TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B (Proverbs 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20; John 6:51-58) Theme: The True Wisdom: To Taste and See that the Lord is Good Reflection: Eucharist, the heart of the Church, gives meaning to our human and Christian life - We are still in the discourse of the “bread of life”. From last four Sundays we have been reflecting on this bread that came down from heaven. The Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, is very important in the life of the Church and in the life of every Christian. That is why the Church is encouraging us to “stop for a while” on such discussion in order to penetrate ourselves deeply into its effective significance. Therefore, we still meditate from the gospel of John the nature and the importance of the bread of life. to have a glance of the past: we have initiated this discourse with the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish; from there we have come to the level of highlighting that we need to search for the bread that comes down from heaven; and from there we are asked to consume this bread, bread from heaven and bread of life, as the nutriment for the journey of our life. - Today, as the continuation of it, we enter into the most significant part of the discourse: Jesus affirms what happens if one participates in the banquet of life and enumerates the consequence and the content of the reception of the Eucharist. Even prior to that, as the introductory part, we may recall the truth that the Eucharist is the heart of the Church. It is true to reaffirm that the Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist. It is for this reason that the Vatican Council exhorts: “It is not possible to form one Christian community if there is no Eucharistic celebration as its root and its hinge” (Presbyterorum ordinis, no. 6). This indicates the Eucharist is truly the heart of the Church and the Church reaps always a new vigor to be edified as a ‘community of love’. - We are called today into this house of God exactly for this: we have to create and build the community of love. We are capable of doing this because we are Christians and more over we participate in this banquet of love. We are invited to be nourished by the Body and Blood of the Lord so that we become “the edifice of love and life” to the world around. We have this task to do. Eucharist makes us enter into this sense of our life. We have the questions ever present and to which we always strive to provide answers: who we are? From where did we come? Where do we go? These questions rouse in us, not only the curiosity but also, the need for the research of what is the meaning of our life in the world. We are not animals but humans. Humans are composed of “body”, “mind” and also of “the soul”. We have body and mind and that which makes us really human is “the centrality of the soul”. We have conscience. We have heart. We have soul. Therefore, we need to answer the above question, not only with the logic and intelligence but also, and above all, with the right conscience and good heart. - Knowledge of the life eternal: we have various sciences to provide us with the reasons and the logical conclusions. But the technological and scientific developments can fully offer to the man an answer for his never ending desire of the heart? The research of the mind, the desire of the soul, the beating the heart have no end and no stoppable conclusions. The mind continues to search to the end. The heart continues to beat until its rest in some other heart. The soul desires for its eternal uplift-ment. This makes man to rise above the natural and visible reality and to search for the invisible reality of the life. In this way, man always looks above, journey higher and higher and grow not only in the body and in the mind, but also in the spirit and in the soul. Thus, he enters into the knowledge of the eternity and he desires to participate in that reality: invisible and eternal. - To put in simple words: Man is nourished by the ordinary food and drink insofar he is corporeal. He is nourished by the knowledge of the ordinary logic and science insofar he is mental. But above all, he is nourished by the truth of life, which goes beyond the needs of the body and mind, insofar he is a spirit. This final need to grow in the truth is the wisdom that give a sense and a meaning his life as a human being. In the Christian language, man is invited to ‘search for the food that gives life’ – that means in a deeper manner, that he is invited “to participate in life of Christ, the Wisdom of God for the world”. Jesus Christ: Wisdom of God for the humanity - The bread of wisdom: readings of today focus on this aspect of striving always for the bread that gives wisdom. Yes, it is true. Material bread gives health and fitness to the material life. And spiritual bread gives breath and sustenance to the spiritual life. Since man is both material and spiritual he needs both material and spiritual bread. Material bread he has to earn from his daily hard work and fatigue. Spiritual bread he has to acquit (buy or earn) from his daily attitude of faith. The balance between them is very important. He cannot forego one for the other. If he renounces either of them what happens is this: he either loses his physical health or loses his spiritual and interior calm. We may analyze little closely with the help and inspiration of the readings. - Wisdom invites us to be nourished by it (first reading – Wisdom is God’s word): We have a beautiful passage from the book of Proverbs, one of the wisdom books, and