Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 119
Lectionary: 119
Wisdom has built
her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
“Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding.”
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
“Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding.”
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 poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. 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 poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Brothers and
sisters:
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,
but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,
but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus said to the
crowds:
“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.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
“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.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
Scripture Study, Aug.
16, 2015
August 16, 2015
Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time
This week we celebrate the Twentieth Sunday of
Ordinary Time. The readings continue their reflection on the Holy Eucharist
that began three Sundays ago. The first reading is taken from a description of
a feast prepared and given by Wisdom, who is frequently personified in the
scriptures as a woman. She calls on all those who pass by to partake of her
feast so they may “live and advance in the way of understanding.” The second
reading calls us to live as wise persons rather than foolish ones. It reminds
us that living wisely means living in the Spirit of Christ. The Gospel reading
continues with the theme of last week. Emphasis is now placed on the reality of
the Eucharist as real food and drink. We need the life-giving presence of Jesus
in the Holy Eucharist in order to “remain in Him” so that “He will remain in
us” and give us life eternal. A question raised in my mind by these readings
is: How do I let the Holy Eucharist affect me? How deeply do I let myself enter
into the mystery of Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist and in my life?
First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6
1 Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has set up her seven columns;
2 She has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
yes, she has spread her table.
3 She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
from the heights out over the city:
4 “Let whoever is simple turn in here;
to him who lacks understanding, I say,
to him who lacks understanding, I say,
5 Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
6 Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding.
advance in the way of understanding.
NOTES on First Reading:
* Chapter 9 presents the contrasting
invitations of Wisdom (9:1-12) and Folly (9:13-18) who have each prepared a
table and are seeking to invite guests to come in and partake of their feast.
* Indication of a wealthy household with an
interior courtyard. The number, seven, is symbolic of perfection or completion.
* The house symbolizes the school over which
Wisdom presides, the banquet, her teaching. The house is also the world with
its pillars (Job 26:11) at whose construction Wisdom was present (8:27-30) and
within which she delights to live (8:31).
* 9:2 In the ancient world wine was always
mixed with water before drinking. The wine of that day was much rougher than
wine today and mixing water with it took the edge off. Common belief was that
only the gods could drink wine straight; a mortal man would be made insane by
drinking straight wine unmixed with water.
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20
15 Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons
but as wise, 16 making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil. 17 Therefore, do
not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.18 And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one
another (in) psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the
Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
NOTES on Second Reading:
* 15-20 These verses are largely an admonition
to be filled with the Spirit of God and then to walk in that Spirit by
practices that are associated with the Spirit-filled life. The wording is
similar to Col 4:5; Rom 12:2; Col 1:9; Proverbs 23:31; Col 3:16-17 .
Gospel Reading: John 6: 51-58
51 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.” 52 The Jews
quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to
eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say
to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do
not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last
day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood
is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my
blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just as the
living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one
who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your
ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
NOTES on Gospel:
* 6:51a This verse completes the passage by
picking up the sequence in v 35: I Am saying; Condition:”anyone comes…”;”anyone
eats…”; salvation: “not hunger…”,”live forever”. Verse 51a makes it clear that
what is implied by not hungering and not thirsting is eternal life.
* 6:51b-59 This portion of this long discourse
is properly Eucharistic. Up to this point the symbolism has been: bread of life
= Christ which God gives = reveals to us. Now it becomes: Christ who gives:
this bread = His flesh = Himself.
* From verse 51b on, the discourse takes on a
much stronger Eucharistic tone rather than referring simply to Jesus as the
revealer of the Father as it does up to 51b. John refers to the “flesh” of
Jesus rather than the “body” of Christ which is the Eucharistic word used by
Paul and the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). John�s use of the word, “flesh” harkens back to John 1:14 where John
first brings together the concepts of the Word and flesh. Although John�s reference to the “flesh” of Christ is probably closer to the
original Semitic expression used by Jesus, in the early church both terms were
used interchangeably in a Eucharistic sense. Use of “flesh” rather than “body”
would not have encouraged Jesus� listeners to have a purely symbolic
understanding of the language of this section because the Hebrew phrase, “to
eat someone�s flesh” is a figure of speech for “to
slander” or “backbite” (See Psalm 27:2; the Aramaic text of Dan 3:8). Verses
57b and 58b speak of having life in the future tense but 54a and 56b use the
language of realized eschatology (that is: speaking of the future as if it
already were accomplished). Verses 56 uses the language of remaining that
appears in the farewell discourses (15:4-5; 17:21,23).
