24th Sunday in Ordinary time B. September 15, 2024

 24^th Sunday in Ordinary time B. September 15, 2024

Isaiah 50:5-9a; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35

 

Theme: What Kind of Messiah Jesus is, and What Kind of Disciples We Are Called to Be

September is the month of the Word of God. The Church encourages us to regularly study, meditate, share, and pray with the Sacred Scriptures. In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard how Jesus healed a deaf man with impediment speech. We, too, need Jesus to open our spiritual ears and tongues so that we might hear and “speak” or proclaim the Word of God wherever we live. Today, the Church suggests we meditate on the kind of Messiah Jesus is and the kind of disciples we are called to be. The “suffering servant” the author of our first reading refers to is the kind of Messiah Jesus is and the kind of disciples we are called to be. Jesus is the Messiah who accepted to suffer and die to save the world. As his disciples, we should deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him. This is not just a calling but an inspiring invitation to a strong faith, which is put into action that Saint James talks about in our second reading.

According to the setting of the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), the story of the healing of the Blind Man of Bethsaida (7:22-26), which immediately precedes our text, closes the part two of the Gospel of Mark called “The Mystery of Jesus.” Then our Gospel text (including vv.36-38 and ch.9:1 that the lectionary has omitted) opens part three, “The Mystery Begins to Be Revealed. Mark’s Gospel contains sixteen chapters. Our Gospel story is at the heart of it all, a pivotal moment that we are all part of. In the first half of his Gospel, Mark walked us through the ministry of Jesus in the Jewish and Gentile territories. Now, with our Gospel episode, he introduces us to the turning point in his account of Jesus’ public ministry: Jesus starts revealing what kind of Messiah he is and what kind of disciples his followers must be.    

Our text is a narrative story. Vv. 27-30 can be considered an introduction. The body of the text (vv. 31-35) has three movements: (1) Jesus announces his Passion, Death, and Resurrection for the first time (v. 31); (2) Peter rejects Jesus’ possibility of dying and Jesus rebukes him for doing it (vv. 32-33); (3) Based on Peter’s objection, Jesus teaches all of them about the conditions of discipleship (vv. 34-35). Vv.36-38 and ch.9:1, which the lectionary has omitted, can be considered a conclusion.  

The introductory part begins with the setting and Jesus’ double questions to his disciples regarding his divine identity, which is hidden so far. On their way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples to tell him what the people and themselves say who he is. He finds out that the people confuse him with John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets, and his disciples, through the profession of faith of Peter, believe he is the Messiah.

Why do people confuse Jesus with these three significant figures? John the Baptist, Elijah, and a prophet share a common characteristic. (1) John the Baptist called the people to radical repentance to prepare themselves to welcome Jesus, the Messiah. (2) In 800 B.C., Elijah’s mission was to call the Israelites to repent and remain faithful to God. According to Malachi’s prophecy, Elijah will return to convert people before God comes for final judgment (see Malachi 3:23-24). (3) Each prophet had a mission to call the people of his generation to repentance and remain faithful to God. So, Mark, already in chapter 6, showed how the people had different opinions of Jesus. Some, like Herod, believed that Jesus was John the Baptist, who had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah. Still others confused Jesus with one of the prophets (see Mark 6:14-16).  In our Gospel passage, the disciples' answer to Jesus’ first question demonstrates that, in the first half of Jesus' ministry, people’s opinion of Jesus has not yet changed. They still think Jesus is John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets, but not the Messiah.

Unlike the people who still do not grasp Jesus’ divine identity, Peter, on behalf of his fellow disciples, confesses that Jesus is the Messiah (Mark 8:29). In Matthew’s version, Peter’s profession of faith was the Divine revelation: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” (Mat 16:17). Then, Jesus acknowledges this identification but orders his disciples not to reveal it to anyone. Mark again employs the “Messianic secret” here as he did in the stories of the Healings of a Deaf Man (see Mark 7:31-37) and the Blind Man of Bethsaida (see Mark 8:22-26). Jesus prohibits his disciples from revealing his divine identity to avoid confusing him as a political Messiah whom the Jews were waiting for. He wants to ensure that his disciples understand well what type of Messiah he is. Many people today still do not believe in Jesus as their Messiah.  We, Christians, are called to tell them who Jesus really is. Before we do that, Jesus wants to ensure that we, ourselves, believe and understand well the type of Messiah he is. To connect it with this month of the Word of, the Church encourages us to promote the Word of God to our brothers and sisters. But before we do that, we should first become familiar with the Word of God by regularly reading, studying, meditating on, and praying with the Bible.  

