This week’s memory verse: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. — Romans 6:14
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Grant that I live, work, celebrate, and do all in You. Make me completely Yours, not by dos and don’ts, but by an ongoing relationship with you. Subsume me into You. Amen.
“You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
For seven Sundays we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles. Today, and for the rest of Ordinary Time, Jesus will discuss the practical application of being in Him. How do we do it?
In the context of the journey, we discussed the Law of God that Israel was commanded to follow, covering it especially during the past two weeks.
There is a lot to the Law. At a basic level, as we heard from Moses today, the Law set Israel apart from other nations, but it wasn’t quite that simple.
Israel’s Law of social and religious behavior was developed based on the Ten Commandments, spoken by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Ten express the essential religious and moral principles Israel was to follow and put in a nutshell what God revealed to the Israelites about Himself, as well as how they should live in community. From these Ten “Words,” as well as instruction through prophets and priests, Israel developed a detailed system of religious and social communal regulations.
Now, other nations (e.g., the Amorites of Babylon, Assyrians, and others) had codes of laws that predated Israel. In many ways they were similar, and each borrowed from the other.
The differences are in three essential elements. One is the grounding of the codes. Other kingdom’s codes were based on the authority and power of a ruler. Their laws protected the rights of the wealthy and powerful. For Israel, the Law is grounded on communal experience of God. So, although the Law deals with some economic matters, that does not dominate. Rather, at the center of Law is: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of slavery; you shall have no other gods besides me.”
Other differences are the way God is to be treated. The Law did not change with the whims of a king but was the baseline against which all were to behave under and toward God. Lastly, other codes had an imbalance. They treated rich and poor, slaves and free differently. They punished the poor severely for minor things. In the Law, the most severe penalties were applied to offenses against other people, regardless of social rank, or actions which threaten the community and its values. It was Law for all.
The Law reflected Israel’s unique encounter with God. Hearing its corruption, it being reduced to a series of dos and don’ts without any relationship to God, Jesus speaks of the Law’s true nature. It is about a community in relationship with God and each other. Being in Jesus means that together we are to grow toward God, have our hearts close to God, and always keep our worship directed to God, living His way.
This week’s memory verse: He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life — Romans 2:6-7
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, I pledge myself to You in my entire being. I pledge, that by Your grace, I will hold nothing back. Grant me the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and guidance in all things and the grace to listen to Him. Amen.
As a result of this, many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him.
We have been on a long journey, from the Apostles being sent to teach and heal throughout Galilee, to looking after those who were like sheep without a shepherd, to the feeding of the thousands, and back to Capernaum where Jesus put it all on the line, where His listeners murmured and grumbled at Him and His words, to this moment where most all left Him.
In the Collect, our Opening Prayer. we heard this verse: ‘Give us the conviction to accept Him completely and follow Him faithfully.’ Will I do this? This is the question the people who had been following Jesus faced. In the end, the people Jesus was speaking to refused the fight that was at hand, the fight to overcome doubt and to trust in what they heard and experienced, what the Holy Spirit was inspiring them to.
Jesus told those around Him: “It is the spirit that gives life… The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
Indeed, that is what happened, those who walked away would not let the Holy Spirit enter and free them. Rather than listen to the Spirit, they were going to hold on to the heavy rocks that held them down, Laws and a lack of true trust in God. They lived by what they could or could not do, never overcoming that state of existence.
We could shake our heads at what they did, their walking away. We could see it as tragic – it was. Yet, for them and all the others who would not follow, Christ died. He died to forgive those sins and so many others. He died to offer them another and another chance.
Brothers and sisters, we all face the choice. Will I wander away, ignoring the Holy Spirit’s voice, refusing to take a chance on faith beyond reason, faith in which I receive the very presence of Jesus within myself?
Perhaps I will stay yet remain in doubt, Jesus couldn’t possibly be all that, but I’m comfortable. Maybe I will revolt, crate my own faith in which I define a god who is really only myself. That’s what Judas did.
Or maybe, just maybe I will go all in. I will listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and relish the gifts He endows me with. I will praise God for the freedom He has given me from sin through Jesus and use that freedom for the purpose of building God’s Kingdom right here and now.
In doubt, then look again at today’s corrected gospel verse. The error of our times stopped capitalizing references to God. Seeing it corrected we realize we are His and we must accept the chance we are given to receive and walk with Him.
This week’s memory verse: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. — 1 Corinthians 11:26
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, In Your Body and Blood I have been freed. Grant that I may use that freedom to do Your will, serving Your Holy Church and all around me. Amen.
“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me.”
Remember last week, “The Jews murmured about Jesus.” Jesus had been describing Himself as the Bread that came down from heaven. He said that He will give Himself as a bread that lets us live forever. He also assumed God’s name, I AM. He told His listeners that they must eat His flesh to live forever. Today He goes even deeper.
We said last week that the reaction of the people who followed Jesus to Capernaum made sense. Afterall, Jesus words, claims, and instruction were outstandingly unbelievable, impossible to grasp.
To even better set the situation, the Jewish people then and to this day follow the prescriptions of the Law, the Law overcome by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.
Observant Jewish people cannot say nor write the word God nor His name YHWH. They cannot consume blood of any type: ‘Moreover you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwellings. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ Leviticus 7: 26-27. Kosher meat is prepared by proper slaughter and the washing, salting, and rinsing of the meat three times to remove all traces of blood.