therefore, it belongs to the heart. The passage reveals that Wisdom is God’s word and action and now it acts as a person. Taking the place of a person, Wisdom has prepared a banquet. It means that it transforms itself into the common food and invites the men to be filled with it. The invitation of the Wisdom is simple: “come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have prepared” (Pro 9:5). It is not simply to taste a little. It is an invitation of the complete dinner: eat and drink. We are called to eat and drink it so that it has its ‘tent’ in us. It stays with us and in us. It makes us its own. It fills us with its nature of being wise. It takes control of us so that whatever we say or do has some sense and significance. We are around the table on which the wisdom is place in the plate. We may also choose to refuse it but on its part, wisdom has made available for us. We are given the possibility and we are open the space for it consumption. If we accept the invitation and take part in it we are filled with its taste of goodness and love. If we reject and neglect the invitation and throw away the given chance we go hungry, means, we return with the ignorance of mind and the weakness of heart. - Wisdom in the Form of Bread and Wine (Gospel – Jesus is the Wisdom of God): let us convert the above words of wisdom into our life and into our situation: Jesus is the Wisdom of God who has made himself “the bread from heaven” for us. He made himself available for us. He is the “Word made Flesh” for us. In this way, he transformed himself into the food for our nourishment. He has given the possibility to participate in his life. He has created a space for us so that we gather around his table. If we accept him with the faith we have the possibility of having life. The gospel is very keen in placing before us this truth: “Truly, truly, I tell us you: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you” (John 6:53). And Jesus further enumerates the four fruits of the consummation his body and blood. The first fruit of the body and blood of Christ is the Eternal Life and Jesus promises: “who eats my body and drinks my blood has the eternal life” (John 6: 54). The second fruit is the Participation in the Resurrection and Jesus exclaims: “I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:54). The third fruit of the reception of Jesus’ body and blood is the continuous indwelling of Jesus in the one who receives him and the words of Jesus are: “who eat my body and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (John 6:56); Jesus pitches his tent in him and he takes his shelter in Jesus. The fourth and the final fruit is the “life through Jesus” and we have the affirming words of Jesus: “Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me” (John 6:57). The one who receives lives no more for or because of himself but lives because of the one whom he receives. Jesus becomes the ultimate point of reference for everything he speaks and does. It is in this sense that Paul also speaks of “life by Jesus” and his words give better sound: “It is no longer I who live, but it is 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” (Gal 2:20). These are the fruits and effects of the reception of the body and blood are Jesus Christ. - Jesus intensifies the discourse of the bread by referring it ultimately to his flesh and blood, which will be offered for the humanity first of all in the Eucharist and then finally, on the cross. This is what the Church is asking us to assimilate. For many it may seem to be illogical and incomprehensible as it was difficult for the Jews to understand the words of Jesus. But Jesus gradually brings his listeners to the level of seeking and receiving the true bread which comes down from heaven. He makes the platform for the discourse with the multiplication of the bread (John 6:1-15). Slowly, when people started looking for him because he has distributed the bread, Jesus takes another step ahead and tells them to strive for the bread that does not perish (John 6:26-27). Jesus guides the crowd furthermore and tells them that the bread that never perishes is himself: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35-51). There is a gradual growth. Now he presents himself as the New and Eternal Bread that God provides to His People on their journey towards the heavenly Jerusalem. There is a development of the theme from the normal and ordinary bread to the food that endures for eternal life. Jesus until now has invited people to come to him and to believe him so that they are not hungry and thirsty. With today’s gospel, he guides his listeners to the highest step: not only coming and believing him but “eating and drinking him” (John 6:52-58). It is here that the question and the discussion have become very intensive and hard to understand. It is very easy to come and to believe but eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus does not sound well to the ears and does not reach well to the mind and finally does not connect well to the heart. That’s the reason why the Jews started disputed among themselves and wondered of what kind of discourse this could be (John 6:52). But all the more Jesus reveals the content and the heart of the discourse. The one who receives him literally eating his body and drinking his blood in the Eucharist will remain and live through him in this earthly life and will be raised up for the life of resurrection and eternity in the next life. It is this point that we have to arrive at. The Church offers continuously this discourse so that we take to the heart this content