The body of our Gospel story (vv. 31-35) contains three movements. (1) Jesus declares his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. (2) Disciples reject the type of Jesus’ Messiahship. (3) Jesus teaches them the conditions for discipleship.

(1). After he finds out that his disciples know he is the Messiah, Jesus starts revealing to them what kind of Messiah he is. “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly.” (Vv. 31-32a). Notice this detail the evangelist added here: “[Jesus] spoke this openly.” He said it plainly, not in a parable as usual, because he wanted his followers to understand the type of Messiah he is and, consequently, the type of disciples they are to be. This is the first time the disciples have heard about this shocking declaration. At this point, they follow Jesus because they expect him to be a conqueror and a glorious Messiah. To hear that their trusted Master is going to die is a shock. What is their attitude now? Well, they are lost and deeply disappointed. Remember, Mark puts this big announcement in the center of his Gospel to mean that it is a very important issue to think of. This is the personal experience Jesus wants his followers, including you and me, to do. As we follow Jesus, we must understand very well that we are the followers of a suffering Messiah who is ready to do everything that it takes, including laying down his life, to save the people of God.

(2) Through Peter, the disciples reject the type of Messiah Jesus wants to be, and Jesus rebukes them for doing so. “Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this, he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Vv. 32b-33). In Matthew’s version, the narrator tells us the words Peter used in his rejection: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” (Mat 16: 22b). Here, Peter not only refuses “such thing” to happen to Jesus, but he also refuses it to happen to them because he knows very well that as Jesus’ disciples, they are called to follow their Master’s footsteps. Peter’s idea of not accepting the cross is not the will of God but the will of Satan. That is why Jesus calls him “Satan”. When he professed that Jesus was the Messiah, Peter was inspired by God (see Matthew 16:17), but here, the fact that he rejects the type of Messiah Jesus is, he is inspired by Satan. Like the disciples, many of us still prefer to follow the glorious Messiah, who performs miracles whenever we call upon him. Our Holy Mother Church teaches us that we should look at our Messiah first of all as a suffering Messiah who denied himself, took up his cross, and died for the salvation of humankind. His glory and power are demonstrated in his cross. Therefore, we, his followers, are called to follow in his footsteps to save our brothers and sisters.

(3) Based on the disciples' objection, Jesus teaches them the three conditions of discipleship. To be Jesus’ disciples, his disciples and all of us Christians must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. To deny ourselves means God’s mission is first, and we are next because there is nothing more important than the mission of the Church, which is to save the souls of God’s people.  To take up our crosses means to accept with courage and faith any suffering related to the mission of the Church. Prophet Isaiah gives us his own painful experience as an example in our first reading. he did not run away from those who tortured him. Rather, he courageously faced them, believing God would not abandon him. To follow Jesus means we must learn from him, imitate him, and so become “another Christ” where we live. Through these three conditions of discipleship, Jesus wants his disciples and all of us to know this paradox: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (V. 35). When we accept to give up our lives (which means, we accept suffering for his sake and the sake of the Gospel), we save them in the kingdom of heaven, which begins here and now; but when we do not accept to be his disciples (which mean, we avoid suffering for his sake and the sake of his Gospel), we lose eternal life. We cannot say we are Christians or disciples by the time we do not accept the conditions of discipleship. In our second reading, Saint James says the same thing when he teaches his audience and us that faith without works is dead. We need to demonstrate our faith from our works (James 2:14-18).

Mark concludes our Gospel episode in Vv. 36-38 and Ch. 9:1, which the lectionary has omitted. Jesus declares, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Notice how Mark associates Jesus with his Words or Gospel. He uses Words and Gospel interchangeably. In v. 35b and 10:29, he employs “Gospel.” By linking Jesus with the Word of God, the evangelist wants to teach us that we cannot love Jesus without loving the Scriptures. September is the month of the Word of God. Our Holy Mother Church encourages us to promote the Bible wherever we live. To do that, we are called to study, meditate, share, and pray with the Sacred Scriptures often and often without being ashamed.

