21st Sunday - B (August 26, 2018)

“We Have Come to Believe”

John 6:60-69

“You have the words of eternal life.”  “You are the Holy One of God.”

Those are affirmative statements of faith that Peter professes.  They are even more significant considering that “many of Jesus’ disciples” now walk away from him.

Peter and the rest of the Twelve could not have just profess such faith in Jesus on the spot.  It is the result of a process.  Peter says, “We have come to believe and are convinced.”

Faith is first and foremost a gift from God.  However, Peter and his friends “have come to believe” in Jesus because they have been with him, listened to him, and shared life with him.

Only by spending time with Jesus can we come to believe and are convinced that he has the words of eternal life and that he is the Holy One of God.  

(Image source: https://www.qumran2.net ) 

20th Sunday - B (August 19, 2018)

The Eucharist – The Gift of Eternal Life

John 6:51-58

In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the phrase “eternal life” more than he does in all 3 other Gospels combine.  This is a major theme in John’s faith in Jesus.

In Chapter 3, Jesus speaks of eternal life as the gift of God’s love for the world in giving his only Son: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  (3:16).

Later, Jesus prays during the Last Supper, summarizing his mission that he spoke of in 3:16: “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”  Knowing Jesus is having eternal life.

And in today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of his body and blood as the gift of eternal life already given to us even now.  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”  (Note:  the verb is in the present tense).

Knowing Jesus is not some abstract knowledge.  In his body and blood, we encounter the Divine and God’s loving gift of eternal life.

Image source:  www.agnusday.org

19th Sunday - B (August 12, 2018)

“My Flesh for the Life of the World”
John 6:41-51

In this short passage, 10 verses in total, Jesus repeats five times the universality of God’s salvation. Though they are different, the words “whoever,” “anyone,” and “everyone” convey the same meaning. 

God’s salvation is given to all humanity in the coming, death, and resurrection of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. 

This salvation continues to be given to us today in the Eucharist – “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 

18th Sunday - B (August 5, 2018)

“Give Us This Bread Always”

John 6:24-35

People went looking for Jesus because they “ate the loaves and were filled.”  Now they want more of the same kind of bread.

That causes them to lose sight of the greater gift Jesus has for them – “the bread of life.”

What things that do not last forever, or desire and expectation of them, draw me away from the bread of life?

Image source: https://www.qumran2.net

17th Sunday - B (July 29, 2018)

Abundance

John 6: 1-15

Beginning today, for five Sundays, instead of the Gospel of Mark, we’ll have Chapter 6 from the Gospel of John. Jesus speaks of himself as the Bread of Life for the most part of this chapter.

The chapter begins with this miracle.  And John certainly highlights the abundance of the food that Jesus gives.

What humans can offer is so limited.  “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”  “A boy has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”

In contrast, Jesus gave them “as much as they wanted.”  There was “more than they could eat.”  They “had their fill.”  And there were still twelve full baskets of leftovers.  

Image source:  www.agnusday.org

16th Sunday - B (July 22, 2018)

Jesus Christ – the Source and Model of Compassion 

Ephesian 2: 13-18 & Mark 6: 30-34

Jesus gives us brothers and sisters to love and he shows us how to be compassionate. 

St. Paul, a Jew, calls the Gentile Ephesians his “brothers and sisters.”  He then gives the source of this relationship.  It is Christ who has brought all into God’s family by his blood on the cross (2^nd Reading).

And Jesus himself is the ultimate model of compassion – “his heart was moved with pity” for the people when he saw them “like sheep without a shepherd.”   

Jesus' attitude should challenge me to ask if I discriminate people who are different.  Moreover, do I live the compassion of Jesus in treating other people in my life?

Image source:  www.agnusday.org

 

15th Sunday - B (July 15, 2018)

We Are God’s Children

Ephesians 1:3-14 & Mark 6:7-13

Today’s second reading and the Gospel complement each other in giving us an exhortation in our identity and mission in the world. 

In the second reading, we hear Paul’s conviction that even before God created the world, “God chose us in Christ to be holy and without blemish.”  Moreover, “in love, God destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ.”  Thus, in Christ, by God’s grace, we have become God’s children.

Then in the Gospel, Jesus “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out” with his power to do what he himself had been doing – to preach, to drive out demons, and to cure the sick. 

What was given to the Twelve continues with us today.

By God’s favor, we are children of God, sharing in the mission of God’s only Son. 

Image source:  www.agnusday.org