Sunday 18th of August 2024 - The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Proverbs 9:1-6/ Psalm 33(34)/ Ephesians 5:15-20/ John 6:51-58

When we gather to celebrate one thing or another, or we come together to watch a sporting event we often engage in communal singing. Singing brings people together fostering a community spirit. There is no audition required and all voices are, or should, be welcomed. Many songs and chants heard in communal singing are sung from memory to tunes that are familiar. Singing like this is not a performance, it is done for the sheer uplifting pleasure it generates, it is inclusive in that anyone can take part to whatever extent they want. This is what Paul is talking about in the second reading today. When we gather as the Church we are filled with the Spirit and sing hymns and psalms together. These help us to worship God as a community, as the church founded by Jesus. When we disperse Paul calls us to go on singing and chanting in our hearts so that we continue to give thanks to God our Father. Singing is an important element of our worship as a gathered community. This is why music and singing are, or should be, integral parts of our liturgies bringing joy and unity.

Our most important liturgy is the Mass in which we celebrate the eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ given by him as nourishment for our pilgrimage through this life. It is described by the Church as the source and summit of the Christian life. The gospel today reaches the climax of what is known as the bread of life discourse given by Jesus through John’s gospel read over the past three weeks. It might have sounded somewhat repetitive, but it is such an important part of our faith that it must be mulled over in some detail. Over the weeks Jesus has presented himself as the Bread of Life that has come down from Heaven. Today he goes further than that, in fact he goes beyond what some were able to accept. Jesus refers to himself as the flesh and blood that we must eat to have life, life that will become eternal. Jesus moved from a spiritual description of him being the living bread that comes down from heaven to being the sacrificial flesh and blood which must be eaten and drunk to gain the eternal life he offers.

The invitation, or condition, given by Jesus to eat his flesh and drink his blood cannot be construed as being merely a symbolic eating and drinking. His words as given by John are quite clear. In fact, the people who heard it were in no doubt about what Jesus meant, to some it sounded cannibalistic, and they described it as ‘intolerable language’. Some walked away and stopped following Jesus because of it. Jesus did not respond by calling them back or softening what he had said, in fact he reenforced it. People walked away from him then and they continue to walk away from him now. The truth of the eucharist is that it is the body and blood of Christ, given by him for us to eat as food to sustain us through the pilgrimage of life here, leading to an eternal life in heaven. Just as Jesus and God the Father dwell one within the other so, through the eucharist, will we come to dwell one within the other with Jesus. This is the incredible gift that Jesus offers to us through the sacrament of the eucharist, his life coming into us, becoming part of us, as any food we eat becomes part of us, growing into a relationship that will become eternal.

The readings today speak of wisdom, God’s wisdom that we gain through faith which allows us to see the eucharist for what it truly is. This wisdom helps us to order our lives properly in the Christian spirit. The wisdom that comes from God and is taught by Jesus cannot be obtained from schools, universities, textbooks, or even the internet. It comes from knowing Jesus, having a relationship with him, of experiencing God through the indwelling of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that we can become sharers in through the eucharist. Paul’s writing emphasises the social side of our gatherings to celebrate what we now call the mass. John concentrates on the internal transformation which we experience through celebrating the eucharist. Jesus comes to be in us and part of us as we become in him and part of him in the same way as the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. We become part of the one ‘household’ of God fully unified under one roof, speaking the same language and sharing the same vision of life. God, who is the definition of all wisdom, instructs and guides us through life. We need to take time in contemplative prayer as well as communal prayer to come to know Jesus who is our way, truth and life. Through receiving the body and blood of Jesus into our bodies as real food and drink we receive his pledge of eternal life.

Through our growing relationship with God we develop the Christian wisdom that helps us avoid the false worldly wisdom that we are faced with every day. The false wisdom of self-reliance, possessions, wealth, loose conduct, and all that leads to suffering and conflict. We come to value and appreciate what is truly human, honourable, and just. We remember that we were created in the perfect image of God, he saw us as good, but through the advent of sin we have been corrupted and it takes a willingness and effort to journey along the way back to the perfection God wants for us. It is through the gift of the eucharist that we receive the strength we need for this journey. Joining together in the union of God’s people and receiving often the gift Jesus gives us through Holy Communion is to be recommended as long as we do not take it for granted. We are most fortunate that we can join together at mass as often as we choose but it should always result in us gaining a deeper immersion into the life and family of God.

God Bless Brendan