A parishioner's Gospel reflection
The Bread of Life
19 August 2018: Twentieth Sunday of the Year (Cycle B)
Parishioner’s Gospel
Contributor: Branwen Jones
John 6: 51-58
These verses are a continuation and development of the theme of food/nourishment and earthly/heavenly bread which is central to Chapter 6 of Saint John’s Gospel. Earlier in the chapter Jesus feeds the five thousand with the five barley loaves and two fishes – earthly bread, yes, but also a pre-figuration of the Eucharistic feast.
In the desert the Israelites, led by Moses, ate manna to sustain life, food provided by the Lord God. Now Jesus describes Himself as ‘the living bread which has come down from heaven.’
But just what is this bread? The answer is Jesus’ most controversial statement, ‘And the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.’ Furthermore, ‘if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.'
We, who are accustomed to receiving Holy Communion, tend to forget how shocking such an idea would have been at the time – repugnant even. No wonder it prompted argument and speculation amongst the Jews.
But Jesus is emphatic: He draws life from the Father, the living Father, and in turn we draw life from Christ in the Eucharist. And the invitation is extended to all, not solely the Jews.
‘Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life.’
‘Whoever eats me will draw life from me.’
If you don’t eat and drink earthly food, if you starve and dehydrate, death is the outcome. We see it in drought-stricken countries around the globe. The same is true of heavenly nourishment. Without it the spirit will shrivel, and the prospect of eternal life, fade.
In the words of the psalmist:
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
**********************************
26 August 2018: 21st Sunday of the Year (Cycle B)
Parishioner's Gospel
Contributor: Marisa Wilson
John 6: 60-69
In the sentences that precede today's Gospel we hear Jesus telling the people
'unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6:53)
The reaction of some of his disciples is immediate and drastic,
'this is hard saying, who can listen to it?' (6:60)
Their reaction will perhaps take us by surprise, us Christians who share the Eucharist every week. But before we feel dismayed by the disciples' reply, let us consider the words that they, good Israelites, knew well as God's revelation in Genesis and Leviticus.
In Genesis 9:4, God states his categorical commandment to Noah and his sons,
'I give you everything, with this exception, you must not eat flesh with life, that is to say blood, in it'.
This commandment made sense to them because, in their tradition, blood was associated with the source of life.
In Leviticus 7:27 God makes another categorical statement within the Ritual of Sacrifice,
'anyone who eats blood, whoever he may be, shall be outlawed from his people'
In a way, therefore, it is not so strange to hear that 'many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him' (6:66). They found this teaching very difficult to accept because it contravened God's commandments, as they understood them.
The words that Jesus had spoken to them,
'he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him' (6:56)
required a jump of faith that these disciples could not and did not make. That is why Jesus told them,
'there are some of you that do not believe' (6:64)
These words of Jesus should make us stop and ask ourselves: we eat Christ's Body and drink His blood week after week as a community of believers but, at a personal level, do we believe in His true, real and substantial presence in the Eucharist?; do we believe in God's gift of eternal life to us through Jesus' body and blood? Or has the Eucharist become a ritual, and only a ritual, without any real meaning in our lives?
The Lord asks from us today the same question he asked his disciples,
'will you also go away? '(6:67).
Let us answer with Simon Peter,
'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God' (6:69).
Holy Spirit, help us to live in faith and to accept the mysteries of faith, especially today the mystery of Jesus' true, real and substantial presence in the Eucharist, the mystery of his self-giving and unconditional love to us 'until the end of time'.
Parishioner’s Gospel
Contributor: Branwen Jones
John 6: 51-58
These verses are a continuation and development of the theme of food/nourishment and earthly/heavenly bread which is central to Chapter 6 of Saint John’s Gospel. Earlier in the chapter Jesus feeds the five thousand with the five barley loaves and two fishes – earthly bread, yes, but also a pre-figuration of the Eucharistic feast.
In the desert the Israelites, led by Moses, ate manna to sustain life, food provided by the Lord God. Now Jesus describes Himself as ‘the living bread which has come down from heaven.’
But just what is this bread? The answer is Jesus’ most controversial statement, ‘And the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.’ Furthermore, ‘if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.'
We, who are accustomed to receiving Holy Communion, tend to forget how shocking such an idea would have been at the time – repugnant even. No wonder it prompted argument and speculation amongst the Jews.
But Jesus is emphatic: He draws life from the Father, the living Father, and in turn we draw life from Christ in the Eucharist. And the invitation is extended to all, not solely the Jews.
‘Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life.’
‘Whoever eats me will draw life from me.’
If you don’t eat and drink earthly food, if you starve and dehydrate, death is the outcome. We see it in drought-stricken countries around the globe. The same is true of heavenly nourishment. Without it the spirit will shrivel, and the prospect of eternal life, fade.
In the words of the psalmist:
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
**********************************
26 August 2018: 21st Sunday of the Year (Cycle B)
Parishioner's Gospel
Contributor: Marisa Wilson
John 6: 60-69
In the sentences that precede today's Gospel we hear Jesus telling the people
'unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6:53)
The reaction of some of his disciples is immediate and drastic,
'this is hard saying, who can listen to it?' (6:60)
Their reaction will perhaps take us by surprise, us Christians who share the Eucharist every week. But before we feel dismayed by the disciples' reply, let us consider the words that they, good Israelites, knew well as God's revelation in Genesis and Leviticus.
In Genesis 9:4, God states his categorical commandment to Noah and his sons,
'I give you everything, with this exception, you must not eat flesh with life, that is to say blood, in it'.
This commandment made sense to them because, in their tradition, blood was associated with the source of life.
In Leviticus 7:27 God makes another categorical statement within the Ritual of Sacrifice,
'anyone who eats blood, whoever he may be, shall be outlawed from his people'
In a way, therefore, it is not so strange to hear that 'many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him' (6:66). They found this teaching very difficult to accept because it contravened God's commandments, as they understood them.
The words that Jesus had spoken to them,
'he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him' (6:56)
required a jump of faith that these disciples could not and did not make. That is why Jesus told them,
'there are some of you that do not believe' (6:64)
These words of Jesus should make us stop and ask ourselves: we eat Christ's Body and drink His blood week after week as a community of believers but, at a personal level, do we believe in His true, real and substantial presence in the Eucharist?; do we believe in God's gift of eternal life to us through Jesus' body and blood? Or has the Eucharist become a ritual, and only a ritual, without any real meaning in our lives?
The Lord asks from us today the same question he asked his disciples,
'will you also go away? '(6:67).
Let us answer with Simon Peter,
'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God' (6:69).
Holy Spirit, help us to live in faith and to accept the mysteries of faith, especially today the mystery of Jesus' true, real and substantial presence in the Eucharist, the mystery of his self-giving and unconditional love to us 'until the end of time'.