* The suggestion (Bultmann) that verses 51b-59
were added during the final editing of the Gospel of John does not need to
imply that they represent a “correction” to the Gospel to make it acceptable to
the emerging sacramental theology of the developing orthodoxy. The language, “I
will raise him up on the last day”, which appears to reflect later editing
appears again in v 54. It has been suggested that this material may have
originated in a Johannine last supper tradition that was recast to fit into the
preceding discourse.
* 6:52 This verse begins a detailed exposition
on the verb,”to eat” in such a way that the symbolic meaning of ” eating and
drinking” established in the first part of the discourse can now be applied to
the “bread” of the eucharistic celebration. We must appreciate this process in
order to appreciate that it was the literal understanding of the words that led
to the quarrel among the Jews.
* 6:53 Verses 53-56 These verses expand the
original statement of V 51b about Jesus’ flesh with the expression “flesh and
blood”. Each verse follows the pattern of referring to eating the flesh and
then drinking the blood. The assertion that they are real food and drink refers
back to v 35. The other verses follow the claim that it is necessary to “eat
his flesh and drink his blood” with a reference to salvation: (a)” have life in
you” (v53); (b) “have eternal life”[and ” I will raise him up on the last day”]
(v54); (c) “remain in me and I in him” (v56).
* The strong negative warning here in v 53 and
the immanence of the formula “remain in me” in v 56 and in 15:4-5 may indicate
a warning directed toward a later crisis in the community. John 15 speaks of
the need for the disciples to remain attached to Jesus, the vine (also a
eucharistic symbol; see Mark 14:25). This crisis could be a result of
persecution or it could be the split indicated in the letters of John.
* The parallel sayings about flesh and blood
appear to represent the eucharistic formula used in the Johannine community.
Unlike the formulas in the Synoptic Gospels and Paul, the body of Christ is
referred to with the word, “saryx”, “flesh”, not “soma”, “body”. ” Flesh” also
appears in the formulas of Ignatius of Antioch. The Johannine formula probably
also included a “for, on behalf of” clause, which may be represented in the
“for the life of the world” of 6:51.
* 6:54 The verb, “to eat” has changed in this
verse. Up to here Jesus used the common verb for eating (phago, to eat). In
this verse he uses the very graphic word (trogo, to gnaw, crunch) for chewing
or gnawing to emphasize the reality of the “eating”.
* 6:57 The unusual expression “the living
Father” may have been formed on analogy with “the living bread” of 6:51. The
Father is seen as the Source of all life.
The Father sent the Son to give life (3:16-17)
and the life which the Son has is the Father’s own life given to the Son
(5:26). Here the type of relationship between the Father and Son is extended to
the believer who partakes of the Eucharist. This verse also uses a pattern of
relationships between Father-Son and believer that belongs in the context of
the farewell discourses (14:20-21; 17:21).
Immanence formulas, developed on the basis of Johannine Christology, express the relationship between the believer and Jesus established in the Eucharist.
Immanence formulas, developed on the basis of Johannine Christology, express the relationship between the believer and Jesus established in the Eucharist.
* 6:58 The words, “the one who eats the bread
will live forever” conclude the discourse and bind it to the larger context by
drawing a sharp contrast between the community that possesses the “bread from
heaven” and its Jewish opponents, whose ancestors had only manna and died
(6:49-50).
Meditation: "Whoever eats this bread will live
forever"
Why did Jesus offer himself as "food and drink"? The
Jews were scandalized and the disciples were divided when Jesus said "unless
you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you." What
a hard saying, unless you understand who Jesus is and why he calls himself
the bread of life. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves
(John 6:3-13), when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the loaves
through his disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that prefigured the
superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. The
Gospel of John has no account of the Last Supper meal (just the foot washing
ceremony and Jesus' farewell discourse). Instead, John quotes extensively from
Jesus' teaching on the bread of life.
