Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 116
Reading I
Elijah went a day’s journey into the
desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (9a) Taste and see the
goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved
children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Jews murmured about Jesus
because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ”
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
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 bread that 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.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
This week, in the Gospel Reading, Jesus continues to go deeper into His instruction through The Bread of Life discourses by revealing His divinity and that He was sent by the Father. It is through Him that we approach the Father. He also gives us a glimpse into His divinity by proclaiming the words of the prophets, “They shall be taught by God.” There were many that were challenged by this concept. There were those who could not accept what Jesus was saying because they remembered where He came from: the son of a carpenter from Nazareth. This caused much disbelief: what was seen physically could not overcome the spiritual dimension which was being put forth; even though this spirituality had been enforced by Jesus’ wisdom and the miracles He performed. These were not enough to overcome the human limitations and lack of faith that the people had. We too suffer from this condition which leads us to a natural rebellion against God. This becomes an impediment to our progress and understanding of Him.
We cannot rely on miracles alone. We cannot rely on the words of other people. Even Sacred Scripture and worship can only get us so far. At some point we have to rely on our relationship with Jesus Christ and get to know Him. It is all about how deep our relationship is with Him and how much effort we are willing to put into that relationship. The more we put in then the better the results will ultimately be. We can either live our lives in a state of doubt and anxiety or we can pursue God which will cause the negative feelings to be replaced with confidence. The bad things will always be there to threaten us but if our relationship with God is strong then these things will be easily dismissed in favor of the better route.
Where we are lacking God will fill in the holes. We are all works in progress and are in need of repair. Even when we feel that we are whole and cannot get any better constant maintenance is required to maintain what we have gained. We see this in the case of Elijah. What he could not do himself God was there to provide for him. Here was one of the greatest of prophets who found himself in crisis; overwhelmed by that which opposed him. In his moment of desperation God was there to nourish him and give him what he needed to complete his journey. He was fed physically and spiritually. God does not set us up for failure. He wants us to succeed in everything that we do. We will always be groomed for victory if we accept what is being offered to us.
When we have negative feelings and doubts no good can come from it. It is critical to push them out and let The Love of God take their place. If we hang on to them we have actually chose them above God. This obviously creates a barrier between us and God. We become weaker as a result. We all know how it feels when we feel the love of God and we know what the absence of God feels like. So why choose the latter instead of the former? This is where The Apostle Paul’s advice comes in. He tells us not to “Grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” A list of negative thoughts and actions are then given; followed by advice that we be kind, compassionate, and forgiving just as Christ was forgiving to us. These positive things have the capability to feed us and transform us into new creations. From these will flow love and we will feel that love; all the while feeling loved. When things are done correctly they are done with love. This is part of the way we are fed by God.
It is through Jesus Christ that The Father is realized. We cannot separate Jesus from the Father nor ignore the Love of God which is The Holy Spirit. God calls us to love Him and then we are drawn naturally to Jesus Christ from where The Love of God is realized. Our relationship with God is developed throughout our lifetime and is perfected when we join with Him completely. Jesus nourishes us throughout this process and gives us everything we need to continue on this journey. When we feel battered and broken we can then ask for more of His help. There is no limit on what He will give to us. All we have to do is ask.
The Bread of Life is Jesus Christ. He demonstrated that all of our needs, wants, and desires can be filled through Him. When we factor Him into all of our thoughts and actions we cannot go wrong. In fact, when the focus is on Jesus, we are set upon the right path. Even sin and death cannot oppose us when we keep Him in that position of power with His will above ours. Yes, we will be tempted to veer off the narrow yet safe path to venture off into the thickets and thorns that line the roadway but He is always there urging us to let go of the wheel and allow Him to drive again. It is in our best interest to allow Him into the driver’s seat. It is in our best interest to allow Him to cook in the kitchen and to feed us the banquet that He so readily wants to prepare for us. Why would we ever want to settle for that which we create and can be prepared in a microwave? What Jesus has for us is so much better than we can ever do or prepare ourselves. There is no need to act like God. We have a Father already who wishes to fulfill that roll.
Deacon Tom
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