Jesus is a Suffering Messiah, and we are the Christians and disciples who accept suffering for his sake and the sake of his Gospel. May the liturgy of this Mass strengthen our faith and give us the courage to demonstrate our faith from our works without shame by denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following our Lord wherever we live. Amen.

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

SVD USS Province Biblical Apostolate Coordinator &

Retreat Center Director

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B. September 8, 2024

 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B. September 8, 2024

Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

 

Theme: Jesus Opens our Spiritual Ears and Tongues to Hear and Proclaim the Word of God

September is the month of the Word of God. The Church encourages us to study, meditate, share, and pray with the Bible often and often. The Scripture readings of this Mass teach us that our call as Jesus’ disciples is to hear and “speak” or proclaim the Word of God wherever we live. In the Gospel, Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment, fulfilling the prophecy that Isaiah tells us in our first reading. In the second reading, Saint James proclaims the Word of God to his Church members, inviting them to avoid discrimination among them. We, too, need Jesus to open our spiritual ears and tongues so that we can hear and “speak” or proclaim God’s Word wherever we live.

Our Gospel passage immediately follows the story of the Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith (7:24-30) and precedes the Feeding of the Four Thousand People (8:1-10). After his dispute with the Pharisees and Scribes in Gennesaret regarding the human laws and divine laws, his address in parable to the crowd, and the interpretation of the parable to his disciples (7:1-23), Jesus went off to the district of Tyre, where he had a conversation with a Syrophoenician woman about the healing of her daughter (7:24-30). In our text, he left the district of Tyre. He is now in the district of Decapolis. Tyre and Decapolis are the Gentile districts. Jesus is in this Gentile territory to extend his mission to the Gentiles, who acknowledged his power and demonstrated great faith in him.

Our Gospel text is a narrative story. I structure it in three scenes. The first scene deals with the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus (vv.31-32). The second scene covers the healing ceremony in a one-on-one meeting between Jesus and the deaf man (vv. 33-35). The third scene is Jesus's instruction regarding the Messianic secret (vv. 36-37).

In the first scene, the narrator tells us that the people brought a deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus and begged him to lay his hand on him, which means to heal him. Here, the Church tries to teach us that our mission is to bring the people to God and intercede for them. Parents and grandparents are responsible for bringing their children and grandchildren to Church to meet with their Lord Jesus and constantly pray for them. Likewise, the children and grandchildren are called to take their parents and grandparents to Church, especially when they (parents and grandparents) cannot do it alone, and always pray for them. We are called to intercede for each other and help each other to go to God.  

The second scene of our Gospel is the ceremony of the healing of this deaf man in an intimate relationship between him and Jesus. The people brought the man to Jesus and interceded for his healing. They accomplished their mission. Now, the movie changes sides. It is no longer between the people and Jesus but between Jesus and the deaf man. The first notice is that Jesus took him away from the people to be alone with him. The deaf man is now in a one-on-one relationship with Jesus. This teaches us that although other people help us attend Church and meet Jesus, we need to start a person-to-person relationship with God. For instance, when the parents and grandparents take the children and grandchildren to Church, they help them to begin their own experience of a one-on-one relationship with God. So, by taking this deaf man off by himself, Jesus wants to remind us that he maintains a one-on-one relationship with each of us.

The second notice is the process of healing. It has two different elements: the traditional and divine elements. Jesus used medical treatment gestures of tradition in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world. He puts his finger into the man’s ears, spits, and touches the man’s tongue with his saliva. In addition to this traditional element, Jesus added a divine element, distinguishing him from other healers of his time: he looks up to heaven, groans, and commands, “Be opened.” The narrator reports that immediately, this man’s ears are “opened,” his speech impediment is removed, and he speaks clearly (v.35).  Are we not spiritually deaf? Do we hear the Word of God well, especially that proclaimed at Masses? Do we “speak,” share, and proclaim it to others in our families, neighborhoods, and wherever we live? Honestly, many of us still struggle with both hearing and “speaking” God’s Word. We need Jesus to open our spiritual ears so that we can hear the Word of God well; we need him to remove our spiritual speech impediment so that we can plainly “speak” or proclaim God’s Word to others. Hearing and “speaking” the Word of God are two characteristics of discipleship.

