1 August 2021: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary time B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15	Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54	Eph 4:17, 20-24	Jn 6:24-35
RCL: Ex 16:2-4, 9-15		RCL: Eph 4:1-16

Bread of life: coming down from heaven

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on the bread coming down from heaven.

First reading (Ex 16:2-4, 12-15)

The first reading is from Exodus, the second book of Torah. Today’s pericope is the story how God feeds the complaining Israelites in the wilderness. Bread and meat are the Hebrew staples; God provides both (“manna” and “quail”). The idea that the Israelites might starve (“die of famine”) is understandable. In Egypt, their masters provided meals for the Hebrew slaves; in the wilderness, the liberated slaves must fend for themselves. God rains down “bread from heaven” to feed the people, a sign of God’s care and concern. The Hebrew phrase man hu (מָן הוּא), or manna, means “what is it?” Later Jewish thought connected God giving food in the wilderness with God giving Torah in the wilderness; Torah becomes God’s life-giving spiritual food and God’s very presence. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because this “bread coming down from heaven” is the context of today’s gospel.

Second reading (Eph 4:17, 20-24)

The second reading is from the semi-continuous reading from the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. In today’s pericope, the author sets out his two goals: to reject the non-believers’ way of life (“no longer live as gentiles do”) and to encourage unity among believers through common ethical virtues (“put on the new self”). Here the author uses “gentiles” to identify all those outside the believing community. The “futility of their minds” suggests people who are completely turned away from and turned against God (see Rm 1:21). The author contrasts this outside group with believers who have experienced metanoia, a change of mind/heart, and who have turned toward God. “Taking off” and “putting on” are baptismal images: the baptismal elect removed their old clothes, were submerged in the baptismal waters, and then put on new, white garments to complete their initiation. The author uses this liturgical image to show how a physical change (clothing) also indicates a spiritual change (“renewed,” “new self”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Ephesians.

Gospel (Jn 6:24-35)

John’s gospel continues the story of Jesus feeding five thousand (Jn 6:1-71). Today’s pericope, from Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse, explains and interprets Jesus’ sign. Jesus uses the crowd’s misunderstanding to reveal his identity and mission.

• What sign can you do? Jesus’ feeding sign when “Passover was near” recalls Israel’s wilderness experience. The wilderness wanderings connect Moses, God’s gift of manna (“the bread from heaven”), and God’s giving of Torah, God’s never-failing nourishment and presence. Because Jesus claims to be greater than Moses (“on [the Son of Man] God has set his seal”), the crowd wants Jesus to “do a sign” greater than both manna from heaven and God’s life-giving presence in Torah. Jesus answers that he is the-one-coming-down from heaven; he is God’s very presence come down; he gives life not just to Israel (as Torah did), but to the whole world.
• Give us the physical bread over and over. The crowd continues to misunderstand Jesus’ teaching about his feeding sign. They ask that Jesus give them the same physical bread from heaven” again and again.” The Greek adverb πάντοτε/pántote means an “ongoing giving,” a continual repetition of the same action.
• I am the bread of life. Correcting the crowd’s confusion, Jesus states plainly that he is the bread of life. Jesus gives himself as a food (manna) and is God’s presence (Torah) that produces eternal life for all who believe. To feed on God’s wisdom or Torah means to take it in, to learn from it, and to allow it to transform (metanoia) one’s life.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about the meaning of food from heaven. In Exodus, Moses asks God to give the Israelites food in the wilderness, and interprets its meaning. The Ephesians author contrasts believers who have experienced the metanoia of turning toward God with those who have rejected the good news and who have turned away from God. John shows how Jesus’ feeding sign reveals Jesus as the one coming down from heaven to reveal God, to be God’s presence to all, and to give eternal life to all who believe. How do we experience and live the sign of God’s care, presence, and life? Do we murmur about the things we give up (time, money, behaviors) to be counted as a church-going Christian? Have we fully experienced the metanoia that turns us toward God and away from relationships and things that don’t serve God? Do we keep asking God for the same sign over and over, failing to recognize the greater truth of God’s life and presence hidden in plain sight?

—Terence Sherlock

25 July 2021: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary time B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
2 Kgs 4:42-44	Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18	Eph 4:1-6	Jn 6:1-15
		RCL: Eph 3:14-21	RCL: Jn 6:1-21

Bread of life: sign, test, and teaching

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on seeing and understanding God’s care and feeding of disciples.

