothers and sisters:
I declare and testify in the Lord
that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their minds;
that is not how you learned Christ,
assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,
as truth is in Jesus,
that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,
corrupted through deceitful desires,
and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 6:24-35
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."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Last week Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, with 12 baskets of bread leftover. The words that Jesus prayed over the bread remind us of the prayers said at Mass when the bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, and the abundance of bread reminds us of the abundance of God’s love and gifts to us, especially and foremost in the Eucharist.
This Sunday and the next three Sundays we will hear the Bread of life Discourse, explaining the Eucharist in more detail (remember, there is no Last Supper in John’s Gospel – only the washing of the feet on the night before Jesus died. This is John’s theology of the Eucharist).
The Bread of Life Discourse has three sections: 1) 6:22-34 is the introduction we hear this week; 2) 6:35-59 is the discourse proper and 3) 6:60-71 is the reaction of the disciples and Peter’s confession.
Last week’s Gospel ended with Jesus withdrawing to the mountain alone to escape the crowds that would make him king. Today’s Gospel begins with the crowds looking for Jesus. When they find him they say to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" This may not be just curiosity concerning his whereabouts; it could be probing deeper into Jesus’ origins (see 1:38, 14:3)
Jesus response is a bit cynical; he says that they are looking for him because they ate the bread and were filled, not because they are looking to be spiritually filled. The crowds don’t see Jesus as the Messiah, just a wonder worker who provides food.
Jesus admonishes them not to work for food that perishes, but for the “food that endures for eternal life.” He will give them this food because God has ‘set his seal’ on him; that is, God has chosen this task for Jesus.
The crowds then ask him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus’ response is to believe in him. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? It sounds like all we have to do is profess our belief in God and his Son, Jesus, and we’ll be saved. On closer examination, it becomes a little harder. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Believing in Jesus means listening to what he says and putting it in practice. What does Jesus teach us? There are 3 main areas I like to focus on. First, He teaches us the necessity of depending on the Father through prayer (and for us, sacraments). Jesus prayed continually, and we need to do so, also. If we want to grow in our faith, prayer is a necessity. Secondly, He teaches us to be virtuous: for example, to be kind, forgiving, sacrificing, and loving at all times, regardless of how others treat us. Lastly, God has been generous to us, and we need to be generous to others. That could mean helping others with their physical needs or it could mean sharing our faith with others. Doing the work of God is a lot harder that at first glance. It’s no wonder that it is placed in the context of John chapter 6, John’s famous treaty on the Eucharist. As hard as we try, we can’t do the work of God on our own. We need God’s grace to be virtuous and generous, and the Eucharist is the prime way to receive God’s grace. We thank God for this great gift and pray that we all make the Eucharist an important and central part of our lives.
I get the impression that the crowds don’t totally believe Jesus; they want a sign, that is, proof. They want Jesus to show them something that will prove his claims. As an example, they cite the manna in the desert as the bread form heaven they were given to eat. One of the reasons they believed in Moses was the manna from heaven.
Jesus reminds them that it was God who gave them the manna, not Moses. Now, God is giving them the true bread from heaven which is bread that gives life to the world. Not physical life, but eternal life.
The people ask for this bread, and Jesus responds that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, that those who come to him will never hunger or thirst. He is referring not to the cessation of physical hunger, but that he will fulfill all our spiritual needs. And offer us eternal life. Here again, we have a Eucharistic theme.
In the first reading from Exodus, the people have left Egypt and are being led by Moses through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. The people are grumbling about the lack of food. They were afraid of famine in the desert. They complained to Moses about their hunger, saying that at least in Egypt there was plenty of food instead of dying of hunger in the desert.
There are 3 times this grumbling occurs: in this episode, in Exodus 17, and in Numbers 20. Each time Moses intercedes with God and God intervenes by supplying food and/or water.
There are those who say that the food and water occurred naturally in the desert, but the people (and the author of Exodus) saw it s God intervening to provide for them in their need. They received bread (manna) from heaven to sustain them on their journey to the Promised Land. We are reminded of the Eucharist, the bread of life come down from heaven that sustains us on our pilgrim journey to eternal life.
In the second reading from Ephesians, St. Paul tells us that instead of conforming ourselves to a set of external laws, we conform in faith to the person of Jesus and all else, such as service, love, obedience to laws, etc. flow from that personal relationship with Christ.
Fr. Phil
EIGHTENNTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 5, 2012
READING 1
EXODUS 16:2-4, 12-15
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them,
"Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!"
Then the LORD said to Moses,
"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;
thus will I test them,
to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.
Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,
so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.
In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,
and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert
were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?"
for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them,
"This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
EPHESIANS 4:17, 20-24
Brothers and sisters:
I declare and testify in the Lord
that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their minds;
that is not how you learned Christ,
assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,
as truth is in Jesus,
that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,
corrupted through deceitful desires,
and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 6:24-35
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."
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Last week Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, with 12 baskets of bread leftover. The words that Jesus prayed over the bread remind us of the prayers said at Mass when the bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, and the abundance of bread reminds us of the abundance of God’s love and gifts to us, especially and foremost in the Eucharist.
This Sunday and the next three Sundays we will hear the Bread of life Discourse, explaining the Eucharist in more detail (remember, there is no Last Supper in John’s Gospel – only the washing of the feet on the night before Jesus died. This is John’s theology of the Eucharist).
The Bread of Life Discourse has three sections: 1) 6:22-34 is the introduction we hear this week; 2) 6:35-59 is the discourse proper and 3) 6:60-71 is the reaction of the disciples and Peter’s confession.
Last week’s Gospel ended with Jesus withdrawing to the mountain alone to escape the crowds that would make him king. Today’s Gospel begins with the crowds looking for Jesus. When they find him they say to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" This may not be just curiosity concerning his whereabouts; it could be probing deeper into Jesus’ origins (see 1:38, 14:3)
Jesus response is a bit cynical; he says that they are looking for him because they ate the bread and were filled, not because they are looking to be spiritually filled. The crowds don’t see Jesus as the Messiah, just a wonder worker who provides food.
Jesus admonishes them not to work for food that perishes, but for the “food that endures for eternal life.” He will give them this food because God has ‘set his seal’ on him; that is, God has chosen this task for Jesus.
The crowds then ask him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus’ response is to believe in him. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? It sounds like all we have to do is profess our belief in God and his Son, Jesus, and we’ll be saved. On closer examination, it becomes a little harder. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Believing in Jesus means listening to what he says and putting it in practice. What does Jesus teach us? There are 3 main areas I like to focus on. First, He teaches us the necessity of depending on the Father through prayer (and for us, sacraments). Jesus prayed continually, and we need to do so, also. If we want to grow in our faith, prayer is a necessity. Secondly, He teaches us to be virtuous: for example, to be kind, forgiving, sacrificing, and loving at all times, regardless of how others treat us. Lastly, God has been generous to us, and we need to be generous to others. That could mean helping others with their physical needs or it could mean sharing our faith with others. Doing the work of God is a lot harder that at first glance. It’s no wonder that it is placed in the context of John chapter 6, John’s famous treaty on the Eucharist. As hard as we try, we can’t do the work of God on our own. We need God’s grace to be virtuous and generous, and the Eucharist is the prime way to receive God’s grace. We thank God for this great gift and pray that we all make the Eucharist an important and central part of our lives.
I get the impression that the crowds don’t totally believe Jesus; they want a sign, that is, proof. They want Jesus to show them something that will prove his claims. As an example, they cite the manna in the desert as the bread form heaven they were given to eat. One of the reasons they believed in Moses was the manna from heaven.
Jesus reminds them that it was God who gave them the manna, not Moses. Now, God is giving them the true bread from heaven which is bread that gives life to the world. Not physical life, but eternal life.
The people ask for this bread, and Jesus responds that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, that those who come to him will never hunger or thirst. He is referring not to the cessation of physical hunger, but that he will fulfill all our spiritual needs. And offer us eternal life. Here again, we have a Eucharistic theme.
In the first reading from Exodus, the people have left Egypt and are being led by Moses through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. The people are grumbling about the lack of food. They were afraid of famine in the desert. They complained to Moses about their hunger, saying that at least in Egypt there was plenty of food instead of dying of hunger in the desert.
There are 3 times this grumbling occurs: in this episode, in Exodus 17, and in Numbers 20. Each time Moses intercedes with God and God intervenes by supplying food and/or water.
There are those who say that the food and water occurred naturally in the desert, but the people (and the author of Exodus) saw it s God intervening to provide for them in their need. They received bread (manna) from heaven to sustain them on their journey to the Promised Land. We are reminded of the Eucharist, the bread of life come down from heaven that sustains us on our pilgrim journey to eternal life.
In the second reading from Ephesians, St. Paul tells us that instead of conforming ourselves to a set of external laws, we conform in faith to the person of Jesus and all else, such as service, love, obedience to laws, etc. flow from that personal relationship with Christ.
Fr. Phil
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