In the third scene, Jesus returns to the people and orders them not to tell anyone about the miracle of this deaf man. The narrator comments that the more he forbids them, the more they proclaim (v. 36). Why does Jesus forbid these people to spread his news? Should the Word of God not be proclaimed?  Here, the Church invites us to meditate on the “Messianic Secret” that Mark emphasizes here and in his entire Gospel. Jesus is not against proclaiming God’s Word. The context here is that Jesus’ fame has spread throughout Galilee, Jerusalem, and the bordering land, making his ministry difficult because he cannot openly enter one city or town. Also, through the “Messianic secret,” Mark wants his readers to discover the divine identity of Jesus as Messiah through their personal experience with Jesus, not through the need for miracles. Becoming disciples of Jesus must be motivated not by the need for miracles or any favor but by an intimate relationship with Jesus.  

As we celebrate September, the month of the Word of God, let us pray that this Eucharistic celebration might open our spiritual ears and tongues so that we become the disciples who hear and proclaim God’s Word wherever we live. Amen.

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator &

Retreat Center Director 

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B – Sept. 1, 2024

 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B – Sept. 1, 2024

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

 

Theme: Human Laws Versus Divine Laws

The Catholic Church has dedicated the month of September to the Word of God. So, worldwide, we celebrate the month of the Bible this month. The Church exhorts all faithful Christians to venerate the Word of God in the Church and our families. First and foremost, in the liturgy of the Mass, we are called to celebrate the Word of God with reverence and participate in it actively. This active participation is not just a duty, but a way to truly connect with the Word of God. It means we should listen attentively when God speaks to us in the scripture readings and pay attention to the priest or deacon when they interpret the Word of God to us in the homilies. Second, our Mother Church encourages all parishes to establish Bible Study groups to give opportunities to the faithful to meditate, read, and study the Word of God. Third, the Church also urges all families to venerate the Word of God at home. I recommend all families make a “Family Bible Corner” in our homes. A “Family Bible Corner” is a suitable place to prepare in one corner of your living room where you display an open Bible. It could be a small table, for example, covered with a white tablecloth (or any liturgical colors: red, purple, or green), well decorated with flowers, candles, and maybe with a crucifix or rosary. The Family Bible Corner should be visible to anyone who enters the house. Its purpose is to remind the household members and the guest visitors that the Word of God is the center of our family. This Family Bible Corner can also be used where the family meets for family prayer or any spiritual gathering.

After meditating on the “Bread of Life” discourse in chapter six of the Gospel of Saint John during the past five Sundays, we return to the Gospel of Mark as we are in the liturgical calendar year B.  Today’s Scripture readings discuss the importance of observing God’s laws. In the Gospel, Jesus reprimands the Pharisees because they do not observe divine laws as much as they do with human laws. In the first reading, Moses exhorts his fellow Israelites to hear and observe God’s commandments, without adding to or subtracting from them, if they want to live with God and enter the promised land. James teaches his audience the same thing in our second reading when he calls them to welcome God’s Word planted in them, which can save their souls.

Our Gospel passage immediately follows the story of Jesus healing many sick people at Gennesaret (6:53-56) and precedes that of the Syrophoenician woman’s faith (7:24-30). After Jesus fed over five thousand people (6:34-44), his disciples got into the boat and preceded him to the other side toward Bethsaida while he dismissed the crowd and went off to the mountain to pray. Later, about the fourth watch of the night, he followed them, walking on the Sea, when the disciples were experiencing bad storms. His disciples were afraid and terrified, confusing Jesus with a ghost. Jesus assured them it was he, got to the boat, and the wind died down. After they crossed the Sea and came to Gennesaret, Jesus healed many sick people from the surrounding country. Our Gospel reading picks up from here. Its context is that the Pharisees and Scribes noticed Jesus’ disciples eating meals with unclean hands, breaking then the Jewish tradition of ritual purification. They use this incident to ridicule him and show to the crowds that he is not an orthodox religious teacher.  

Our text is a narrative story with a parable. Vv.1-5 can be considered an introduction. The Pharisees and Scribes express their indignation to Jesus about his disciples who broke the tradition of their ancestors. The narrator explains what this tradition is about. Then, in the body of the text, Jesus addresses the issue in three stages. (1) He blames the Pharisees and Scribes for worrying solely when human laws are broken, but they are not concerned about divine laws that they transgress every day (vv.6-8).  (2) He condemns them for replacing divine laws with human laws and for adding human laws to the religion, making them sound like they were from God (vv.9-13. These verses are omitted in our reading.)  (3) Through a parable, he teaches that foods, which the Jews consider unclean, cannot defile a person, but the evils that come out from the hearts of people can (vv. 14-15, 21-23).