First reading (2 Kgs 4:42-44)

The first reading is from the Second book of Kings, which includes stories about the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Elisha, Elijah’s successor, was a prophet in the north (Israel) during the divided kingdoms (Israel and Judah). In today’s pericope, an unnamed “man from Baal-shalishah” gives Elisha a gift of firstfruits, including twenty barley loaves. Constant fighting between Israel and Assyria reduced most inhabitants to poverty and starvation. Acting on God’s word, Elisha distributes the barley loaves to his hungry neighbors (the “hundred”). The people eat their fill, and, as God promised, “they had some left over.” The Lectionary editors chose this reading because many elements, such as a few barley loaves, a doubting disciple, the prophet’s command, feeding many, and leftover fragments, closely parallel today’s gospel.

Second reading (Eph 4:1-6)

The second reading is from the semi-continuous reading from the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. In today’s pericope, the author exhorts the Ephesians to unity. He calls for unity through the community’s diverse gifts: humility, gentleness, patience; bearing with one another, and peace. “Bearing with one another” means accepting others without regard of status or ethnic origin (gentile or Jew). “Peace” binds the other virtues “the unity of the Spirit.” Using liturgical language, the author summarizes the ekklesia‘s unity: “one Lord” celebrates Christ’s victory over polytheistic gods; “one faith” encourages unity of belief against false teachers; “one baptism” urges honorable behavior in the community; “one God and Father” unites Jews and gentiles. In his closing, the author sums up God’s work of unity: God is king of the universe (“over all”); God unites everything and everyone through Christ (“through all”); God is visible in every aspect of creation (“in all”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Ephesians.

Gospel (Jn 6:1-15)

This week the gospel evangelist changes from Mark to John. For the next five weeks, John’s gospel recounts the story of Jesus feeding five thousand (Jn 6:1-71). Today’s pericope describes the sign itself; the coming weeks’ pericopes, from Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse, explain and interpret Jesus’ sign.

• The sign of feeding. Jesus already knows what he will do, but he uses the opportunity to test and teach his disciples. Philip and Andrew see only limits to Jesus’ request (lack of money, only five loaves and two fish); they haven’t grasped Jesus’ teaching about unlimited nourishment in Jn 4:32-34. John describes Jesus’ feeding sign a few words: took, gave thanks, and distributed. The people eat until they are filled, leaving twelve baskets of leftovers. Jesus’ sign teaches about God’s superabundant care.
• The sign’s meanings. In Mark and Matthew, Jesus is moved by compassion to feed the shepherdless crowd. In John, Jesus acts to satisfy the crowd’s physical hunger, while also revealing that God’s kingdom can fulfill their spiritual hunger as well. John connects Jesus’ sign with stories and themes from Hebrew scripture, including manna in the wilderness (Ex 16:4-35, Nm 11:7-9), Elisha’s feeding the hundred (2 Kgs 4:42-44, first reading), and Ps 23. He also uses liturgical language (“take,” “give thanks,” “distribute,” “reclining” for a meal) to connect the sign with Eucharistic practices in his ekklesia. Jesus’ sign anticipates the messianic feast; it is a parable-in-action that God’s kingdom is near. The sign also foreshadows the Eucharist, the believing community’s eschatological meal.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about how we see and interpret God’s care. Elisha, at God’s prompting, feeds a hundred people with a few barley loaves. The Ephesians author urges the community look for God in every aspect of creation. Jesus offers the sign of feeding five thousand to reveal a God who cares for people’s physical and spiritual needs and to reveal himself as prophet and messiah. How do we see God’s actions in our world? Do we limit God by seeing God with limited human understanding, or can we see beyond our own limits to God’s superabundance? Do we live in a small world, restricted to approved family and friends, or do we bear with one another, inviting all into community? Do we limit ourselves by fulfilling only our own needs, or do we accept God’s unlimited good gifts and share them freely?

—Terence Sherlock

14 June 2020: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a	Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20	1 Cor 10:16-17	Jn 6:51-58

Eucharist: manna, word of God, common meal, bread of life and unity

⛊⛉  On the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Lectionary readings invite us to think about the Eucharist as gift: of life, of physical and spiritual food, and of unity.

The first reading, from Deuteronomy, retells some of the exodus events and wilderness wanderings. The Deuteronomic author imagines Moses addressing the Israelites and recalling (“remember,” “do not forget”) God’s great acts, especially God feeding the Israelites with physical food: manna. For later Hebrew scripture writers, manna represents spiritual food as well: Wisdom literature promises that God’s wisdom and God’s word (“every word coming from God’s mouth”) feeds and nourishes its hearers. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because the gospel uses manna as a type of Eucharist. The gospel’s Bread of Life discourse draws parallels between manna and Jesus as the bread coming down from heaven.