We can clearly see why Jesus calling Himself I AM and telling the people they are to eat His flesh and drink His blood would cause not only confusion, but anger and disgust.
Yet eat and drink is what we are to do if we want eternal life. That is what we must do if we desire everlasting freedom.
Our freedom comes from the fact that we need not be afraid of God. In Jesus we can approach God, speak His name, take Him within ourselves, and live in His love as one in His body; the fulness of Christ Jesus.
Our freedom comes from the fact that the prescriptions of the Law no longer hold us hostage. Again, we are free in Jesus because He gave Himself completely for us and allows us to partake of Him. The sacrifices of the Law are not needed to atone for sin because Jesus freed us from sin once and for all in His body and blood.
Jesus sets the Eucharistic feast before us. Eucharist means thanksgiving. As we meet Him today in the consecration and eat His body and drink His blood in communion, let us be truly thankful for and celebrate the freedom, fellowship, and life we have in Jesus.
This week’s memory verse: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. — Galatians 2:20
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You came to save me and to give Your very body and blood for me to partake in. In receiving You, change my heart into and image of Yours and help me to see that You value me. Amen.
“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.”
Last week, after reflecting on the movement between proclamation, healing, service, care, and feeding the rubber met the road. Indeed, people began to react to the truth of the Kingdom and following the heavenly King Who would give them Himself as food for eternal life.
We anticipated the reaction, and unfortunately the reaction was not positive or accepting. We heard it right at the start of today’s Gospel: “The Jews murmured about Jesus.”
Their reaction might seem natural to us. Here is this Man saying that He will give us a bread that lets us live forever. He is saying He came down from heaven and that His Father is God. He is assuming God’s name, I Am. In the end He says that He is the Living Bread and that we must eat His flesh to live forever. He will go deeper into that next Sunday. The reaction against Him will get more negative.
It is sad that this sort of thinking and reaction makes sense even in the current age. To many people, even to many Catholics, the reaction of the people who followed Jesus to Capernaum makes sense. They cannot believe His outstanding claims. It is indeed hard to grasp the power and mystery of God, because at its core we consider ourselves unworthy of God’s abundant goodness How could we possibly be worthy?
If we look at today’s reading from First Kings, we see the depth of God’s care for His servants. Elijah, afraid, exhausted, and unwilling to go forward is met by God’s provision. God provides not once, but twice. God not only provides food and water, but He also works to strengthen Elijah for all he is called to do.
This trope is repeated over and over throughout salvation history. The foreshadowing of the Old Testament points to God’s care for His people, and not just care, but more so a desire for deep and everlasting relationship. God shows His desire to commune with His people.
When God came to earth it wasn’t just for a visit. It wasn’t to say a few wise words and let us have at it. It was to bring us everlasting life, continual relationship, and perpetual communion.
Jesus calls us into a faith and belief that transcends the ordinary, overcomes our doubts, and in the end calls us to understand that we are worth it to God. He says we are worthy of this mystery so great, His very self.
Overcoming doubt and unbelief by the grace God grants us in His Eucharistic feast, let us truly accept His flesh and blood as we faithfully rejoice in what we celebrate today – salvation.
This week’s memory verse: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” — Matthew 26:26
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You lay the Bread of Life before me in word, bread, and wine. You grant me the fulness of Yourself in the Eucharist. Grant that I may clearly perceive Your great promise and place all my confidence in it. Amen.
So they said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The Apostles had gone out and ministered to the people of Galilee. They proclaimed the Gospel message, declared the Kingdom, and healed. They came back tired and alongside Jesus were soon confronted with more work, teaching a large crowd of people who were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus seeing deeply into the totality of their need miraculously fed them.
Now the rubber meets the road. What would be the reaction of these people? Would they embrace the Kingdom and its truth? Would they follow a heavenly King Who would give them Himself as food for eternal life?
We sit in a moment of anticipation. Factually, that is what the true followers of Jesus have been doing for two thousand some years. We anticipate our receiving the Bread from Heaven in sacramental word, bread and wine. We anticipate the full revelation of the Kingdom we are working for. We anticipate Jesus’ return and the exaltation of all believers.
The Gospel of St. Mark led us into a continuation of events as recorded in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. As we look at today’s passage, we sense an upcoming realization, the rubber beginning to meet the road. This will play out over the next several weeks. The truth of people’s hearts will be revealed.
The Old Testament offers a foretaste, a shadowy revelation of the coming Messiah, Jesus. In our First Reading from Exodus, we find the same events: people grumbling, unsatisfied even though they had clearly seen God’s power in saving them from the Egyptians. They focused solely on temporal, everyday needs and remained blind to God’s promise of rest, a land of plenty, and continuing provision. Today’s Introit from Psalm 78 recounts it so well: They spoke against God, and said, “Can God spread a table in the desert? Can He also provide bread, give meat to His people?”
That says it all and is an indictment down through the ages. It indicts us if we do not put our full faith in God’s saving power which we see here regularly.
God came among us to give us Bread from Heaven, the full and eternal presence of Jesus among us. We are called to believe and receive Him – and that includes receiving His great promise – life now, life eternal, a full satisfaction of all things people long for, the healing of their souls and peace. Let us truly enjoy and rejoice in His feeding, provision, and true life. Let us believe.