In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in a
thanksgiving sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator as
the giver and sustainer of life. Melchizedek, who was both a priest and king
(Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-4), offered a sacrifice of bread and wine. His
offering prefigured the offering made by Jesus, our high priest and king
(Hebrews 7:26; 9:11; 10:12). The remembrance of the manna in the wilderness
recalled to the people of Israel that they live - not by earthly bread alone -
but by the bread of the Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).
At the last supper when Jesus blessed the cup of wine, he gave
it to his disciples saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my
blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew
26:28). Jesus was pointing to the sacrifice he was about to make on the cross,
when he would shed his blood for us - thus pouring himself out and giving
himself to us - as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world.
His death on the cross fulfilled the sacrifice of the paschal (passover) lamb
whose blood spared the Israelites from death in Egypt.
Paul the Apostle tells us that "Christ, our paschal lamb,
has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians5:7). Paul echoes the words of John the
Baptist who called Jesus the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world" (John 1:29). Jesus made himself an
offering and sacrifice, a gift that was truly pleasing to the Father. He "offered
himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14) and "gave
himself as a sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2).
Jesus chose the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover to fulfill
what he had announced at Capernaum - giving his disciples his body and his
blood as the true bread of heaven. Jesus' passing over to his Father by his
death and resurrection - the new passover - is anticipated in the Last Supper
and celebrated in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish
Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the church in the glory of God's
kingdom. When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples to eat his flesh and drink
his blood, he invites us to take his life into the very center of our being.
That life which he offers is the very life of God himself. Do you hunger for
the bread of life?
"Lord Jesus, you nourish and sustain us with your very own
presence and life-giving word. You are the bread of life - the heavenly food
that sustains us now and that produces everlasting life within us. May I always
hunger for you and be satisfied in you alone."
TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, JOHN 6:51-58
(Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34; Ephesians 5:15-20)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, JOHN 6:51-58
(Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34; Ephesians 5:15-20)
KEY VERSE: "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" (v 54).
TO KNOW: Jesus is both word and sacrament. In the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, there are two important elements in Jesus' pronouncement that he was the "bread of life" (v 35). In John 6:35-50, the "bread of life" is a figure of God's revelation in Jesus ̶ the "word made flesh" (1:14). Beginning in verse 51, the sacramental theme comes to the fore. Just as God fed the Israelites with heavenly manna on their wilderness journey in the Exodus (Ex 16:4), Jesus nourished the faithful with his own body and blood on their spiritual journey. Jesus plainly said that his flesh was "true food" and his blood was "true drink" (v 55). The reality of these words was emphasized by the Greek word for eating (trogos) that meant to "gnaw" or to "munch." Ordinary bread sustained human life, but "heavenly bread" enabled those who ate it to receive divine life. In the Eucharist we are spiritually transformed by Christ's body and blood so that we can worthily enter God's eternal reign.
TO LOVE: In what ways am I Christ's presence to those I meet today?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, I praise you for your loving kindness in giving us divine food for our souls.
Sunday 16 August 2015
SUN 16TH.
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Proverbs
9:1-6. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord—Ps
33(34):2-3, 10-15. Ephesians 5:15-20. John 6:51-58 [St Stephen of Hungary].
‘How can
this man give us his flesh to eat?’
To many
of his disciples, this statement of Jesus, that they were to eat his flesh,
seemed intolerable. In their perplexity they asked how it was to be possible.
Jesus simply reaffirmed that he is the living bread come down from heaven, and
that those who eat of it will live forever. The poor, for whom the provision of
daily bread for their family is a constant struggle, would have understood
better than most of us.
