HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)

Aug 11, 2024

507

Listen Read

First Reading

A reading from the first Book of Kings (19:4-8)

Elijah went a day's journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death, saying: "This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, "Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!" He got up, ate and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9)

(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)

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)

Look at Him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the afflicted man called out, the Lord heard, and from all his distress He saved him. (R)

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivered them. Taste and see how good the Lord is; blessed the man who takes refuge in Him. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (4:30-5:2)

Brothers and sisters: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (6:41-51)

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," and they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, "I have come down from heaven"?" Jesus answered and said to them, "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. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 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."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

Today's gospel is a part of the long discourse on the "Bread of Life", which was taught by Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum after the feeding of a big crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish. The people were amazed at what Jesus did, and they decided to make him their king by force. On hearing this, Jesus got away from them. Yet, they continued to seek him out the next day. But Jesus said to them that they were following him not because they had recognised the miracle as a sign of the power of God in Him but rather for more food. Hence, He exhorted them to seek not the perishable food but rather the food that would sustain their life not just for a few hours or days, but forever. He also told them that He Himself could give that food.

The people then asked him what God required of them to do so that they too could have the life forever. Perhaps they wanted a new set of commandments to follow, or a new ritual or ceremony to observe. But Jesus told them that the most important "work" that they must do is to believe in Him as the one sent by God. In that case, they asked him for a "sign from heaven," similar to Moses giving their ancestors "manna" in the desert. Jesus reminded them that it was God, not Moses, who provided the "manna" and now He was offering the true bread from heaven which would be sufficient to sustain not just a few people, but the whole world. Immediately, the people who were still so anxious about their physical food asked Jesus to always give them the food which Jesus was talking about. Jesus responded by telling them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst," John (6:35). Of course, here, Jesus was not speaking about the physical hunger and thirst but spiritual hunger and thirst, meaning our deepest longings and needs such as happiness, righteousness, success, fulfilment, peace. etc.

Explaining further what He meant when He said, "I am the bread of life," Jesus said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." It means that Jesus who existed with God from the beginning descended from the heavenly realm as the bread to give life to the world. In response, the people murmured about Jesus. Because, first of all, instead of meeting their demand for physical food, Jesus was claiming that He Himself was the bread from heaven. Secondly, Jesus referred to Himself as "Yahweh" or "I AM," the holy name God gave Himself when speaking to Moses, Exodus (3:14). Here Jesus was not merely claiming to be God, but the very God of the Old Testament: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thirdly, they could not understand how a person who known to them as the son of Mary and Joseph could be both from earth and heaven. But the fact was, there was much more to Jesus than being the son of Joseph and Mary. They did not yet know Jesus well. They certainly did not know about His virgin birth and incarnation. They did not know that Jesus was the promised Saviour, the one through whom God would fulfil the promises He had made to the people in the Old Testament.

But Jesus, knowing that the people were grumbling about His claim, admonished them not to dwell upon such matters, but rather look upon something far higher. He wanted them to know how God works in salvation. First of all, He said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day." By saying this, Jesus meant that they were spiritually incapable of deciding for Christ on their own. For any of them to be able to come to Him, they must be drawn by God, the Father. Otherwise, they would be unable to accept the Gospel of Christ. And then, once again, He repeated His promise that those whom God send to Him will, undoubtedly, see eternal life, John (6:37, 39-40). In other words, once a person has come to believe in Him, Christ will raise that person up to eternal life. Secondly, Jesus recalled the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah "They shall all be taught by God," Isaiah (54:13), and said, "Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me," John (6:45).

By this, Jesus meant that God works by teaching them. God not only draws them to Christ but also speaks to them through words so that they are disposed to accept Christ. Only those people who hear and learn from God respond by coming to Christ for salvation. Thirdly, Jesus said, "Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life," John (6:46-47) Here Jesus is saying that He alone has seen God and therefore, possesses knowledge and experience of the heavenly things and therefore, He alone can speak of them and therefore, only those who believe in His revelation will have eternal life. Moreover, Jesus twice uses the Aramaic word "amen" which is an expression of faith or strong affirmation so that the people may truly believe that He is indeed sent from heaven, and that He is the One who can provide eternal life to those who believe in Him.