of the Eucharist. - Jesus is the Wisdom of God for humanity: Wisdom belongs, not the body or to the mind but to the heart and to the soul. It is not mere intelligence or excellence in the sciences. They are only the preliminary steps to the Wisdom because it is the highest point and it has its origin and end in God himself. Therefore, wisdom demands the opening of the heart to something above. It requires that one rises from this earthly desires and seek for the heavenly reality. It asks to strive for the heavenly will and thus will of God. In this sense, Jesus is the Wisdom of God. He strives always to fulfill the will of his Father even to the ultimate moment of “sacrificing his life” and making his life a “Eucharist” for the hunger and thirst of the humanity. Wisdom in itself is never for itself but is for others. It makes the room for others so that they have a dwelling place in it and they live a “wise” life. Wise life means that the one who receives it “lives for the will of God”. So also Jesus. He in himself is not for himself but for others. He offers everything of himself to others. He invites them to take part in it so that they too participate in the eternal life by accomplishing the will of God. Here Jesus becomes the Wisdom of God for us. And here we become the Wisdom of Jesus for the world because we receive his body and blood. Therefore, the true wisdom lies here: tasting and seeing that the Lord is good (the antiphon for the responsorial psalm). Our Task: taste and see how good the Lord is - Our daily experience of the dinner: We may start with our usual and ordinary understanding. We invite hosts into our home. We prepare for them the best food. While eating the first question we ask is this: How is it? Do you like it? Does it taste better? They are normal questions of the curiosity to know whether they are satisfied with the preparations and with the dishes. We shall try to apply this to our spiritual food. Jesus prepares a dinner for us. He invites us every time to come and dine with him. We listen to his word and ‘receive’ him into ourselves. Now Jesus asks us the same questions: my friends, how is it? is it tasty? Are you satisfied with the food I have prepared for you? When we return home from the dinner that our friends prepared we talk about it. We discuss about its taste. We share within our circle about the experience of the hospitality. But in the case of spiritual dinner we receive here in the liturgical celebration how our attitude is? Did we ever proclaim about the food that Jesus prepared for us? Did we ever give testimony of the Eucharist we have received? Did we ever share with others the taste and the experience we had in the reception of the Eucharist? These are the questions that we have ask ourselves before, during and after the Holy Mass. The kind of answer we have for these questions reveals how really we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Many times we fail to give testimony to the Eucharistic participation. It is because either we do not make good preparations to receive it or because we do not “receive him” with the worthy manner. When we fail to taste and see, we fail also to give a witness. Today Jesus is asking us “to taste and see” who he is and what he is for us. He is inviting us to be “filled and nourished” by him. - Jesus invites us to eat and drink him to the full: In the first reading we see that the wisdom builds a house on the seven pillars and invites the people to the dinner it has prepares. In our time and for our situation: Jesus is the Wisdom of God; the house he has built is the Church; the seven pillars are the seven Sacraments; the dinner he has prepared and invites us to participate is the Eucharist. We are invited to receive him to the brim of our heart. We are invited to have a good and perfect dinner so that we are satisfied completely and our hunger disappears forever. Once we are filled and nourished by “his Body and Blood” we are filled with the wisdom and we become “indwelling place of the Holy Spirit”. - Our attitude should be that of wise: when we are nourished by the Eucharist we become “filled with the Holy Spirit” as St. Paul exhorts us in the second reading (Eph 5:18). We drink the eternal wine so that we become temples of the Spirit. Therefore, we need to demonstrate a wise attitude in our life: “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise” (Eph 5:15). The wise will make use of the time well without wasting even a single minute in the unnecessary discussions (v. 16). The wise will always seek for God’s will (v. 17). They do not lose control of themselves (v. 18). They construct and edify their life of unity and fraternity with others (v. 19) and finally, they glorify the Lord always (v. 20). This should be the attitude of those who are wise. We are called and made wise because we receive the Holy Spirit and we receive him “in the Eucharist”. - Let us accept the invitation. Let us enter with joy into the house of the Lord. Let us prepare ourselves well for the liturgical celebration. Let us embrace with good conscience the word that the Lord proclaims. Let us receive with good heart and soul the banquet he has prepared for us. Let us make our own the Body and Blood we receive. Let us go out and give testimony with our life how good the Lord is and how he has nourished us with the wisdom. This is the meaning of being wise. This is the meaning of “taste and see” that the Lord is good. Let us go and be wise because we are nourished by the “bread from heaven” and by the “body and blood” of Christ from the Eternal Banquet of the Eucharist.