Then
Jesus advanced a step further, to say that we who eat this bread have eternal
life already. Perhaps the reason why Jesus did not answer the question is that
he is himself the explanation. His life, his love, his authority, his miracles,
and the Power that raised him from the dead is the basis of our faith, and that
is a firmer basis than any attempt to explain the Real Presence in merely human
terms.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
|
Superior Civilization
|
A civilization is not superior because it has more bathtubs and
electric switches, deeper tunnels and taller buildings, more automobiles and
radios than any other civilization, but…it is superior if it produces better
men and more saints. –Fulton Sheen
August
16
St. Stephen of Hungary
(975-1038)
St. Stephen of Hungary
(975-1038)
The Church is universal, but its expression is always affected—for
good or ill—by local culture. There are no “generic” Christians; there are
Mexican Christians, Polish Christians, Filipino Christians. This fact is
evident in the life of Stephen, national hero and spiritual patron of Hungary.
Born a
pagan, he was baptized around the age of 10, together with his father,
chief of the Magyars, a group who migrated to the Danube area in the ninth
century. At 20 he married Gisela, sister to the future emperor, St. Henry. When
he succeeded his father, Stephen adopted a policy of Christianization of the
country for both political and religious reasons. He suppressed a series of
revolts by pagan nobles and welded the Magyars into a strong national group. He
asked the pope to provide for the Church's organization in Hungary—and
also requested that the pope confer the title of king upon him. He
was crowned on Christmas day in 1001.
Stephen
established a system of tithes to support churches and pastors and to relieve
the poor. Out of every 10 towns one had to build a church and support a priest.
He abolished pagan customs with a certain amount of violence, and commanded all
to marry, except clergy and religious. He was easily accessible to all,
especially the poor.
In 1031
his son Emeric died, and the rest of Stephen's days were embittered by
controversy over his successor. His nephews attempted to kill him. He died in
1038 and was canonized, along with his son, in 1083.
Comment:
God’s gift of holiness is a Christlike love of God and humanity. Love must sometimes bear a stern countenance for the sake of ultimate good. Christ attacked hypocrites among the Pharisees, but died forgiving them. Paul excommunicated the incestuous man at Corinth “that his spirit may be saved.” Some Christians fought the Crusades with noble zeal, in spite of the unworthy motives of others. Today, after senseless wars, and with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of human motives, we shrink from any use of violence, physical or “silent.” This wholesome development continues as people debate whether it is possible for a Christian to be an absolute pacifist or whether evil must sometimes be repelled by force.
God’s gift of holiness is a Christlike love of God and humanity. Love must sometimes bear a stern countenance for the sake of ultimate good. Christ attacked hypocrites among the Pharisees, but died forgiving them. Paul excommunicated the incestuous man at Corinth “that his spirit may be saved.” Some Christians fought the Crusades with noble zeal, in spite of the unworthy motives of others. Today, after senseless wars, and with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of human motives, we shrink from any use of violence, physical or “silent.” This wholesome development continues as people debate whether it is possible for a Christian to be an absolute pacifist or whether evil must sometimes be repelled by force.
Quote:
“Although the Church has contributed much to the development of culture, experience shows that, because of circumstances, it is sometimes difficult to harmonize culture with Christian teaching.
“Although the Church has contributed much to the development of culture, experience shows that, because of circumstances, it is sometimes difficult to harmonize culture with Christian teaching.
“These difficulties
do not necessarily harm the life of faith. Indeed they can stimulate the mind
to a more accurate and penetrating grasp of the faith. For recent studies and
findings of science, history and philosophy raise new questions which influence
life and demand new theological investigations” (Vatican II,Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 62).
LECTIO: 20TH
SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (B)
Lectio:
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Jesus, the bread of life
John 6:51-58
John 6:51-58
Let us invoke the presence of God
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
1. LECTIO
a) The text:
51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone
who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my
flesh, for the life of the world.' 52 Then the Jews started arguing among
themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' 53 Jesus replied to
them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man
and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Anyone who does eat my flesh
and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the
last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. 57 As
the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me
will also draw life from me. 58 This is the bread which has come down from
heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone
who eats this bread will live for ever.
