18 Aug 2024 – 20th Sunday (Year B)
18 Aug 2024 – 20th Sunday (Year B)
(1) Proverbs (9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house with seven pillars
Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn herself seven pillars. She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, “You that are simple, turn in here!” To those without sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
Responsorial: from Psalm 34
R./: Taste and see the goodness of the Lord
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be always in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
the lowly will hear me and be glad. (R./)
Glorify the Lord with me,
let us together praise his name.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears. (R./)
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him. (R./)
(2) Ephesians 5:15-20
Make the most of each day, according to the will of God
Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel: John 6:51-58
Jesus is the living bread for believers
Jesus said to the crowd, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
Invited to dine with Jesus
When we have moved into a new house or done a refurbishment, often we have a little celebration to which we invite our friends. Once the house is to ourr satisfaction we open it to others and provide refreshments. We call it a house warmer. It is as if the house needs a good presence of others to be properly launched. something similar is happening. We have this woman by the name of Wisdom. She builds herself a house, clearly a very elegant home with no less than seven pillars. She throws a feast of fine wine and good meat and sends out her servants into the streets to gather people to her table. In that reading the building of a house, the making of a feast, the invitation to come and eat and drink, is an imaginative way of speaking about God as the wise host who invites all of humanity to learn from his wisdom. It is interesting that God is portrayed as a woman in this reading, Woman-Wisdom.
That image of Woman-Wisdom who says, ‘Come and eat of my bread, drink the wine I have prepared’ finds an echo in the figure of Jesus in the gospel who declares, ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’ Like Woman-Wisdom Jesus invites us to come and eat of his bread, but unlike Woman-Wisdom he declares himself to be that bread. We are to eat of him, to drink of him. More specifically he calls on us to eat his flesh and to drink his blood. This goes far beyond anything Woman-Wisdom calls for in that first reading. Jesus’ language of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is shocking in many respects. We can sympathize with those who object, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ We cannot hear this language without thinking of the words of Jesus to his disciples at the last supper when, taking bread, blessing it and breaking it, he gave it to them saying, ‘Take, eat, this is my body’, and taking and blessing a cup of wine he gave it to them, saying, ‘Take, drink, this is the new covenant in my blood.’ He gave himself to his disciples, his body and blood, under the form of bread and wine. The last supper became the first Eucharist. We cannot but hear the language of the Eucharist in today’s gospel, the Eucharist which we are now celebrating together.
We invite people to our home and put food and drink before them and we invite them to eat and drink. Jesus invites us to his table and he puts himself before us as food and drink and invites us to eat and drink. In language that is very daring Jesus declares himself to be our food and drink, the one who can satisfy our deepest hungers and thirsts, our hunger and thirst for life. Jesus declares in that gospel, ‘anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.’ We come to the Eucharist to draw life from the risen Lord to draw God’s life from him, God’s love. We are then sent from the Eucharist to be channels of that life, of that love, for each other. We come to the Eucharist hungering and thirsting for life, for authentic life, the life of God, the love of God, and we are sent out from the Eucharist as life givers, as agents of God’s life and love within our homes, our society, our world.
He is present among us
Jesus is living food for us, sent from the Father in heaven. Unlike ordinary food, which just sustains bodily life, this food offers a life that is eternal. From the burning bush to the gentle breeze, God has made his presence known among us since the beginning of time. Being among us as food for body and spirit is a significant way of being present. Christ’s eucharistic presence is in bread and wine, among the commonest elements of food and drink in his day. The Lord is present among us through everyday things.
Bread comes from a process that starts with seeds of wheat mixed with water. These are brought together as dough and, after several stages of development, they end up as a unity which we call bread. Wine begins as a cluster of grapes which, when they are processed, they end up as what we call wine. A group of people gather together for prayer, each of them unique. After a process which is the work of God’s Spirit, they become a unity, which we call church, or the Body of Christ. In communion, the (community) Body of Christ is being nourished by the (sacramental) Body of Christ.
If someone invited you all to gather around me, as close as you can, because he was going to whisper to you, something else would take place that might surprise you. You’d notice that the closer you come to me the closer you’d be to each other. If you gathered closely around one person, you would be touching shoulders with each other. That is how community or the Body of Christ is formed. It is a question of bringing people closer to the Lord and, as a direct result of that, they end up being closer to each other.
