First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6 ©
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
33(34):2-3,10-15 ©
Second Reading – Ephesians 5:15-20 ©
Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14,12
Alternative Acclamation – John 6:56
The Gospel According to John – 2018.08.19
(NJB)
Listen!
The reading speaks to the way of life that all Christians are called if their intention is to follow Jesus.
Let us be clear about this; not all of those who have been initiated into the Christians Church follow the way. It is also true that the institutions of the Church have been opposed to Jesus’ teaching, in one way or another, from the beginning, though it does not know it.
Be mindful.
You do not need to be a Christian to follow the way, in fact, because of the Church’s erroneous teaching, membership in it may be a stumbling block.
Consider the teaching of the apostle who calls us to be moderate and temperate in all the things we do as Christians, and exemplars of the faith.
As followers of the way we are called to sobriety and rationality in service to our sisters and brothers. We are not called to service for the sake of our salvation; we are called on to service as a means of giving thanks to God, the creator of the universe.
Know this.
If it is your intention to seek God, look no farther than your heart; you will find God there encouraging you to a live a life of loving service. In loving you will be blessed, and through the love you give you will be a blessing to others.
If your intention is to praise God, do not sing it in church but do it through works of love, by seeking justice for the marginalized and mercy for those in bondage, through service to the stranger and even your enemy, do it with humility all the days of your life.
If your intention is to emulate the divine, do it through compassion.
Listen to your neighbors, be responsive to their cares, rescue them from fear and encourage them in hope, look into their hearts and see God’s presence there.
Remember.
With God there is no shame. God is no respecter of station, class or wealth. God loves everyone the same regardless of where they were born, the color of their skin, the language they speak or what religion they have been taught.
Do not look for God to save you from your troubles, the divine hand will not reach into our lives and change our circumstances. In this way, we are all like Job, who experienced the indifference of the universe and the fullness of human suffering. God will not intervene on our behalf, and just because we experience the universe as indifferent we ourselves are not called to be indifferent. Insofar as God does act in the world, God acts through us who calls us to share the suffering of others, as Christ did, and to alleviate their tribulations if we can.
Know this.
We cannot escape the pains of the world, our faith in God is meant to help us understand how transient they are; all pain is temporary, but love lasts forever.
Therefore, do not fear.
Speak the truth.
Avoid evil.
Do good.
Be mindful.
God sees all and hears all; God knows all, even our innermost thoughts, our secrets and desires, our true motivations. God understands our experience even as we understand it ourselves, seeing through our eyes, feeling what we feel.
Live in the present moment, do not look to the future for the good things that may or may not come…but work toward them anyway. God’s love is enduring, but it is only in the present moment that we experience it and are able to share it with others.
Teach hope and ignore the fear-mongers, except insofar as you are sharing the truth with them.
This is the way.
Consider the gospel reading for today and know this:
We are saved by grace, because God wills it. Give thanks for that, and do not place your faith in anything else.
The dogmas and doctrines of the church do not save, neither do its creeds, decrees and decretals. What the church imagines to be the effective means of salvation, the sacraments and their formulas, they do not save…the eucharist is not magical food; eating the bread and drinking the wine does not confer the gift of eternal life.
Christians do a disservice to the memory of Jesus when they use the eucharist to divide people, splitting them into groups of insiders and outsiders, and by withholding the grace which they believe it confers. The eucharist may only be seen as a sacrament insofar as it fulfills what the ministry of Jesus promised, which is to foster hope through the loving service we provide to one another at the common table, the table of God to which all are welcome and none are refused.
First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6 ©
Wisdom
Builds Her House and Invites All to Eat Her Bread There
Wisdom
has built herself a house, she has erected her seven pillars, she has
slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine, she has laid her table.
She
has despatched her maidservants and proclaimed from the city’s heights:
‘Who
is ignorant? Let him step this way.’
To the fool she says, ‘Come and eat my bread,
drink the wine I have prepared!
Leave
your folly and you will live, walk in the ways of perception.’
Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm 33(34):2-3,10-15 ©
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Alleluia,
alleluia!
I
will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in
the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Revere
the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong
lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Come,
children, and hear me
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who
is he who longs for life
and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Then
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn
aside from evil and do good;
seek and strive after peace.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Alleluia!
Second
Reading – Ephesians 5:15-20 ©
Be Filled Not with Wine, but With the
Spirit
Be
very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like
senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but you redeem it. And do not be
thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not drug yourselves
with wine, this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit. Sing the
words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on
singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere
you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14,12
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to
all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
Alternative
Acclamation – John 6:56
Alleluia,
alleluia!
He
who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him, says the
Lord.
Alleluia!
The Gospel According to John 6:51-58
©
My Flesh is Real Food and
My Blood is Real Drink
Jesus
said to the crowd:
‘I
am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread
will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life
of the world.’
Then
the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh
to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I
tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink
his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and
drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For
my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I, who am sent by the living
Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life
from me. This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our
ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’
A Homily – The Twentieth Sunday in
Ordinary Time (Year B)
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