August 19, 201820th Sunday in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Prov 9:1–6 2nd Reading: Eph 5:15–20 Gospel: Jn 6:51–58
Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world.” The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this man give us flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood live with eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is really food and my blood is drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent me and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread which came from heaven; unlike that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Jesus insisted, over the objection of his listeners, that unless people eat his body and drink his blood they couldn’t have life in them. The resistance of the Jews to this teaching was premised on the human repugnance of taking somebody else’s flesh and blood as food. Did Jesus mean it literally? Surprisingly, the Greek version of today’s Gospel text does not use the equivalent word for eating but for munching or gnawing. These are words used not to describe an act of human beings but of animals. Bible Scholars believe this is the Evangelist’s way of emphasizing that Jesus meant it literally when he challenged people to eat his body and drink his blood.
Notwithstanding the violent reactions, Jesus did not revise his teaching. Many turned their backs but Peter did not. He said to Jesus, “Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of everlasting life.” Peter’s declaration was a declaration of faith, for even if Jesus did not produce concrete proof of his claim that eating his body and drinking his blood could generate eternal life, Peter surrendered himself to Jesus. This is the faith we have inherited. Let’s keep it alive by asking God for the light of wisdom. The first two readings, Proverbs 9:1-6 (wisdom’s invitation) and Ephesians 5:15-20 (Paul’s invitation to be wise) invite us to live in the auspices of wisdom so that we may sharpen our process of discernment. Only the man under the tutelage of wisdom can comprehend the high Christological content of the teaching on Jesus’ Body and Blood. — (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email: [email protected].
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