Let us start with the introductory part. The Pharisees and Scribes noticed Jesus’ disciples eating meals without following the ritual purification of hands, which was the tradition of their ancestors (elders). This tradition refers to unwritten interpretations of human laws, which the Pharisees and Scribes regarded as having the same binding force as the laws of Moses. They approach Jesus and express their indignation to him. They asked, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat with unclean hands?” Through this question, they do not attack the disciples but Jesus. Their objective is to ridicule Jesus in front of the crowds and thus undermine his authority as a teacher.  The message they give to the crowds is that Jesus does not teach his disciples even the most basic practices of piety, so he is not an acceptable religious teacher (vv.1-5)

 In his answer, Jesus does not say if his disciples did right or wrong. Instead, he changes the trajectory of the question from a concern about human laws to a concern about divine laws. He addresses the issue in three stages. (1) He shows how the Jews made an equation between divine laws and human laws (see vv.6-8). Quoting Isaiah, he calls them “hypocrites” because they break divine laws for the sake of human laws (vv.6-7). The Pharisees and Scribes do not observe God’s commandments as much as they do with their tradition. “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” (V. 8).

What we should understand here is that Jesus is not against human laws. He is rather against the fact that the Pharisees and Scribes are not concerned about God’s commandments, which they do not observe. They are only preoccupied when human laws are transgressed. They give more value to human laws than to divine laws. Here, our Holy Mother Church challenges us to reflect on how much value we give to observing divine laws (God’s Commandments and the Church’s doctrines and precepts.) Are we concerned when we break divine laws? For instance, the Church teaches that all faithful are obligated to participate in Sunday Masses and other holy days of obligation; we should avoid activities that prevent us from worshiping our Lord and enjoying God’s day (Canon 1247). We should be very concerned every time we break God’s commandments and the teachings of the Church.

(2) In vv. 9-13 that are omitted in our reading, Jesus condemns the Jews for replacing divine laws with human laws. He uses how the Pharisees and Scribes interpret the commandment of the Decalogue concerning parents to illustrate his argument. He condemns them also for adding human laws to the religion, making them sound like they were from God. “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! … You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.” (vv. 9, 13). The author of the book of Deuteronomy dealt with this danger in the passage we heard in our first reading. Before he handed the commandments of God to his fellow Israelites, Moses said: “In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” (Dt 4: 2). Moses urged them not to add nor to abstract.

Today, like the Pharisees and Scribes, we sometimes replace the Church's teachings with our own. Many Christians also add to and abstract from the Church teachings, making them match what we want. Our lesson here is that we should not replace the Church's teachings with our own ways of seeing things. We should not add to or abstract from God’s commandments and the Church’s precepts even though they challenge us.

(3) Jesus addresses the problem of clean and unclean foods. He told the crowds a parable: “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” (Vv. 4-15). He explained this parable to his disciples in private. In this parable, Jesus refers to the human-made dietary laws of the Jewish religion. It is about the clean and unclean foods that Christians of Jewish origin tried to impose on Christians from Gentile backgrounds in the early Church. This law states that prohibited food makes people impure. So, these people cannot be fit to partake in cultic worship. Jesus’ intervention makes it clear: what makes people clean or unclean is not what enters the mouth but the evils that come out from people’s hearts. So, we must be concerned about the sins we commit every day. Jesus lists some of them: “Evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly.” We have many more. In this month of the Word of God, we pray that the Sacred Scriptures we read and hear every time transform us to leave all our sins behind us. This is what Saint James advises us in our second reading. He stresses that the Word of God is a genuine benefit from above, freely given by God. If we welcome this Word with faith, it will save us. He invites us to not only listen to God’s Word but also observe it.

As we begin September, the month of the Word of God, let us pray that the liturgy of this Mass will enable us to observe divine laws, which are God’s commandments and the Church’s teachings, especially promoting the Word of God where we live. Amen.   

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time B – August 25, 2024

 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time B – August 25, 2024

Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Ephesians 5: 21-32; John 6:60-69

 

Theme: “Do you also want to leave?”