The second reading, from Paul’s first letter to the Corinth ekklesia, explains the meaning of their shared meal. Paul teaches that the cup and bread is both a fellowship meal (“sharing”) and re-remembrance meal (“blood of Christ,” “body of Christ”). Paul also emphasizes koinonia (= community, fellowship) when he describes the unity of “one loaf” and “one body” in which all participate and become one. Paul criticizes the Corinthians’ individualistic attitude toward the Eucharist, which they interpreted as a guarantee of personal salvation. Paul corrects their misunderstanding, reminding them that Eucharist binds each disciple not only to Christ but also to every other person, with all the obligations koinonia entails. The Eucharist has both a vertical orientation (to Christ) and a horizontal orientation (to others). The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it refers to the early ekklesia‘s understanding and celebration of the Eucharistic meal.

John’s gospel, from the second part of Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse, operates on multiple levels:

• Passover connection. John says Jesus presents this teaching during the feast of Passover. The Passover meal anticipates and remembers God’s freeing the Israelites from Egypt. It is a true meal, celebrated with food, bread, and drink. The Eucharist, a true meal of bread and wine, anticipates and re-presents Jesus’ saving act.
• Manna coming down from heaven. Jesus refers to God feeding the Israelites with manna, a food that God gave them from heaven. Jewish tradition associates manna, God’s gift that sustains physical life, with the Torah, God’s gift that gives true spiritual life. Jewish interpreters describe studying the Torah as eating or consuming God’s gift of life as food.
• The living bread coming down from heaven. Jesus tells his Jewish hearers that he is the “living bread coming down from heaven,” drawing a parallel between the physical manna and himself, and God’s word in the Torah and his words as God’s Sent One. Jesus replaces the manna and the Torah. Eating physical manna gave only physical life, but eating Jesus’ flesh and blood gives eternal life. In the same way, consuming the Torah brings spiritual life, but consuming Jesus’ words as the true revelation of God brings an eternal life of remaining-in-relationship with God.

The Corpus Christi readings invite us to explore the many meanings of Eucharist. Deuteronomy remembers God’s caring act of feeding the Israelites on their wilderness journey. Paul connects the Corinthians’ unifying fellowship meal with Jesus’ transformative and saving act. The gospel discourse ties together the Jewish Passover celebration, consuming manna and God’s word in the Torah, and hearing and eating the living bread from heaven. Today, after several months of Eucharistic absence, we are beginning to reengage with the liturgy and our believing community. How appropriate that this Eucharistic feast welcomes us back! In the pandemic’s wilderness, God has cared for us with word; now we rejoin the community at the table, sharing the bread from heaven. How has our wilderness changed our understanding of this meal? How have we changed in our Eucharistic absence? The Eucharistic gift continues to act, offering unity and relationship. Will we rediscover the gift and allow it to heal our damaged world?

—Terence Sherlock

26 August 2018: Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b	Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21	Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32	Jn 6:60-69

Discourse conclusion: Do you also wish to go away?

During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community about their commitment to discipleship.

In the first reading from the book of Joshua, Joshua asks the Israelites to renew their covenant with God: do they wish to serve the God who has delivered them or return to the service of other gods? The people reaffirm the covenant with YHWH: “we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” Joshua’s question stands as a challenge to Jewish believers through the centuries. The Lectionary editors pair this reading with today’s gospel, in which Jesus challenges disciples in every generation, asking “Do you also wish to go away?”

The second reading concludes the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. The letter’s major theme has been unity of all Christians in one believing community. Today’s reading is from the household codes section. A household code is a literary form found throughout the ancient world. In Greco-Roman household codes, power determines relationships. In a Christian household, love replaces power in all relationships. Some Christian letter writers simply give a Christian veneer to the household codes by adding the words “in the Lord” to the injunctions. In Ephesians, the author goes much further. He elaborates on marriage as a parable of the relation between Christ and the believing community. The Ephesians writer adopts and subverts the standard household code to mutual submission: for example, not only should wives be obedient to husbands, but also husbands should be obedient to wives.

John’s gospel presents the conclusion of Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse. Jesus’ own disciples grumble that his revelations–he is “the living bread coming down from heaven” and the bread he will give is “his flesh for the life of the world”–are unacceptable or offensive. Jesus now questions those who have heard his revelations:

• Would you rather see me “going up?” Jesus’ question has a double meaning. The Greek verb ἀναβαίνω (ah-nah-BAH-ee-noh) means “to ascend” or “to go up.” The first meaning is connected to Hebrew scripture. Moses and Elijah “ascend” or “are taken up” to God, which proves their authority and honor. Jesus has “come down” from God, and will “ascend” again after his resurrection, proving his authority. The second meaning refers to Jesus’ “going up” or “being lifted up” on the cross. This “going up” will further scandalize his disciples, but will also result in “the life of the world.” Jesus admonishes the disciples for interpreting his message in a human-only way (“the flesh”), ignoring the Spirit’s help. Facts alone do not create a disciple; discipleship also requires a Spirit-filled response to the Father made known in the word of Jesus.

• Do you also wish to go away? Jesus asks this pointed question of the Twelve, who are struggling with who Jesus is. John also asks this question of his own community sixty years later, who are struggling with how the risen Jesus remains present with them in their conflicted community. Jesus asks today’s disciples, who are struggling with continuing faith in Jesus while living in a broken world, the same question.

Today’s readings challenge RCIA participants and the believing community to ask: “Why am I a disciple?” Jesus’ harsh revelations in the bread of life discourse present a stark choice for his hearers. Their choices reveal who they are. The crowd, hoping at the discourse’s start for more free bread, melts away when Jesus talks about new spiritual bread. His opponents, put off by physicality of Jesus’ own flesh as sacrifice and food, leave in disgust. Many disciples, still expecting a temporal king, reject Jesus’ claim of heavenly origins and return to their old lives. Only his loyal faction, seeing beyond his signs and hearing deeply his words, remain convinced that he is who he says he is, and remain-in-relationship with him. What kind of bread are we looking for? Who can provide that bread?

—Terence Sherlock

19 August 2018: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Prv 9:1-6	Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7	Eph 5:15-20	Jn 6:51-58

Discourse part 2: The bread I will give is my flesh for the world’s life

During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to consider the meaning of Jesus’ self-gift for the life of the world.

The first reading from the book of Proverbs personifies Wisdom and Folly as women who invite hearers to competing banquets. Wisdom’s banquet symbolizes joy and closeness to God. Folly’s banquet consists of stolen bread and decietful water that bring death to guests. Jewish hearers recognize in this allegory their need to pursue the Torah’s wisdom to avoid foolishness and to live. Christians hear parallels with today’s gospel, in which Jesus tells disciples that eating his flesh and drinking his blood will give eternal life.

The second reading continues the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. The letter’s major theme is the unity of all Christians in one believing community. Today’s reading continues the ethical exhortation (or paraenesis). Last week the author presented a program of formative actions: actions for disciples who are “new persons” in Christ. In today’s reading, the author’s eschatological view defines his formative actions. He reminds disciples that the age of evil powers is passing away; they must choose the wise path and live as members of God’s kingdom.

John’s gospel presents the second part of Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse. In a series of questions and responses, Jesus introduced the discourse’s main ideas. This week’s final question shapes the discourse’s second part.

Jesus tells the synagogue assembly: “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Those opposed to Jesus’ revelation begin to fight with each other. They frame their objections as a final question.

• How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus’ opponents continue to misunderstand the promise Jesus offers, focusing on only the physical implications of his promise. Jesus speaks to the synagogue crowd during the Passover feast, which commemorates God’s gifts of Torah and manna. In Jewish thought, both Torah and manna provide nourishment. “Eating” manna nourishes the body; “eating” (studying and practicing) Torah feeds a Jew’s spiritual life. Up to this point in his discourse, Jesus has described himself as manna/bread from heaven, whose teachings from the Father provide a new and greater spiritual life. Jesus now reveals that in the near future he will give his flesh to give life to the whole world. He will give his flesh in two ways:
  • Through the cross. Jesus will give himself as a physical sacrifice to redeem the world. In Jewish sacrificial practice, the one offering sacrifice separated the victim’s blood from its flesh. When Jesus speaks about his “flesh” and “blood” separately, he indicates his physical death as a sacrifice. The Word became flesh to bring life to the world (Jn 1:3-4).
  • Through the Eucharist. After his physical death and resurrection, Jesus will give himself in a new way so that disciples may remain in a living relationship with Jesus and the Father. This new relationship is Jesus’ continuing presence with his believing community. In addition, his glorified flesh and blood give disciples eternal life and a share in Jesus’ resurrection (Jn 6:54).

Today’s readings challenge RCIA participants and the believing community to look beyond the physical signs of God’s care and to come to a deeper understanding of the incarnation, cross, and resurrection. The first reading warns us to pursue divine Wisdom, because folly leads to spiritual death. In the gospel, Jesus sums up his mission: to bring the entire world to eternal life. His transformative death brings eternal life to the world’s doorstep, but it is Jesus’ Eucharistic gift that brings eternal life and Jesus’ abiding presence to disciples who totally absorb (“eat”) God’s revelation. Do we seek deeper Wisdom in our busy lives? Can we ignore the meaning of the incarnation and cross? What does Eucharist really mean to us?

—Terence Sherlock

12 August 2018: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
1 Kgs 19:4-8	Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9	Eph 4:30-5:2	Jn 6:41-51

Discourse part 1: I am the bread coming down from heaven

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to think about the physical and spiritual nourishment that God provides.

The first reading from the Book of Kings tells how God fed the prophet Elijah on his journey through the wilderness. Elijah’s journey to Mount Horeb (an alternate name for Sinai) begins as a flight from danger, but takes a surprising turn. In his wilderness exile, Elijah prays for death because he has been unable to turn the Israelites back to God. God feeds Elijah with miraculous bread to sustain him for his long trip to Horeb/Sinai. Christians hear the angelic bread from heaven as a type of eucharist: food for a pilgrim on his way to God’s mountain.

The second reading continues the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. The letter’s major theme is the unity of all Christians in one believing community. Today’s reading continues the ethical exhortation (or paraenesis). Last week the author described the necessary attitudes of the “new person.” This week he lays out a program of formative actions, stated as imperatives: “do not grieve the Holy Spirit;” “remove all bitterness, fury, anger, and shouting;” “be kind, compassionate, forgiving of one another;” “be imitators of God;” and “walk in love.” By connecting these formative actions to baptism (“being sealed, ” preparing for the “day of redemption”), the author teaches that baptism initiates discipleship, but discipleship requires continuous growth and work. The author’s imperatives are a post-baptismal catechesis–actions for disciples who are “new persons” in Christ.

John’s gospel presents the first part of Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse. Last week the crowd caught up with Jesus at a Capernaum synagogue. In a series of questions and responses, Jesus introduced the discourse’s main ideas. This week another key question shapes the discourse’s first part.

Jesus tells those in the synagogue: “I am the bread of life; the one coming to me never hungers, the one believing in me will never thirst again” (Jn 6:35). Immediately those opposed to Jesus’ revelation (here designated as “the Jews”) begin to grumble, just as the Israelites grumbled against Moses in the wilderness (Ex 16:2). They frame their objection as a question, which has several layers.

• Is this not Jesus, whose father and mother we know? “The Jews” object that Jesus can’t be “from heaven,” because they know his earthly father and mother. Culturally, they object to Jesus placing himself “above his station,” even equating himself to Moses, who also gave bread from heaven. They judge Jesus is not a qualified messenger, and so reject his claims about who he is, his authority, and his ability to give bread he promises.

  Jesus answers them by revealing his origins: what they do not know.

  • • First: The Father is the one sending Jesus (v 39). In the ancient world, a sender authorized his delegate to speak and to act in the sender’s place. The delegate’s authority came from and was the same as the sender. Jesus speaks and acts for the Father.
  • • Second: The Father draws believers (v 44). In the mystery of faith, the Father bestows faith on people, allowing them to believe and to be drawn to the Father and the Sent One (Jesus).
  • • Third: The Sent One (Jesus) reveals the Father (v 40). Based on the believer’s response, she or he receives everlasting life (a share in the Father’s life).
  • • Fourth: Jesus will raise up the believing ones at the end of time (v 44). When believers yield to the “works of God” (see v 28 and last week’s discussion), they receive the gift of eternal life. Being “taught by God” means listening to/hearing the Father, yielding to the Father (doing the works of God), and therefore recognizing Jesus as God’s Sent One.

  Jesus fulfills the prophetic promise “They shall all be taught by God” by revealing the Father to all nations. The Torah only partially reveals the Father ( = produces life); but the true bread from heaven (Jesus) fully reveals the Father. Jesus surpasses the former bread from heaven (the physical food of manna and the spiritual food of Torah).

  Jesus points out that the physical manna gave only physical life; manna did not give eternal life. The Jews’ ancestors and even the great Moses ate the physical food, but all are physically dead. Unlike the physical effect of the physical manna, those eating the true bread from heaven will live forever.

Today’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to consider how God nourishes the believing community. In the past, God fed the Israelites in the wilderness with physical manna and with God’s spiritual word in the Torah. In today’s gospel, Jesus reveals that he is the true bread that feeds us as God’s living Word. Is the Liturgy of the Word something we sit through waiting to encounter Jesus at the Table of the Eucharist? Or do we let ourselves be nourished by the true bread from heaven Jesus shares at the Table of the Word? Do we recognize both as the bread coming down from heaven?

—Terence Sherlock

5 August 2018: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15	Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54	Eph 4:17, 20-24	Jn 6:24-35

Bread coming down from heaven: the living Word of God

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to think about manna in the wilderness and the bread of life that feeds the whole world.

The first reading, from Exodus, tells of God giving the grumbling Israelites bread and meat in the wilderness. Through this gift of bread, God demonstrates care for the people. In later Jewish thought the “bread from heaven” or “bread of angels” becomes a symbol of God’s word (Torah) and God’s wisdom (Ps 119:103; Pv 9:5; Sir 15:1-3), and a type of the promised messianic feast. In today’s gospel, Jesus reveals himself as the bread of life: he is both food (God’s gift in the wilderness) and wisdom (God’s self-revelation in the Torah).

The second reading continues the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. The letter’s major theme is the unity of all Christians in one believing community. Today’s reading continues the ethical exhortation (or paraenesis). Last week the author explained how God united Jew and gentile into a single, new person. This week the author describes the necessary attitudes and behaviors of the new person. Christians must “take off” the old or worn-out self and “put on” the new or fresh self. The language of “taking off” and “putting on” comes from the ritual practice of stripping off a catechumen’s old clothing before he or she enters the baptismal water, then clothing the newly-baptized with a new, white garment after baptism.

John’s gospel presents the introduction to Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse. Last week Jesus multiplied bread to feed the crowd in the wilderness. This week the crowd catches up with Jesus, who has returned to Capernaum. A series of questions and answers shapes John’s introduction to the discourse:

• When did you get here? The crowd asks an irrelevant question showing that, although they experienced Jesus’ sign of feeding in the wilderness the day before, they still don’t understand who he is. Jesus instructs the crowd to work for bread that remains or abides. The Son of Man will give this bread that produces eternal life. Because God sent the Son of Man, God approves (“sets a seal on”) him.

• What work can we do? The crowd misunderstands the meaning of “to work for bread that remains.” They think they can do some physical action to gain more of Jesus’ physical bread. Jesus corrects their misunderstanding. God freely gives this spiritual bread to the one who believes in Jesus. The “work” or spiritual action to gain this spiritual bread requires a total submission of self to the Word of God in Christ.

• What sign do you give? Following on the earlier mention of Moses, and Jesus’ claim to be sealed by the Father, the crowd asks for a sign that is greater than Moses’ Passover sign: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus uses their scripture citation as the starting point for his discourse. Jesus again corrects the crowd’s misunderstanding: God provided manna, not Moses. God’s gift of manna, physical bread given to the Israelites in the past, is superseded by God’s gift now: Jesus, the true bread from heaven, who gives life to the whole world.

• Give us this bread always! Again correcting the crowd’s confusion, Jesus reveals he is the true bread from heaven, who both reveals the Father and gives eternal life.

Today’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to consider how God feeds the believing community. In the past, God fed the Israelites starving in the wilderness with physical manna that disappeared. In today’s gospel, Jesus promises that God will feed the whole world with bread from heaven that will abide with us forever. Do we know what and who this bread is? Are we doing the spiritual work to gain this bread? Are we seeking this bread always?

—Terence Sherlock

29 July 2018: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
2 Kgs 4:42-44	Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18	Eph 4:1-6	Jn 6:1-15

Bread as sign: what does it mean?

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to think about the miracle, meaning, and warning of the bread.

The first reading, from the second book of Kings, tells how the prophet Elisha fed over a hundred people with only twenty barley loaves. This story is part of a cycle of Elisha stories that show God’s power working through the prophet. The Lectionary editors chose this reading for its clear parallels to Jesus’ feeding the five thousand in today’s gospel.

The second reading continues the letter to the Ephesus ekklesia. The letter’s major theme is the unity of all Christians in one believing community. Today’s reading is from the start of the ethical exhortation (or paraenesis) section. The author reminds Christians that the Spirit forms them into a single, harmonious believing community. In contrast to polytheistic Roman world, Jesus’ disciples belong to one Lord and they share one faith, signified in their one baptism. God is Father of all, leads all, and is present in all. The author exhorts the believing community to live the implications of that unity.

John’s gospel presents the sign of Jesus feeding the crowd in the wilderness, which introduces Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse. (We will hear Jesus’ discourse over the next four weeks.) In John’s gospel, a sign is not simply a miracle, but the way Jesus reveals God’s glory. A sign incorporates a gift that God gave to the Israelites, and which Jesus now fulfills and makes complete.

• The gift to the Israelites. John sets the scene with two pieces of information: first, that “Jesus went up on the mountain” with his disciples; and second, “Passover was near.” Passover commemorates the Exodus, including Moses ascending the Sinai mountain to receive the Torah, and feeding the Israelites in the wilderness with God’s manna. Jesus’ sign will have something to do with manna and Torah.

• The gift fulfilled and made complete. Jesus’ gratuitous gift of food (and later himself) to crowds in the wilderness fulfills and completes God’s former gift of manna. This feeding becomes prophecy-in-action: it fulfills the messianic promises of a superabundant messianic meal in God’s kingdom, and it foretells the continuing gift of God’s ongoing presence in the believing community through the Eucharist. (We’ll hear more about the Eucharist in the discourse of the coming weeks.)

Today’s readings ask RCIA participants and the believing community to consider not only the sign’s meaning, but also our reaction. The crowd’s reaction to the sign, and Jesus’ response, should be a warning to the believing community and to each disciple. The crowd saw Jesus simply as someone who could give them bread and wanted him to be their temporal food king. But Jesus is not a give-them-what-they-want messiah. As individuals and as an ekklesia, Jesus calls us to witness and to serve as he did. We are always in danger that the crowd’s voice–loud, flattering, power-granting, profitable–will pull us from Jesus’ path. To follow what the crowd says and wants is to give up our discipleship to Jesus and his ekklesia. As we think about the meaning of Jesus’ self-giving gift, we ask: Who feeds us? Why do we take and eat? Whom do we feed?

—Terence Sherlock

23 August 2015: Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b	Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21	Eph 5:21-32	Jn 6:60-69

 

The bread of life: test of discipleship

In Ordinary time, the Lectionary presents RCIA participants and all believing community members with stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week we conclude our five-week meditation on the Bread of Life teaching, the Eucharist and discipleship.

Today’s first reading is from the last book of Joshua, Moses’ successor. In this passage, Joshua addresses the Hebrew people before he dies, summarizing God’s mighty acts in bringing the Hebrews to the promised land, and God’s now-fulfilled promise to Abraham and his descendants about providing a homeland. Joshua then asks the Hebrews to renew their covenant with God: do they wish to serve the God who has delivered them or return to the service of other gods? The people reaffirm the covenant with God: “we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” The Lectionary editors chose this story because, like today’s gospel, it presents God’s people with a choice.

The second reading is from Ephesians, a letter written between 80-100AD. It is written by Paul, but may be by a Pauline disciple. This section is part of the parenesis (ethical exhortation) of the letter, specifically the “household code.”  In the ancient world, household codes described ideal relationships between household members (husband/wife, parent/child, master/slave) to maintain an orderly life. The Greek Stoic philosophers first proposed household codes, emphasizing the first party’s requirement for obedience and the second party’s obligations. Hellenistic Judaism expanded on the Stoics’ ideas, using the Hebrew scripture as a basis for moral behavior. In today’s reading the Ephesians’ author provides a set of Christian household codes. He reverses the Stoic ethical model, saying that the Christian first party’s obligation is for love and self-sacrifice. In all Christian household relationships, each person is subject to all others out of reverence for Christ. The author constructs a parable comparing the Christian husband-and-wife relationship to the Christ-and-ekklesia relationship. He builds the Christ/ekklesia parable from the mystical union of Christ and ekklesia: Christ as head of the ekklesia’s body; Christ as husband to the ekklesia. Just as Christ’s love is the starting point for his relationship with the ekklesia, so also love should be the starting point for the husband and wife relationship in a Christian marriage. In other household codes, power determines relationships. In a Christian household, love replaces power in all relationships.

This week’s gospel concludes John’s Bread of Life discourse. Over the last few weeks, the Jesus of John’s gospel revealed two new teachings:

• Jesus as the Bread of Life offered to anyone who believes in him (Jn 6:34-47). Jesus addresses this first teaching to the crowds and to the Jewish people in the Capernaum synagogue. Just as the Torah spiritually feeds the Hebrew people, so Jesus, God’s Word incarnate, offers everyone the Father’s words of love and eternal life. The Jewish hearers understand that Jesus is saying he is the new Torah. They murmur against Jesus and reject him because they “know” him–he is not “the one coming down from God.”
• Jesus as sacramentally present to the post-resurrection disciples through the Eucharist (Jn 6:37-58). John has Jesus direct this second teaching to the post-resurrection disciples and to John’s own ekklesia. The disciples could understand this Eucharistic teaching only after Jesus had completed his mission, offered his body and blood to the Father on Calvary, and been raised. Just as God-given manna fed and sustained the Hebrews’ physical lives in the wilderness, so Jesus, God-in-flesh, gives his glorified flesh and blood to feed and ensure his disciples’ eternal life in the kingdom. Many disciples–in Jesus’ time and in John’s time–rejected Jesus sacramental teaching as “too hard.” In Jesus’ time they murmur against Jesus because they do not want to believe that Jesus will die; in John’s time they cannot believe his continuing presence with them in the Eucharist. Their faith is too weak to trust in God’s superabundant love.

At today’s decision point, the crowds, the Jews, and many disciples reject Jesus and “go back to their old lives.” Jesus asks the Twelve–his inner circle–if they, also, will go. Peter professes his faith: “We believe you are the holy one of God.”

Like Joshua in the first reading, Jesus presents his mighty acts and promises to the crowd, RCIA participants, and the believing community, and asks each one of us to choose. What Jesus says is hard. We think we know Jesus, the Word of God; but when we hear him in the Liturgy of the Word, sometimes we don’t want to believe him. When Jesus re-presents himself and gives himself to us in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, it’s hard for us to believe his is intimately and physically with us. Discipleship is difficult: Jesus presents us with seeming impossible requests and unreachable challenges. Do we have faith in God’s superabundant love? Or will we also go away, back to comfortable, easy lives?

—Terence Sherlock

16 August 2015: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Prv 9:1-6	Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7	Eph 5:15-20	Jn 6:51-58

 

The bread of life: Eucharistic mystery

In Ordinary time, the Lectionary presents RCIA participants and all believing community members with stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week we continue our five-week meditation on the Eucharist and discipleship.

Today’s first reading is from Proverbs, a collection of “wisdom sayings” that personifies Wisdom as a woman. Wisdom invites seekers to forsake foolishness and to dine on her bread and wine; these choices lead to long life and understanding. Some rabbis taught that the messiah would feed people choice food and good wine without work or cost. “Eating bread” and “drinking wine” foreshadow the Eucharistic images in today’s gospel.

Today’s gospel continues the Bread of Life discourse. The reading (Jn 51-58) begins with last week’s final verse and concludes the discourse. It includes the following elements:

• More than manna: Jesus connects himself (“I AM the living bread”) to the wilderness manna (“coming down from heaven.”) Jesus goes beyond being simply the manna, because whoever “eats this bread” (believes in him) “will live forever.”
• The bread is Jesus’ flesh: John introduces a post-resurrection understanding of Jesus as the living bread: “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” John presents two meanings here. First, Jesus’ ministry will end (“I will give my flesh”) in his sacrificial, salvific, and transformational death (“for the life of the world.”) Second, Jesus will establish a continuing presence through the Eucharist (“I will give my flesh“) to continue his mission though the believing community (“for the life of the world.”) The crowd argues (literally “fights”) about this saying. How could Jesus turn bread turn into flesh? Even if Jesus could do this, food laws forbid Jewish people from eating human flesh and drinking any type of blood.
• The Eucharist leads to eternal life: Jesus further shocks the crowd by teaching: “the one feeding on (literally ‘chewing’) my flesh and drinking my blood has eternal life.” Only when you “consume my flesh and blood” do you “remain-in-relationship with me.” This is no longer a metaphor about Jesus as the new Torah and divine Wisdom that doesn’t perish–the Eucharistic reference is clear and complete: “consume my body,” “drink my blood.” The divine Word became flesh to bring life to the world (Jn 1:3-4); Jesus, through his physical death and resurrection, gives his glorified flesh and blood to believers in the Eucharist so we may have eternal life and share in Jesus resurrection (Jn 6:54). Jesus has and can give life because the living Father sent him. By consuming Jesus, the believing community shares the Father’s life–they “remain” in relationship with the Father and Jesus.
• Jesus concludes his teaching: Jesus sums up the difference between the manna (“your ancestors ate and died”) and the true bread (“whoever eats will live forever.”) Next week, we’ll hear the crowds’ and the disciples’ reactions.

Today’s readings confront RCIA participants and the believing community with the mystery of the Eucharist. The first reading tells us that dining on Wisdom’s bread and wine will lead to long life and understanding. The gospel calls us to look beyond the sign of manna and see the reality of the true bread from heaven. The Eucharist is not simply a sign or a metaphor, but the reality of Jesus himself. We have eternal life and remain-in-relationship with Jesus and the Father only when we consume his resurrected body and blood. Do we believe? Do we live this belief?

—Terence Sherlock