Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 9, 2015 - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[1 Kgs 19:4-8; Eph 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51]"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 breadthat 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." [John]
Today we come to a dramatic turning point in the "Bread of Life" discourse. Remember that we began with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Then Jesus began his discourse on the significance of this sign. Last Sunday we heard him tell his listeners that they misunderstood the sign. He is doing something more than feeding crowds. He is a new manna. They are challenged to believe that God has sent him. The tension has gradually built over the past couple of Sundays! Now we come to two very important and central things.
First, how can a person who was known to them as the son of Joseph (and Mary) be someone who has come down from heaven! Second (this is in the very last line and leads to even more dramatic reactions), how can this man give his flesh to the world as food? It is at this point that eucharistic practice comes into play. It is one thing to believe that Jesus is someone sent by God. It is another to believe that he came down from heaven. And it is a BIG another to believe that he can give his flesh to eat and his blood to drink! But that is precisely what he is going to say. The next two Sundays will feature the reactions of the crowd and then the confrontation with the disciples.
Our own eucharistic faith comes into play. If we put ourselves in the scene, we may find ourselves asking some of the same questions. But we are the heirs of more than 2000 years of faith that Jesus chose bread and wine as the medium by which we share i his body and blood and know of his presence. Our faith in him is the beginning of eternal life. Our faithful participation in the eucharist is our knowledge of his continuing and real presence! AMEN
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