For five consecutive Sundays, we have been deeply meditating on the 'Bread of Life' discourse, a sacred text in chapter six of the Gospel of John. Today, as we reach the culmination of this spiritual journey, we are invited to choose between continuing to follow Jesus or leaving him. In our first reading, Joshua, as the leader, asked his fellow Israelites to decide whether they accept to serve God, their Lord, or serve the pagan gods. We, too, after reflecting on the Bread of Life Discourse, our Holy Mother Church calls us to reexamine our discipleship and make a wise decision to follow and serve our Lord Jesus, who has the Word of eternal life. This decision must be visible through our love for each other and Jesus' Church. This is the kind of love Saint Paul exhorts the Ephesian married believers in our second reading. He calls them to a strong mutual love, using Jesus's love for his Church as an example.

Our Gospel is the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse. Recalling its context helps us understand it better. Everything started with the sign of the multiplication of loaves and feeding over five thousand people. Over five thousand people followed Jesus because they had seen how Jesus healed the royal official’s son (see John 4:46-540) and the man at the pool on the Sabbath (see John 5:1-9). Jesus fed all of them with just five barley loaves and two fish that he multiplied miraculously (6:1-15).

The crowd misinterpreted Jesus’ actions as that of royalty and attempted to make him king. Being aware of their plan and disagreeing with them, Jesus fled from them in the evening of that day. The disciples left on a boat, going across the sea to Capernaum without Jesus. It was dark, and the sea was stirred up because of the strong wind when they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them. They were afraid. Jesus told them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” (6:14-23. The lectionary omits this passage.)

The following day, the crowd who ate the miraculous food followed Jesus again. Jesus revealed that they did not look for him because they saw the sign but because of the miraculous food they ate. He then invited them to work not for the food that perishes but for the food that gives eternal life. The crowd requested a sign that they could see first before they believed in him. According to them, this sign must be greater than the manna that Moses gave to their ancestors in the desert during their journey from Egypt to the promised land. In his answer,  Jesus first clarified that his Father God, not Moses, gave the manna to their ancestors as they mistakenly thought. Second, the greater sign they requested was the true bread God “gives” them. When they asked Jesus to give them that “true bread,” Jesus declared that he was that “true bread,” the Bread of Life, which upon consuming, one would never hunger and thirst again. Jesus assured them that his will, which is also his Father’s will, is to raise everyone who believes in him on the last day for eternal life (vv. 24-40).

In hearing that, the crowd, whom the narrator identified as the Jews from that moment, murmured because they knew Jesus and his family very well as they lived together in Galilee. For them, Jesus was not someone of high status, but how he referred to himself as the living bread. In his response, Jesus taught them about his relationship with his Father and his being the bread of life (vv. 41-51).

Then, the Jews disagreed with Jesus, asking how the man Jesus could give them his flesh to eat. In his answer, Jesus again teaches them that his flesh and blood are true food and drink. Believers who consume this true food remain in him and he in them, and they will have life because of him in the same way he has life because of his Father (vv. 52-59.)

Our today’s text picks up from here. It is a narrative account with images. It begins with the crowd murmuring about the impossibility of accepting Jesus’ teaching (v. 60). It continues with Jesus’ further teaching (vv. 61-65). It ends with the crowd’s final decision to leave Jesus and return to their former lives (v. 66), the Twelve Apostles’ decision to continue following Jesus (vv. 68-69), and Jesus’ final comments, the verses that the lectionary omitted (vv. 70-71).

The text begins with the Jews’ question, “This saying is hard; who can accept it? (V. 60). Notice, in the passage we heard last Sunday, their question focused on Jesus, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52), but here, their question focuses on themselves. They recognize that they are the ones to decide whether they want to follow Jesus or return to their former way. They are in a crisis moment. Jesus knows how they murmure and struggle to decide because his teaching chock them. While they have free will to make their own decision, Jesus tries to help them with further information, which can convince them to believe in him and decide wisely. First, he tells them that in the future, they will see him ascending to where he was before (V. 62). Here, he probably alludes to the ascension day when he will go up to heaven in the presence of his disciples. Second, he emphasizes the importance of faith in him and the role of the Holy Spirit in their decision-making. Because Jesus’ words are spirit and life, these Jews should be in spirit, not in the flesh, and they should believe in him first before they decide (vv. 63-65). Because they are in the flesh and do not believe in Jesus, they finally decide to quit their discipleship at this point and return to their former way of life (v. 66). Jesus then turns toward his Twelve Apostles and asks them if they, too, want to leave him. Through Peter, all the Twelve renew their loyalty to Jesus, “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.” (Vv. 67-69). (The lectionary omitted the last two verses (70-71), in which Jesus mentions that one of the Twelve, Judas, whom he calls “devil,” will betray him.) Their response echoes the response of the chosen people to Joshua in our first reading. Joshua asked his fellow Israelites to choose if they wanted to serve the Lord, who freed them from slavery in Egypt, or the false gods. He told them that he and his household had already chosen to serve the Lord. The people swore they would never forsake the Lord to serve the false gods. They recognized the marvelous deeds the Lord has accomplished for them (see Joshua 24:15-17).