Throughout history, God has spoken to his people in surprising ways. He spoke to Elijah through the gentle breeze, and he spoke to Moses in the burning bush. The natives of Bethlehem weren’t too excited that a new baby had been born and, later on, Herod would mock Jesus as a fool, and the soldiers would jeer him as a king. After the resurrection, Mary Magdalene thought he was a gardener, Peter thought he was a ghost, and the disciples on the road to Emmaus thought he was a stranger passing through. That he should present himself in so simple a form as food and drink is just what we might expect from “The God of Surprises.”
Keeping it simple
With Eucharistic Theology, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the mystery and philosophical difficulty of transubstantiation. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus keeps it simple for us. As preachers, sometimes it is good to simply respect and embrace the mystery and profundity of it all and continue to keep it simple.
When experienced athletes take training workshops, the instructor oftentimes begins with the absolute basics to ensure that the fundamental positionings and postures of the body have not gotten sloppy or lax; for the rest of the physical technique relies upon the absolute basics for excellence and achievement. Perhaps it is enough this weekend to illustrate what is fundamentally communicated and then draw similar parallels.
Here are the simple facts that Jesus communicates: Earthly bread sustains earthly life. It helps us grow. Heavenly bread sustains heavenly (eternal) life. It also helps us grow. Jesus is that heavenly bread. When we ingest it (Him), we enjoy a special intimacy with Jesus. He literally abides in us.
Here is a Homily skeleton which can be dressed with some personal facts. With earthly food and drink we live. Outside of self-imposed fasts, or surgery preparation, it is unlikely that any of us have been deprived of food for substantial periods of time. From the day we were born we have been ingesting food each day in order to sustain our earthly lives. We all know what hunger feels like, and we all know what kind of weakness and irritability accompanies that hunger.
Without earthly food we die. Although starvation and dehydration may not be part of our daily, observable surroundings, we know this is true. We see this fact reported on the nightly news when countries are hit with famine, droughts, and disasters. We see this fact reported when we learn of a person who is trapped in a space from which he can not be rescued in a timely manner.
Earthly food helps us grow. There are lots of stories to illustrate this fact in our personal lives: growth spurts, grocery bills from a household of teenage boys, and the intentional high protein intake of bodybuilders to name a few.
Earthly food can produce great joy! we all have favorite foods, some of which are more nutritional than others; but the fact remains that when we ingest certain foods a kind of intimacy is enjoyed with that food that produces a satisfied, warm glow to our faces.
All of the above facts can be mirrored in the ingestion of Jesus, our Heavenly food that gives us heavenly (eternal) life. With our heavenly food we live forever. although we will all die an earthly death we will live forever. Without heavenly food we die. No heavenly food, no eternal life. Heavenly food helps us grow. The need for regular, earthly food intake to help us physically grow is paralleled to the need for the regular ingestion of heavenly to help us spiritually grow. Heavenly food can produce great joy! The reception of Jesus, our heavenly food, need not be an occasion for solemn, dreary faces. The experience is to be savoured and enjoyed. The intimacy with this food can produce the same satisfied, warm glow that earthy food can yield.
Perhaps this is the weekend to keep it simple. If we do not we might find ourselves quarrelling saying: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Key Message:
Jesus consoles others but seeks consolation from His Mother.
Homily:
The takeaway from First Reading:
In the first reading, Wisdom calls out “You that are simple, turn in here”. In the autobiography of Saint Thérèse of the Little Flower, we read the mark of Simplicity – “…. the closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.”
Though Mamma Mary was the Mother of God, She was despised while she was living on earth. In the “Poem of Man and God” we read how people despised her because of her poverty. Mamma Mary was deprived of good financial or social status in the society. But she was very happy since she did not have any other desire other than being the handmaid to God. As her heart was simple, she was longing to love and serve God only. His love towards her, made her feel complete.
When she had to conceive as a virgin, when Her Son was called a mad person, when she saw her Son hanging on the cross like a criminal, when His lifeless body was laid on her lap, Mamma Mary never questioned “Why me?” Instead, Mamma Mary whispered, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me, according to His will”.
