Skip to main content

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

By

During last week’s readings we were introduced to Jesus as the bread of life.  Just as God provided manna in the desert for the Israelites, God gave us his son so that we may live.  This week we continue with this theme of bread as we dive deeper into our understanding of bread bringing life.

The Word for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
John 6:41-51

We open with a reading from the 1st Book of Kings.  As we enter the narrative the great prophet Elijah is on the run (as Jezebel has falsely accused him of killing all the other prophets).  He’s traveling South, out of Israel, through Judah, on his way to Mt. Horab, the mountain of the Lord.  Halfway through his journey he’s ready to give up.  As he sleeps, however, an angel of the Lord brings him a hearth cake and a jug of water.  Strengthened by this food, he is able to continue his journey of forty days and forty nights (yes, that well known biblical number indicating a moment of transition).  Our Psalm, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” gives us a sense of both the physical, like the bread and water God provided Elijah, as well as a sense of the glorious, the understanding that God will hear our call and answer our needs.

Our Gospel from John continues with the “bread of life” discourse we started last week.  Jesus has just explained to the crowd that he is the bread of life and as we enter this week’s passage, the Jews in the crowd are murmuring and questioning his credentials.  Jesus tells them to stop murmuring among themselves and reminds them that no one comes to him except those called by God, and that he will raise them on the last day.  Jesus gets his authority from God, and that just as God provided their ancestors manna in the desert, God is now providing them with the bread of life through Jesus… that his flesh will bring life to the world.

For our second reading we continue our study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Here we step into the middle of a discourse where Paul is explaining the rules for this new life in Christ.  All these rules might seem an arduous task for some, so in this short passage Paul tells them that they should not grieve having received the Holy Spirit.  Instead, they need to put all their bitterness behind and forgive, just as God has forgiven them through Christ.  Paul instructs them, “So be imitators of God” and to “live in love.”

Final Thoughts:
Bread is an essential part of life.  The ancients understood this significance, which is why bread often played an important element in their religious ceremonies.  For Jewish people this is seen at the Passover cedar with the blessing and breaking of the bread.  Jesus, with his sacrifice on the cross becomes the bread of life, broken and shared among us all who believe in him.  He establishes this here in our Gospel today in the bread of life discourse and again at the Last Supper when he held the bread in his hands and said “this is my body.”  The same words we repeat at every Mass, the bread, his body, given up for us, that we might have life everlasting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

By
Who speaks for the Lord?  Do you have to be a prophet?  A priest?  A bishop?  The Pope?  What about you?  The answer, according to our readings this week, is “whomever God calls,” and that could be you. The Word for the 26tth Sunday of Ordinary Time Numbers 11:25-29 Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 Our first reading comes from the Book of Numbers.  This book is a continuation of the Exodus story, from the point where they leave the Sinai (after receiving the Law) to the point where they are ready to enter the Promised Land.  The book gives us some history of these years interspersed with sections of legal codes.  This Sunday’s passage deals with the commissioning the elders, those 70 individuals chosen by Moses to receive some of the Spirit so that they may prophesy (preach) among the people.  But during this time there were two men, Eldad and Medad, who were not with the group at the tent, but who also recei...
Post a Comment
Read more

3rd Sunday of Advent - Cycle C

By
“Shout for Joy!”  The opening lines of our first reading expresses the feelings we should be having during this third Sunday of Advent.  Also known as Gaudete Sunday (Latin for “rejoice”), we celebrate that we have now past the half-way point of our penitent reflection – the “hump day” of Advent, if you will.  What have we to be so joyful about?  Our readings provide the answer: The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Advent Zephaniah 3:14-18a Psalm 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke3:10-18 Our first reading comes from the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah.  Though we don’t hear from Zephaniah very often in our Sunday Liturgies, and though the book itself isn’t that long (only 3 chapters), the importance of his message not only can be seen in his predecessors Jeremiah and Baruch, but may even have had a profound effect on the Judean monarchy itself by moving King Josiah to begin his campaign of religious reform.  Our passage this week, though similar to the passages...
Post a Comment
Read more

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

By
What is truly valuable?  As a species humanity seems constantly preoccupied with this question, starting from our individual perspective and building up to our families, our parish, our community, all the way up to the entire world view.  Whole industries have grown around this idea of value, from the advertising industry that tries to convince you of the value of what they’re selling, to insurance companies that can set a monetary value on everything, including your own life.  Our faith tradition also has some thoughts on this question, as addressed by our readings this week: The Word for the 28tth Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 7:7-11 Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17 Hebrews 4:12-13 Mark 10:17-30 Our first reading is from the Book of Wisdom.  You may recall that we had a passage from this book three weeks ago, but by way of reminder, the Book of Wisdom comes to us from the Jewish community in Alexandria some 50 years before Christ.  Typical of wisdom literature in...
Post a Comment
Read more