We are at the end of our Five-Sunday meditation on the Bread of Life Discourse. It is time for us, too, to decide whether to continue to follow Jesus or leave him. Like this crowd in our Gospel, maybe we, too, accepted to be baptized and baptized our children for reasons other than faith in Jesus and accepting his teaching. Remember, the decision we are called to make today is based on whether or not we accept Jesus’ teachings and believe in him. We cannot say that we are Jesus’ followers if we do not believe in him and accept and observe his teaching, which is the teaching of the Church. When we do not believe that the bread and wine the priests consecrate at Masses become Jesus’ Body and Blood and that the Eucharist is the spiritual food for our souls and gives us eternal life, then, like the Jews of our Gospel, we stop being Jesus’ followers. When we accept all the lessons Jesus taught in this Bread of Life Discourse, believe that the Eucharist we receive in the Holy Communion is Jesus’ Body and Blood, and gives everlasting life to our souls, then, like the Twelve apostles, our decision is to continue to be Jesus’ followers.

Before we make this critical and personal decision, let us take the necessary time to review again all of Jesus’ teachings in this Bread of Life Discourse. Here are the recapitulating points: Jesus cares for us when we follow him. He feeds us like he fed the five thousand people (the first Sunday of our meditation). He invites us to work, not for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which is to unite with him in the sacrament of the Eucharist at Mass (second Sunday). We are on our earthly journey to heaven, where we will meet God. So, to not starve with hunger, we need Jesus, the bread of life, to sustain us spiritually (third Sunday). His Flesh and Blood we receive in the Holy Communion make us remain in him and he in us, and have eternal life (fourth Sunday). This union transforms our lives. We become one with Jesus, he, who is the head, and we are the members of his body, which is the Church that Saint Paul talks about when he uses the analogy of love between wife and husband in today’s second reading (fifth Sunday).

What is your and my decision then? Do you/I want to leave or continue to follow Jesus? As for me, Fr. Leon Ngandu, quoting Joshua in today’s first reading, I decide to continue to serve the Lord. Amen.

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

 

 

 

 

 

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B – August 18, 2024

Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58

 

Theme: “For my Flesh is True Food, and my Blood is True Drink”

Today is the fourth Sunday of our five-Sunday meditation on the “Bread of Life” discourse in chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, which we started on Sunday, July 28^th. Today, we continue where we left off last Sunday. Jesus declares openly, not in metaphor, that the living food he talks about is his flesh and blood. He then invites his audience to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have everlasting life. In our first reading, God, who is personified as Wisdom, invites people to eat of his food and drink of the wine he mixed. Both invitations (of the first and Gospel readings) require faith and conversion first. In the second reading, Saint Paul calls his audience to this conversion when he exhorts them to live as wise persons but not as foolish.