b) A moment of silence:
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
2. MEDITATIO
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
2. MEDITATIO
a) Some questions:
- I am the bread of life… Jesus, flesh and blood, bread and
wine. These words work a change on the altar, as Augustine says: «If you take
away the words, all you have is bread and wine; add the words and it becomes
something else. This something else is the body and blood of Christ. Take the
words away, all you have is bread and wine; add the words and they become
sacrament». How important is the word of God for me? If the word is pronounced
over my flesh can it make me become bread for the world?
b) Let us enter into the text:
v. 51. ”I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread that I shall give
is my flesh, for the life of the world”.John’s Gospel does not recount the institution of the Eucharist,
but rather the meaning it assumes in the life of the Christian community. The
symbolism of the washing of the feet and the new commandment (Jn 13:1-35) point
to the bread broken and the wine poured. The theological content is the same as
that in the synoptic Gospels. John’s ritual tradition can, however, be found in
the“eucharistic discourse” that follows the miracle of the
multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6:26-65). This text brings to light the deep
meaning of Christ’s existence given for the world, a gift that is the source of
life and that leads to a deep communion in the new commandment of membership.
The reference to the ancient miracle of the manna explains the paschal
symbolism where the idea of death is taken up and overcome by life: «Your
fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread which
comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die»(Jn
6:49-50). The bread of heaven (cfr Es 16; Jn 6:31-32)
figuratively or in reality is not meant so much for the individual as for the
community of believers, even though everyone is called to partake personally of
the food given for all. Anyone who eats the living bread will not die: the food
of the revelation is the place where life never ends. From the bread, John goes
on to use another expression to point to the body: sarx. In
the Bible this word denotes a human person in his or her fragile and weak
reality before God, and in John it denotes the human reality of the divine Word
made man (Jn 1:14a): the bread is identified with the very flesh of Jesus. Here
it is not a question of metaphorical bread, that is of the revelation of Christ
in the world, but of the eucharistic bread. While revelation, that is the
bread of life identified with the person of Jesus (Jn 6:35), is the
gift of the Father (the verb to giveis used in the present, v. 32),
the eucharistic bread, that is the body of Jesus will be offered by him through
his death on the cross prefigured in the consecration of the bread and wine at
the supper:«and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the
world»(Jn 6:51).
v. 52. Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, ‘How can
this man give us his flesh to eat?’. Here begins the drama of a way of thinking that stops at
the threshold of the visible and material and dares not cross the veil of the
mystery. This is the scandal of those who believe without believing… of those
who pretend to know but do not know. Flesh to eat: the celebration of the
Passover, the perennial rite that will go on from generation to generation, a
feast for the Lord and a memorial (cfr Es 12:14), whose meaning is Christ.
Jesus’ invitation to do what he has done “in memory” of him, is paralleled in
the words of Moses when he prescribes the paschal anamnesis: “This day
must be commemorated by you, and you must keep it as a feast ” (Ex 12,14). Now,
we know that for the Jews the celebration of the Passover was not just a
remembrance of a past event, but also its ritualisation, in the sense that God
was ready to offer again to his people the salvation needed in new and
different circumstances. Thus the past intruded into the present, leavening by
its saving power. In the same way the eucharistic sacrifice “will be able” to
give to the centuries “flesh to eat”.
vv. 53. Jesus said: “In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat
the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you”. John, like the
synoptic Gospels, uses various expressions when speaking of Christ’s giving of
himself in death, not wishing thus to convey a separation of parts, but the
totality of the person given: the spiritualised corporeity of the risen Christ,
fully permeated by the Holy Spirit in the Paschal event, will become source of
life for all believers, especially through the Eucharist, that unites closely
each on of them with the glorified Christ seated at the right hand of the
Father, and making each one partake of his own divine life. John does not
mention bread and wine, but directly what is signified by them: flesh to eat
because Christ is presence that nourishes and blood to drink – a sacrilegious
act for the Jews – because Christ is the sacrificed lamb. The sacramental
liturgical character is here evident: Jesus insists on the reality of the flesh
and of the blood referring to his death, because in the act of sacrificing the
sacrificial victims the flesh became separated from the blood.
54. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal
life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.The Passover celebrated by Jesus, the Jew, and
by the early Christians acquires a new soul: that of the resurrection of
Christ, the final exodus of perfect and full freedom (Jn 19: 31-37), which in
the Eucharist finds the new memorial, symbol of the Bread of life that sustains
during the journey in the desert, sacrifice and presence that sustains the
people of God, the Church, that, having crossed the waters of regeneration,
will not tire of making memory, as he said, (Lk 22:19; 1Cor 11:24) until the
eternal Passover.Attracted and penetrated by the presence of the Word made
flesh, Christians will live their Pesach throughout history, the passage from
the slavery of sin to the freedom of children of God. In conforming themselves
to Christ, they will be able to proclaim the wonderful works of his admirable
light, offering the eucharist of his corporeity: living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing in a spiritual cult (Rom 12:1) that befits the people of his victory,
a chosen race, a royal priesthood (cfr 1Pt 2:9).
vv. 55-56. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that
person. This promise of the
life of Christ influences greatly the life of believers: «Whoever eats
my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person» (Jn
6:56). The communion of life that Jesus has with the Father is offered to all
who eat the sacrificed body of Christ. This is not to be understood as the
magic concession of a sacramental food that automatically confers eternal life
to those who eat it. This giving of the flesh and blood needs explanation to
make it intelligible and to provide the necessary understanding of God’s
action, it needs faith on the part of those who take part in the eucharistic
banquet, and it needs first God’s action, that of his Spirit, without which
there can be no listening or faith.
v. 57. As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the
Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. The stress is not placed on the cult as
the peak and foundation of love, but on the unity of the body of Christ living
and working within the community. There is no liturgy without life. «A
Eucharist without fraternal love is equal to self condemnation, because the
body of Christ, that is the community, is despised». Indeed, in the eucharistic
liturgy the past, present and future of the history of salvation find an
efficient symbol for the Christian community, which expresses but never
substitutes for the experience of faith that must always be present in history.
Through the inseparable Supper and Cross, the people of God have come into the
ancient promises, the true land across the sea, across the desert, across the
river, a land of the milk and honey, of freedom capable of obedience. All the
great ancient plans find in this hour (cfr Jn 17:1) their fulfilment; from the
promise made to Abraham (Gn 17:1-8) to the Passover of the Exodus (Ex 12:1-51).
This is a decisive moment that gathers the whole past of the people (cfr DV 4)
and the first most noble Eucharist ever celebrated of the new covenant is
offered to the Father: the fruitful fulfilment of all expectations on the altar
of the cross.
v. 58. “This is
the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our
ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever”. When Jesus pronounces the words: «This is my body», and,
«This is my blood», he establishes a real and objective relationship between
those material elements and the mystery of his death, which finds its crowning
glory in the resurrection. These are creative words of a new situation with
common elements in human experience, words that will always and truly realise
the mysterious presence of the living Christ. The elements chosen were meant to
be and are symbol and instrument at the same time. The element of bread, which
because of its relationship to life has by itself an eschatological
significance (cfr Lk 14:15), is easily seen as an indispensable food and a
universal means of sharing. The element of wine, because of its natural
symbolism, connotes the fullness of life and the expansion of the joy of a
person (cfr Ps 103:15). In the existential Semite view, the effectiveness of
the system of signs is taken for granted. It makes distinctions that make it
possible to comprehend mysteries by faith where the senses fail. By referring
and going back to the desert and the manna, this different “Pasch”, the
material object and the sign come together, but concupiscence, which is from
the flesh, transforms the sign into matter, while the desire, which is from the
spirit, transforms the matter into sign» (P. Beauchamp, L’uno e l’altro
testamento, Paideia Ed., Brescia 1985, p. 54). In fact, the manna from
heaven comes from God in an invisible form and thus lacks identity. This lack
of evidence is seen clearly in the etymology of the word “manna”: «What is it?»
