Bulletin Aug 12, 2012 19^th Sunday Ordinary Time B

1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2; John 6:451-51
This is the second of four installments on John’s ‘Bread of Life Discourse’ and Jesus is testing my faith, that of every Christian and that of every person He created.
The crowd has been listening intently to Him but apparently do not understand but they are trying and asking for more clarification. And Jesus tells them, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…” Now this really disturbs them because what Jesus is saying is unheard of; it is blasphemous. Are they open to listen? No! Do they have their own set ideas of what the Messiah will be, and what God is like? Yes! But if they want to understand they really have to come to Jesus and listen. The prophets told them that the Lord, the Messiah will teach all. Now the moment in history has come for them, God will teach all who are ready to learn and anyone who is willing to understand will understand. It all depends on them being open to the heart of God. But they came with their own preconceptions of what God is like and what the Messiah will be like. So they mumbled and complained and said that this person obviously is crazy and doesn’t know what He is saying.
How often I look at myself and unknowingly try to qualify God or to put God into a mold that goes along with my way of thinking. It’s always easy to do this because it is ‘convenient’; I don’t have to reflect on anything, I know what it is all about, I have the answers. Well, who exactly do I think that I am? Am I a special messenger from God, it seems like I have all the answers that God has, so I must be one of the ‘chosen ones’. This is another way the devil takes me away from growth in the Lord. I am not in charge, the Lord is; am I giving myself over to the Lord? How much of ‘me’ am I holding back?
And Jesus said, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.” This passage brings me to the heart of the ‘problem’ these people and all face, really it’s everyone’s fear: death. This is the hidden, not talked about part of everyone’s life: I will die. What will it be like? Will I suffer? What about the love ones I leave behind? Can God really be a good God if He takes me away from those I love? Fr. Anthony Kadavil from ‘Teaching & Preaching Resources’ writes: “From the first time we realize that we will not be around forever --- that our time on this earth is limited --- our fear of the harsh reality of death starts shaping who we are: the decisions we make, the anxieties we harbor, the hesitation with which we face risks, the way we often try to get all we can in the years we have --- all a product of the apprehension we have when we acknowledge that our days are numbered.”
But Jesus is saying “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Isn’t this what it’s all about? Jesus is giving me and everyone HOPE. Hope that He always tells the truth; Hope that He is totally in love with me every moment; Hope that He came to die and rise on behalf of the whole world so that me and each person can have eternal life with Him. So I don’t worry about life; I look at how I am living. To believe means that I trust everything that Jesus said that God does and that I’m living accordingly and He will raise me and all up who are working toward this end. This means that I’m living more, loving more and being more the person of God. And God feeds me and each person this ‘bread of life’. This isn’t ordinary bread because Jesus said it is Himself. Do I allow God to feed me with Himself, with ‘Bread for the Journey?’
Fr. Kadavil continues, “And so as we strive to put aside our fears and thereby live our lives hoping and trusting that God will raise us up on the last day, let’s not forget to allow Him to do that very same thing for us each and every day --- lifting us up from whatever is weighing us down, holding us back, breaking our hearts, or dampening our spirits. God gave Himself for the life of the world --- the life each of us is immersed in at this very moment. May we always have the wisdom to allow God to satisfy our needs by feeding us in a way that only He can. And may we rise up to new life in Him, bringing that same care, concern, and love to those around us.”

So I reflect on:

• Self-righteous people often do not allow God to enter their lives as God wills. Do I?
  
• The catch in all this is that I must permit God to draw me to Himself as God wills and not as I carefully fit God into my life. Do I do this?
  
• If I say to God, ‘Here I am’, God may take me at my word and draw me into something I never dreamed of. Am I afraid of God? How do I go about trusting God at His word?