Our Gospel passage continues the Bread of Life Discourse. Recalling its context helps us understand it better. Everything started with the sign of the multiplication of loaves and feeding over five thousand people (6:1-15). Over five thousand people followed Jesus because they had seen how Jesus healed the royal official’s son (see John 4:46-540) and the man at the pool on the Sabbath (see John 5:1-9). Jesus fed all of them with just five barley loaves and two fish that he multiplied miraculously (6:1-15). In the evening of that day, Jesus’ disciples left on a boat, going across the sea to Capernaum without Jesus. It was dark, and the sea was stirred up because of the strong wind when they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them. They were afraid. Jesus told them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” (6:14-23). The following day, the crowd who ate the miraculous food followed Jesus again. Jesus revealed to them that their discipleship was based on a wrong motivation, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” He then invited them not to work for the food that perishes but for that gives eternal life. Jesus means that the crowd should work on their faith in him, who is the living bread. The crowd requested of him a sign greater than the manna that, according to them, Moses gave to their ancestors in the desert during their journey from Egypt to the promised land, which would convince them to believe in him. In his answer,  Jesus first clarified that his Father God, not Moses, gave the manna to their ancestors as they mistakenly thought, and second, the greater sign they requested was the true bread God “gives” them. When they asked Jesus to give them this “true bread,” Jesus declared that he was that “true bread,” the Bread of Life that upon consumed with faith, one would never hunger and thirst. Jesus assured them that his will, which is also his Father’s will, is to raise everyone who believes in him on the last day for eternal life (vv. 24-40). In hearing that, the crowd, who were identified then as the Jews, murmured because they knew very well Jesus and his family as they lived together in Galilee. For them, Jesus was not someone of high status, but how he referred to himself as the living bread. In his response, Jesus taught them about his relationship with his Father and his being the bread of life (vv. 41-51). Our Gospel passage picks up from here. Like the previous sections, our text is a conversation with images. First, Jesus states that his flesh and blood give eternal life (v. 51). Second, the Jews disagree with what Jesus just said. And third, as a response, Jesus again teaches them how his flesh and blood are true food and drink and how they give eternal life.

Jesus makes three statements. (1) He is the living bread from heaven, (2) believers who eat this bread will live forever, (3) and this bread he talks about is his flesh (v. 51). Previously, we already saw how the Jews disagreed with Jesus on the first two statements. First, Jesus cannot be from heaven because they know him and his family well. He is an ordinary person, just like them. Second, according to them, the bread Jesus talks about is not greater than the heavenly bread (manna) their ancestors ate in the desert. If their ancestors still died even though they ate the manna, the bread Jesus refers to cannot give eternal life. In our text, they refute Jesus's third statement in which he says, not metaphorically but clearly, that the living bread he talks about is his flesh. “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” (v. 52). As a response to the Jews’ disagreement, Jesus once more teaches them. He first asserts that eating his flesh and drinking his blood is the only way to have eternal life. On the last day, he will raise believers who eat his flesh and drink his blood. Second, Jesus invites the Jews to have an intimate relationship with him to have life in the same way he has life because of his intimate relationship with God his Father. Then, feeding on him bounds this intimate relationship as they will remain in him and he in them. Third, Jesus compares the manna with the true food, his flesh and blood. The manna did not give eternal life as Jesus’ flesh and blood do because the Jewish ancestors who ate the manna died, but believers who eat and drink Jesus’ flesh and blood will live forever (vv. 53-58).

Through this Gospel passage, our Holy Mother Church wants to teach us that the Eucharist is not “like" but the real Body and Blood of Christ. When we receive Holy Communion, we become one with our Lord in an intimate relationship, just as he is in an intimate relationship with his Father, God. The Eucharistic food is different from other blessed foods, including manna, since all the blessed foods sustain only our temporary needs but do not give eternal life as the Body and Blood of Christ do.

Our Holy Mother Church encourages us to attend Masses regularly, especially on Sundays, and strengthen our intimate relationship with our Lord by receiving his Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. Feeding on Jesus demands conversion and faith first. In our first reading, we heard how God, personified as Wisdom, invited people to come and eat his food and drink the wine he had mixed to live. This invitation requires conversion first: “Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.” (Prov. 9:6). In our second reading, Saint Paul also stresses conversion when he calls the Ephesian believers to watch carefully how they live. They must live not as foolish but as wise. To live as wise means to always try to understand what is the will of the Lord (Eph 5:17b). The will of the Lord is exactly what Jesus, in the Gospel story, wants us to do: to come to him and eat his flesh and drink his blood with faith to have eternal life.

Let us ask God’s grace in this Eucharistic liturgy so that we, our family members, relatives, and all people come to understand and believe that the Eucharistic bread and wine the priest consecrate at each Mass become the real Body and Blood of Christ and give us eternal life. May we always respond to Jesus’ invitations by attending his Eucharistic celebrations (especially on Sundays) and receiving him at the Holy Communion with faith and conversion of heart. When we do all these, he will raise us up on the last day and grant us everlasting life. Amen.  

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD