August 9, 2015

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 19: 4-8; Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2; John 6: 41-51

Last week I focused on ‘mumbling’...’grumbling’…’complaining’. I find it very interesting and uncomfortable with the number of times these are present in my life. Why do I mumble? Probably because something isn’t going my way or I’m not being paid attention to. Why do I grumble? More than likely it is because my feelings are hurt and I’m not being honored and respected. Why do I complain? Because I do not like what is happening…my thoughts or ideas aren’t being listened to or maybe because I find it easier to complain than to look for the ‘silver lining.’ What are the readings leading me to and what are they telling me about my loving and caring God?

Elijah had just slit the throats of the 400 Baal prophets. He showed the King and the people that God is God and that the superstitions and beliefs of the pagans are totally against the love and care of God. Now Queen Jezebel is out to take revenge on Elijah; so he flees for his life. He is so afraid that He gives up on God, seeing no hope and even asks God to bring his death quickly. Twice God sends a messenger identified as “the angel of the Lord” to tell Elijah that his life and mission are from God and God is in control so stop complaining.

Paul is writing to the Ephesians about the church and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. He’s talking not specifically about the Church in Ephesus but about the world wide Church. He says that the purpose of the Church is for making God’s plan of salvation known. He says that all are united in the love of Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. Like them, we are united: in church, Spirit, hope, one Lord, faith, baptism and the one God. The gifts of the Spirit are meant to unite all in love. All are called to a higher moral standard: stop lying; stop falsehoods; avoid sin at all costs so that you leave no room for the devil to take over. All are to live an exemplary a life marked by compassion and forgiveness. This is how each person becomes an ‘imitator of God’. This can be uncomfortable because each person wants to ‘be his or her own person.’ They want to do what they want and dream what they want and be nourished with the ‘things’ of life that are fun and entertaining and not faith filled but self-filled. Jesus said this is not the way to life…true life is found in loving, forgiving, compassion and giving. A meaningful life is living the rewarding, fulfilling life of love…living for others. Do I want this? It goes contrary to the ‘selfish’ me and what I want. It is contrary to me doing what I want to do because I want to do it. It goes contrary to the call to relax, be good to yourself, don’t go out of your way for others, take care of ‘Numero Uno’…take care of yourself first.

This is seen in the difficult time that the people who listened to Jesus had in understanding what He was trying to tell them. Today Jesus is offering hope. This isn’t well received and certainly isn’t wanted to be understood. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” They didn’t want to hear this…they ‘murmured’ about Jesus because they knew Him and His parents and how could He possibly say that He came down from heaven. ‘After all, who does He think he is?’

Now comes the main part…in the synoptic Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark and Luke) the Eucharist is instituted at the Last Supper. John does not give an account of the Last Supper rather explains the Eucharist theologically by giving a lengthy Bread of Life sermon the week before He died. Living the Word, Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for Sundays and Holy Days gives this reflection: “The Bread of Life discourse in the Gospel of John…presents Jesus as the life-giving bread who has come down from heaven. Though the Jewish leadership questions Jesus’ origin (‘do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’? John 6:42), the reader knows exactly from whence Jesus comes (‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God…and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,’ John 1:1, 14!). The manna offered to the Israelites only sustained them so long. But the bread from heaven provides eternal life. Jesus now turns more directly to the Eucharistic theme, acknowledging that He is the living bread, and that bread is His flesh given for the life of the world (John 6:51).” It comes down to: do I want to believe this? Do I want to even listen to what Jesus said? I find that the bottom line is that His words make me uncomfortable and they mean that NOW I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING. I have to believe and trust…and this goes against my being the center of my world. IT means that I am an important part of something much bigger, being Jesus to others…and I’m too comfortable being absorbed in the world I enjoy! So I can complain and mumble and grumble and be filled with the ‘poor ME’s’ in my life. But Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings explains: “Did you ever notice how Jesus is a present-tense sort of guy? He never says ‘I was.’ He always says, ‘I AM.’ In the same way, He promises believers eternal life. But He doesn’t say, ‘Someday, if you go to heaven, you’ll get eternal life.’ He uses great emphasis and authority to say something else quite surprising. (The authority can be heard in the ‘Amen, amen’ part, which means: ‘so be it, so be it.’) What Jesus says is, if you believe in Him, you already have eternal life.

We’re tempted to interpret this as: ‘Eternity starts here’. Actually, eternity never starts at all: its’ ongoing. But you and I begin our endless swim in eternity right here, in the hour we embrace faith in Jesus. Faith doesn’t mean embracing ideas about Jesus. It means putting our trust in Him as our companion, teacher, leader, and final rescue. If you haven’t done it yet, hurry! Eternity is waiting!”

It’s not about me…it’s about God and His deep and eternal love for each person. It’s about the gifts the Spirit fills each person with to share and lead others to the love of God. Its’ not about complaining; it’s about living and loving and being…being Jesus.

So I reflect on:

• Are the things I pursue in life things that I really need, or do I pursue them because I see others desiring them?
• What concrete things can I do today to be an ‘imitator of God’?
• What’s the difference between believing things about Jesus, and trusting Him? Where am I at?

Sacred Space 2015 helps me reflect:

“Faith is an ongoing gift. Jesus says plainly that it is a gift of the Father which enables us to come to Him and to believe in Him. And whoever has that gift has—the present tense—eternal life. Does this stir my heart with joy?

Jesus, let me give my heart to You; this heart-to-heart relationship is what faith is really about, not just head-knowledge.”