The takeaway from Second Reading:
Testimony: In a friendly chat, there was a question posted to one of the friends on why that friend does not participate in any outings. The friend simply replied, “I do not have any desire to go out or visit places. Being at home, finishing my chores and praising God in the available hours makes me feel fulfilled. Since there is no inner longing to see places, I do not venture into it.”
Some people are very clear on the purpose of their life and they are really happy and focussed on doing it.
Let us gather the teachings from the life of our loving Mother Mary:
1. Waiting period for our dear Mother Mary:
Mother Mary was born to elderly parents, Father Joachim and Mother Anne. Till Mamma Mary was born, they had no children. The wait was too long but the reward was too sweet!! They had the privilege of becoming grandparents of Jesus and the parents of the Queen of Heaven!!
Are we waiting for something in our life? Are we waiting for the gift of a child for a long time? Think about Joachim and Anne!! They waited in prayer. Be of good cheer. God will satisfy the desires of your heart.
2. Offering of Mother Mary:
Joachim and Anne were waiting for the gift of a child for a vast portion of their lives. Yet they offered their child to God when She was only 3 years of age. It would have certainly pained them to part from their only daughter at their old age. But they fulfilled God’s plan in spite of their own desires.
Can we keep God’s will ahead of our own will? Can we offer our children to be priests and nuns, if the precious gift of God’s calling is on them?
3. Mother Mary’s girlhood:
Mother Mary grew up in communion with God. She was always full of God. In spite of being in a sinful world, She focussed on God and was free from sins. She was happy and praised God. We can also recall God’s goodness joyously in our minds probably for a few seconds in the midst of our routine work!!
4. Mother Mary’s sharing ‘her call to be a virgin’ to Saint Joseph:
As we read from the book – “THE POEM OF THE MAN-GOD”, as soon as Mother Mary shares her call to be a virgin to Saint Joseph, Saint Joseph immediately takes the same vow of chastity. Saint Joseph and Mother Mary eagerly offered to live with chastity and virginity for the love of God.
Let us eagerly offer our lives to live according to God’s call.
5. Saint Joseph becomes Mother Mary’s guardian:
Saint Joseph approaches Mother Mary saying “God has given me a Holy Girl. You should see in me a Father and a brother”. Saint Joseph was the guardian and the protector of the ‘Ark of the covenant’.
Can we be the guardians of the women around us?
6. The annunciation of Mother Mary:
The Holy Spirit descends on Mother Mary and Jesus was formed in the womb of Mother Mary. The heart, hands, eyes, mouth, ears, legs, the whole body of our Lord Jesus was formed in the womb of our Mother Mary. The God whose Holiness we cannot comprehend got His human form in Mother Mary. How holy Mother Mary should have been, for Jesus to grow in her?
We will praise Mother Mary, contemplating her Holiness.
7. Mother Mary’s meditation on the life of her child:
How hard it is for a mother to come to know that her child would have to suffer and die a terrible death, to know that He would be called ‘Man of Sorrows’. Mother Mary would have learned Isaiah 53 by heart when she was growing up in the Temple. How hard it would be for her to know that it was Her Son who was portrayed in that chapter? Mother Mary saw the crucifixion of Jesus only once. But innumerable times she would have undergone the same unbearable pain by thinking about His crucifixion. (The pain would have started, even when she was carrying Him).
8. Mother Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth:
After the annunciation of Mother Mary (raising Mother Mary’s status to ‘Mother of God’), Mother Mary remained simple. As soon as she came to know that Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age, she immediately travelled to visit her.
When our financial or social status changes, let us visit the same people whom we were visiting earlier. Let us not be negligent of the humble parts of our society.
The takeaway from the Gospel Reading:
Testimony: I realised that the best gift that I can give to my child is praying for her to be filled with the Holy Spirit. There is no need for me to bequeath wealth for her. For her future, all she needs is Mamma Mary’s care and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The testimony above shows that the parent is filled with the Holy Spirit, because she knows what in reality is required for the kid. Our Lord Jesus Christ in today’s Gospel Reading explains what is really required for us. He alone is required for us. In our short life, we wander around forgetting the requirements, purpose and the beauty of our lives. We do not need it all, we need only a few. We can be self sufficient and happy.
Testimony: Dad asked his grown-up daughter, “Are you happy with whatever you have?” The daughter replied, “Yes”. Dad said, “Then you are the richest person in the world”.