Jesus then, drawing a parallel between the manna that their ancestors ate in the desert and the bread that he offers, said that the manna sustained their physical bodies, but they still died, whereas the bread He would provide would sustain their souls eternally. By this, Jesus once again urged the people to recognize the limitations of material provisions, such as food, and to seek after the spiritual nourishment that He would provide, which would lead to eternal life.

Finally, the gospel ends with Jesus saying, "and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." Using the metaphor of His flesh as the bread Jesus alluded it to His sacrificial death on the cross for the salvation of humanity. As it turned out, this declaration made the crowd even more agitated, as the people moved from seeking, to complaining, to outright argument.

What is the message for us?

Although there are perhaps many different reasons for rejection of or unbelief in Christ, negative volition or attitude toward the person of Jesus and His teachings is at the heart of many people. They say that Jesus Christ was just a man, or maybe a great teacher, or maybe a religious leader. But today's gospel reminds us that He was and is much more than that. There is more to Jesus than we know or realize. He is God's Word who became a human being like us and lived on this earth. He came into the world to reveal God's face, John (1:1-14). He was both God's Son and God Himself, John (3:16). He came down from heaven to teach us eternal truths and to save us, John (3:13-21). He came to satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts, John (4:13-14). He was a son of man but lived a sinless life, Hebrews (4:15). He died on the cross for our sins, Isaiah (53:6). He rose from the dead on the third day, Acts (2:24-32), and He is now back in heaven at the right hand of God, Acts (2:33-36).

It might be hard to understand how Jesus Christ can be both fully God and fully man at the same time, but it is important to remember that God is much bigger and more powerful than we can comprehend. Therefore, let us approach Jesus Christ with confidence not merely as a human being or a good man or great moral teacher, but also as fully God. At the same time, let us beware of those who actively attempt to pull us away from such faith, or influence us to deny Jesus' identity as God and make us lose focus on truth and on Christ's works.

We might be capable of doing many good things, but we are definitely incapable of coming to God on our own; neither do we have a natural disposition to believe in Christ because we are born sinners with a sinful, selfish nature inherited from Adam, Romans (5:12). We are spiritually blind and spiritually dead. Therefore, we need God to break through unbelief and sin. God, being rich in mercy and love, sent His only Son Jesus Christ to redeem us. Moreover, God Himself draws us to His Son through His teaching and the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that apart from the drawing, or enabling, of God the Father, none of us would ever come to Him, John (6:44). Yes, God draws us to Jesus by using what is written, to teach us so that we can hear and learn, and then decide for ourselves whether we will come to Him or not.

He draws everyone in the same way. As we listen and learn from God, we are drawn by Him to respond to Jesus. So, let us stop murmuring, complaining, grumbling, and disputing among ourselves about the teachings of Christ, which He Himself said are directly given by God the Father, John (7:15). Let us humbly acknowledge God's reverence and accept the fact that we are not all-knowing. Let us come before God today humbly, acknowledging our need for Him. When we humble ourselves, more grace is granted and more instruction is given. So, let us look over our life and make the necessary changes to operate in meekness. Let us become more humble and teachable so that we can understand things and make wise decisions and right choices. Let us put ourselves in a position so that God may use us to do greater works.

Eternal life does not begin at the point of mortal death. Of course, the moment we die, we enter into the presence of God, and we get a new body at the resurrection. But, in reality, our eternal life begins the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ. It could be said that in some ways, eternal life starts here and now. It is life with God, and it is eternal because God is eternal. So, like the Israelites in the wilderness or some people in our own families and work circles, let us not fill ourselves with earthly sorts of manna which expire such as the perfect body, food, aspirations, accolades, or material possessions.

These things only temporarily fill empty spaces, never empty souls. Instead, let us fill our life with the Bread of Life that comes to us in Jesus Christ such as grace, humility, love, mercy, compassion, joy, peace, and hope that never expire. Let us truly put our faith in and follow Jesus Christ so that we can experience eternal life here and now.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

Content Options

to download the audio file Sign In » or Register ».
generate Google Translate Layout ».
share this homily via:

Top of Page

More Homilies this Month

Use the Prev or Next buttons to read or listen to the other homilies of the month.

« Prev Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B) Next » Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)