Cycle B - Year II:  

12 August 2018: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

   Readings:

First Reading:        1 Kings 19:4-8

Second Reading:   Ephesians 4:30--5:2

Gospel:Please Read  John 6:41-51

The Bread that sustains life!

It is said that bread is the universal symbol of food. We need food to nourish our body and sustain life while in journey in our world.  

But then the reality is that even with food that we partake our physical body can still perish, and the food that nourishes life can get spoiled sometimes, if not properly cared for.

The Good News this Sunday has something to do with food, but food that sustains us to life eternal and food that cannot spoil.

Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the Bread of Life. Now recall that two Sundays ago the Gospel readings served as the springboard to Jesus' discourse on Himself as the Bread of Life.

Jesus is actually showing us the depth of His humble and self-effacing love in His claim that He is the Bread of Life. And this revelation lies at the very heart of our Lord's teaching, which also forms the very foundation of our belief in the Holy Eucharist. As we reflect deeper into this mystery, we realize that it was not enough that our Lord Jesus Christ took our humble nature upon Himself in all things but sin. It was not enough that He also died at Calvary for our redemption. And now He goes the extra mile, so to speak, by choosing to remain physically with us always until the very end of time in our world, in the sacramental form of the Holy Eucharist.

But then Jesus' hearers at that time cannot believe the seemingly unbelievable claim of "Bread of Life". Because the Jews cannot accept something even more fundamental in Jesus' claim that He is indeed the Son of God. That is why they murmur among themselves that to them Jesus is simply the son of Joseph and Mary, and so just another man like them.

Generations have passed since Jesus' time and even now the murmuring of disbelief continues in our time for those who do not accept the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This is particularly sad, and disturbing, when the "murmuring" comes from within our own fellow brothers and sisters in the faith who want to call themselves "Catholics". But we cannot be Catholics without believing the Real Presence of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts so that we may understand the teaching revealed to us in this Sunday's Gospel. Let us pray that we continue to grow in our belief of the seemingly unbelievable because our Lord Jesus Christ Himself has revealed the truth to us, and to teach others to love our Lord in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

So then in every celebration of the Holy Mass, let us open ourselves to the Father's invitation that we listen and believe in His beloved Son: "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." (Jn 6:51) Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!