(Ex 16:15). This says what it is, a name given to almost nothing, a sign and
not a thing, a signed sign. It is proven in the moment it disappears, because
one is tempted to remedy that which disappears, to make provision of manna so
as not to run short. This is the price of what disappears to the senses. The
alternation is the time of the desert. The manna is bread that obeys the laws
of him who gives it. The law, that the manna signifies, is to expect everything
from him: what is required is belief. Because of its lack of substance, manna
creates the desire for more solid support; but in the place called “sepulchres
of greed” the thing, deprived of sign, brings death (Nm 11:34). In the desert
that which urges people to go ahead with confidence is this seeing the manna
either as a sign or as a thing in itself and thus either believe or die.
c) Let us meditate:
Jesus fulfils the true Pesach of human history: «Before
the festival of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to pass
from this world to the Father, having loved those who were his in the world,
loved them to the end. While they were at supper…» (Jn 13;,1). To
pass over: the new Pasch is precisely this passing over of Christ from this
world to the Father through the blood of his sacrifice. The Eucharist is the
memorial, bread of the desert and saving presence, covenant of fidelity and
communion written in the person of the Word. The history of salvation that for
Israel is made up of events, names and places, leads to a reflection of faith
over an experience of life that makes the name of Yahweh not just one name
among many but the only Name. Everything begins from an encounter, a dialogical
event between God and humanity that translates into a covenant of alliance, old
and new. The sea of rushes is the last frontier of slavery and beyond it lies
the spacious territory of freedom. In this watery sepulchre the old body of
Israel is laid to rest and the new and free Israel rises. This is where
Israel’s identity is born. Every time that this passage through the waters of
birth is evoked more than just as a historical event to be remembered, the
eschatological event will arise, capable of a divine fullness that becomes
present, sacramental sign of God’s faithful initiative today for the new
generations, in expectation of the final liberation that the Lord will provide.
It is the gasp of a people that on the eve of the Pesach finds its deep
identity individually and as a people, the eve when the son of the living God
gives himself wholly in the form of food and drink.
3. ORATIO
Psalm 116
What return can I make to Yahweh
for his generosity to me?
I shall take up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.
for his generosity to me?
I shall take up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.
I shall fulfil my vows to Yahweh,
witnessed by all his people.
Costly in Yahweh's sight
is the death of his faithful.
witnessed by all his people.
Costly in Yahweh's sight
is the death of his faithful.
I beg you, Yahweh!
I am your servant,
I am your servant
and my mother was your servant;
you have undone my fetters.
I shall offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of Yahweh.
I am your servant,
I am your servant
and my mother was your servant;
you have undone my fetters.
I shall offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of Yahweh.
I shall fulfil my vows to Yahweh,
witnessed by all his people,
in the courts of the house of Yahweh,
in your very heart, Jerusalem.
witnessed by all his people,
in the courts of the house of Yahweh,
in your very heart, Jerusalem.
4. CONTEMPLATIO
When we think of you, Lord, we do not recall events that took
place and were fulfilled long ago, but we come into contact with your reality
ever present and alive, we see your constant passage among us. You intervene in
our life to restore our likeness to you, so that we may not be disfigured by
the stones of the law, but may find our fullest expression in your face as
Father, revealed in the face of a man, Jesus, the promise of fidelity and love
even unto death. It is not necessary at all to go out of ordinary existence so
as to meet you because the care you take of your creatures unfolds over our
human affairs like a scroll in the proximity of an experience. You, Creator of
heaven and earth, indeed do hide in the folds of history and, even though at
first obscurely and implicitly, you allow us to meet you in your transcendence,
which is never absent from ordinary events. When our reflection on life brings
us to an acknowledgement of your liberating presence, this meeting can only be
celebrated, sung, expressed by sacred symbols, relived festively in great joy.
Thus we do not come to you alone, but as a people of the covenant. The wonder
of your presence is always purely gratuitous: in the members of the Church, where
two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus (Mt 18:20), in the pages of
Sacred Scripture, in evangelical preaching, in the poor and suffering (Mt
25:40), in the sacramental actions of ordained ministers. But it is in the
eucharistic sacrifice that your presence becomes real; in the Body and Blood
there is the whole of the humanity and divinity of the risen Lord, present
substantially.
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