Being rich is being without a longing for more riches. The greatest example of all times for living a happy life inspite of terrible circumstances is ‘The Holy Family’. Let us analyse on how they handled their challenges.
1. Jesus was born in poverty:
God wanted Jesus to be born in a manger. It’s surprising that He did not even choose a poor house. Jesus was born in a poor family. So poverty does not mean that God is unhappy with us.
2. Zero complaint life of the Holy Family:
Just like us, there were many difficulties faced by them. But there was no complaint or murmur. They accepted all the difficulties as the will of our Heavenly Father and trusted that His grace would cover them.
Can we follow the same principle too?
3. Presentation of Jesus:
Mother Mary would have least expected the statement “A sword will pierce your heart” during the presentation of Jesus. Tribulation was a promise to Mother Mary. Has anyone else received this severity level of tribulation promise from God?
Since Mother Mary was a chosen vessel, the severity of trials was also deeper. So we should never get annoyed at the tribulations. It just means that we are God’s chosen vessel.
4. Jolly Jesus:
When Jesus got lost, His earthly parents were very worried. But Jesus gave a jolly answer, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. – Luke 2:49-52.
The Child Jesus was very happy to be in the Temple of God. He was happily immersed in doing the Father’s job, that He forgot to update His earthly parents. Mother Mary and Saint Joseph did not scold Jesus nor did they understand.
We too do not understand why so many troubles come into our lives. Sometimes we do scold God. Like Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, even though we do not understand why things are happening to us, let us trust that God is taking care of us. He knows all our sufferings. Finally, He is the only one who can and will help us. So let us trust Him alone.
5. Jesus leaving home to preach the Gospel:
When Jesus left home to preach the good news Mother Mary would have felt both happiness and sorrow.
Similarly, when our children leave home to become priests and nuns, there is both agony and a sense of accomplishment.
While Jesus was preaching the good news, Mother Mary upheld His ministry with her prayers. When our children preach the Gospel, let us contribute immensely to their ministry with our prayers. We can be their prayer partner.
Mother Teresa shared in an interview, “How can you think that I can do all the running I am currently doing? I have a sick prayer partner, who offers all her pains and prayers for me. I share the credits of my accomplishments with her”.
6. Wedding at Cana:
When Mother Mary is invited, Jesus will also come.
Let us always invite Mother Mary, so that the Son will follow His Mom.
7. The explanation of “Who is my Mother and Brothers?”:
Judas and James were sons of Saint Joseph’s brother, Alphaeus, and his wife Mary. According to “The Poem of the Man-God”, Judas and James were left in the care of Mother Mary to be taught by Mother Mary (seeing the wisdom of Jesus). So Judas and James were brought up along with Jesus by our Mother Mary. Hence they were called brothers of Jesus.
Jesus says that whoever is doing God’s work is His mother and brothers. At that point in time, He did not want to take a break and go with them. So He preferred to treat His disciples as His brothers and continued preaching.
8. Jesus meets Mother Mary while carrying the cross:
Mother Mary sees Jesus carrying the cross. His head is crowned with thorns, mouth wounded and split due to blows, eyes, and ears wounded, face covered with mud and spittle, whole body covered with wounds, flesh hanging out from His body here and there, fully bent, swaying through the road not able to walk straight, the list goes on, limitless… Cannot explain His pain in words.
How agonising it would have been for Mother Mary to see Her Holy Son/God in such a state?
9. Jesus makes His Mother Mary the ‘Mother of whole human race’:
Jesus gives us His own Mother. He understands the tender loving heart of His Mother. So whatever our sins are (apart from blaspheming the Holy Spirit), we can run to Her shelter.
Under the cross, Mother Mary offered Her Son for us. In return, Jesus gave us as Her children.
10. Jesus was placed in the lap of Mother Mary:
Mother Mary with great agony looks at the shattered body of Her Son. As She sees His heart, She sees it pierced with a sword. A sword pierces Her heart too.
We are able to live free from our sins since the pierced hearts of Mother Mary and Jesus are continually forgiving us and pleading for us to our Almighty Father.
Jesus performed many miracles to everyone, but did He do any miracle for His own Mother?
Are our trials, our blessings?