Commentary
Sunday, 8/19/2018, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Accept the Gifts of Wisdom and Understanding
First Reading Commentary: Proverbs 9:1-6
The theme of “The True Bread of Life Comes from God” and the message of “Jesus being the Living Bread that came down from heaven” are continued in today’s liturgy. But in today’s first reading from Proverbs, there is more.
Proverbs is telling us that, God in His wisdom which, refers to the Holy Spirit; has prepared His Feast and that all are invited to take part. This message goes beyond the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. The Feast is the Wedding Feast of the Lamb in the Kingdom of Heaven that John foresees in Revelation 19:5-10.
Proverbs tells us that the house has been built and that the seven columns have been set up. The Seven Columns are:
When the number seven is used in Scripture, it represents completeness and perfection. Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is ready and even though the last day is yet to come, the preparation of our place in heaven is complete, perfect and waiting for us.
We honor our invitation to the Feast each time that we receive the Eucharist. As we keep in mind that when we receive the Eucharist, the living Body and Blood of Christ becomes a part of us and we are in complete union with Him we should also keep in mind that there are differences between the feast here on earth and the Feast in heaven.
The one difference that I want to point out in this commentary is that the Eucharist here on earth is temporary. I say that because Jesus gave us the Sacrament of the Eucharist so that He might be with us always as He promised in Matthew 28:20. But this life is only temporary and not all of us receive the Eucharist and some of us do not remain in communion with Jesus after receiving the Eucharist because of sin.
If you attend the Feast in heaven, it is because your name has been written into the book of life and you have accepted the invitation. Once you arrive, your stay is eternal which makes the Feast in heaven: eternal and forever—never ending.
Proverbs tells us that the maidens have been called out. This refers to the prophets, the saints, the clergy, those who evangelize and anyone else who accepts the call of spreading God’s Word. This should mean all of us but it is our choice to listen to the maidens that God has called out or to reject them. Therefore, we either listen to our call or we reject it. The simple ones referred to in Proverbs are the ones who listen.
But as I said before, God invites all of us to His Feast. Proverbs says, “To the one who lacks understanding…Come eat of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed!” Even those who refuse to listen to God’s Word are invited to the Feast. Their final chance to accept God’s invitation is found in Revelation 20:11-15.
They stand before the One on the large white throne and their final judgement is passed according to their deeds. If their names are not written in the book of life, they will experience a second death and be cast into the pool of fire. But if their names are written in the book of life, they will be admitted into the Kingdom and they will attend the Feast.
And so, Proverbs tells us to forsake foolishness so that we may live and advance in the way of understanding. In other words, reject sin and accept the gifts of wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit.
Take Prayer to Music from the Heart
Second Reading Commentary: Ephesians 5:15-20
We can break what Paul says in this section of his letter to the Ephesians into two parts. In the first part, Paul is telling us to pay attention to the message contained within today’s first reading from Proverbs, which is to live wise.
Paul tells us to be careful how we live and not be foolish. Paul is advising us to think and pay attention to the consequences before we commit an act sin. In other words, we should use our free will wisely which means that we should use the Spirit’s gift of wisdom.
Paul tells us to make the most of the opportunity. We are quick to jump at opportunities that affect our lives here on earth. If we have a chance to make some money or have a good time; we usually don’t hesitate to seize the moment. But nothing in this life lasts forever nor does it have any value in the next life. Paul wants us to realize that there is no greater opportunity than our chance to be with God in heaven.
But the devil throws everything that he possibly can in our paths to take our focus off of the greatest of all opportunities. He does everything that he possibly can to take that opportunity away from us. That is why Paul says that the days are evil. Indeed, the world is evil with all of the hatred, violence, persecution and crime that exists; today. So, Paul is advising us to try our best to stay away from sin and be filled with the Holy Spirit and His gift of understanding.
The second part of Paul’s message today deals with how we should treat each other when we give praise to God. What Paul says is very straight forward and he tells us to do it from our hearts.
Paul tells us to sing and play to the Lord. In other words, take our prayer to music. The style or genre of the music does not matter as long as it comes from our hearts.
Some people consider a Mass with traditional music to be boring. Others consider a Mass with lively music such as gospel to be disrespectful. It does not matter. The only thing that should matter is the prayer contained within. It should be sincere and Paul says that it should be, “…in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”
Sadly, too many people miss that truth about Mass or any other religious service no matter what the religion. They do not understand or take to heart that the reason for going to church is to come together and be fed by the Word of God. One should be open to what God is telling them no matter where or from whom they are hearing it. This is because I truly believe that you never know when, where, how or from whom God will talk to you.
So, the next time that you think about criticizing the genre of music at a Mass or any other religious service, no matter what the religion; remember today’s message from Paul because God hears all of our prayers and what matters to Him is that they come from the heart.
Jesus Says It Again, “I AM the Living Bread.”
Gospel Commentary John 6:51-58
Today’s gospel is a continuation of last week’s gospel of John’s account of the people of Nazareth refusing to listen to Jesus let alone accept Him for who He was. As I noted last week, these people were not Gentiles. They were not non-believers in God and many of them knew the Scriptures very well. Even so, Jesus had to repeat Himself several times and the people still did not get the message.
Their minds were closed and their hearts were hard and they repeated their rejection by saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Had they looked beyond the physical person saying the words and recognized the Son of Man in front of them; they would have known that Jesus was not expecting them to be cannibals. Instead, they would have understood that Jesus was inviting them to accept Him for who He really was. They would have understood that by accepting Jesus as the Son, they would have been uniting themselves with God.
This was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and no one knew that the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper was three years down the road. We can give them credit for that. Yet and still, they were given the opportunity to accept Jesus as the Son in faith and in spite of their knowledge of the Scriptures; they denied Him.
Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” The people in Nazareth could not conceive of the idea that they were being presented with the greatest of all opportunities because they had no idea that Jesus was talking about eternal life in heaven. They had no idea that this is what Jesus meant when He continued, “…and I will raise him on the last day.”
Again, because the Eucharist had not been instituted, these people were in a position to plead ignorance. They should have accepted Jesus in faith but we cannot ignore the fact that they did not know what was to come. Neither do we, but anyone who knows the bible, especially the New Testament and considers themselves as a total and devout Christian, should know what the Eucharist is and therefore has no excuse for not accepting it.
The invitation that Jesus made in this gospel was not and is not limited to the people who were in Nazareth that day. The invitation is extended to everyone. Anyone who accepts the invitation: becomes a part of the Mystical Body of Christ. It was His Mystical Body that Jesus was talking about when He said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
In other words, we are in total union with God through Jesus as He dwells within us and each of us becomes an individual part of Him. We have people in our lives who we totally enjoy being with for one reason or another. Whether they be; family members or friends, none of them can offer the kind of union that Jesus offers. None of them can provide eternal life. Only Jesus can and does do that!
Furthermore, there is no other bread or any other source of nourishment that can give us eternal life. This is why Jesus said, “Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
The Children of Israel received manna which was bread from heaven and we know that their manna was a forerunner to the Eucharist. But they made the mistake of not realizing that their bread from heaven was supposed to do more than sustain them in a physical way. They did not realize that they were supposed to accept their bread from heaven in faith with the understanding that when they ate it, they would be in union with God. And so, they died physically and spiritually. This is what Jesus meant.
We should not make the mistake of the Children of Israel in the desert. We should not make the mistake of the people in Nazareth. We are truly blessed to have the Eucharist available to us and we will be even more blessed if we accept it in faith knowing that each time that we receive it, we strengthen our union with God through the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
