22nd Sunday Year B 2021

 

 22^nd. Sunday (Year B)

(Deut. 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

 

Moses was encouraging the People of Israel to enter and take possession of the land God was about to bestow upon them by giving them God’s Law whereby they might prosper in that land and give glory to Him Who had brought them thus far, through all their troubles and despite all their enemies:

What great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon Him?  Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

Notice the priority given by Moses: first, the closeness of Israel’s God whenever they call upon Him; second, no nation has statutes and decrees so wise and just as the law Moses is now giving Israel from their God.  The relationship between God and His Chosen People is determined first of all by the way His people relate to Him in their minds and hearts, communing with Him and calling upon Him in all their needs; secondly by their observance of the Law He has given them for their prosperity and His Glory before the nations.

Let us now turn our attention to Jesus in His confrontation with the Pharisees as we heard in the Gospel reading. 

At that time the politically powerful Sadducees were, by the grace of Rome, the authorities in charge of the internationally renowned Temple worship in Jerusalem, but it was the Pharisees who were the popular spiritual leaders in Israel – the Sadducees were aristocrats way above the ordinary people, lords of all they saw and owned, while the Pharisees were much closer to the peoples’ level, and they were most proud to be recognized as zealous for observance of the Law of Moses rather than for the law of Rome.  Nevertheless, the Law came down to them along with a multitude of oral traditions from elders with the result that their concern for the Law did not lead them to God so much as it made them ever, and ever more, mindful of what their elders had said about the Law.  They communed more with those elders in pride of spirit than with God in humility of heart:

Jesus responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’  You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition

Then Jesus went on to show the absolute importance of that inner turning to, communing with, God …. for only God, thus invited into men’s hearts, could purify them and cleanse us:

From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  All these evils come from within and they defile.

The Law might regulate external behaviour, but only communion with God in the heart could purify from inner defilement.

Even for Our Blessed Lady, who, as St. Luke (2:19) tells us:

            Kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart,

that heartfelt loving communion with God had to be perfected before she could follow her Son’s Ascension into heavenly glory: she received the Gift of the Holy Spirit, to glorify her within and without in preparation for her Assumption into heaven to be with her beloved Son.

And for us Catholics, obedience to the Church, regular reception of the sacraments, will produce little where our heart is not open to welcome and cherish the Gift of God’s Holy Spirit there.  The Spirit is God’s Invisible Gift to each of us, and only a personal, spiritual, response to His majesty and power, wisdom and love, a response that God Himself sees and appreciates before ever it strikes human eyes or ears, can provide a fitting return gift to God on our part.

An ever-present -- usually secret -- sickness among not a few Catholics who try to be worthy of the name, is a feeling of being burdened, even suffocated, by recommendations, prescriptions, regulations, that seem to threaten us with failings here, faults there, sins, indeed, which -- even when small -- are considered to be significant because leading to others more threatening and serious.   It is a sickness that results from spiritual ignorance and robs sincere religious observance of any spontaneous joy.

Where is the freedom of which St. Paul spoke so ardently:

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery?  (Galatians 5:1)

How can it be that when the Christian life for some seems so unfree, oppressive, that St. John can write:

No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God’s seed remains in him.   (1 John 3:9)

Such an anomaly is due to that against which Moses warned the People of Israel, that about which Jesus accused the precious and proud Pharisees: it is something that for today’s more humble and sincere Catholic sufferers might be described as ‘taking one’s eye off the ball’.

For Christians are not meant to struggle alone in their imitation of Jesus; we are called and expected to allow the Spirit of Jesus to guide us along the way He alone knows, even to carry us – unknown to ourselves -- along that way.  We are not meant to be ever looking out for sins and occasions of sin: rather we are intended to keep our minds on God who is our Father, really and truly, our Father Who wants to show Himself as such for us.  We should fix our hearts on Jesus Who died for love us and rose in glory for us; we should set our hopes on the Holy Spirit of Jesus, given to us, the Spirit Who will form us secretly indeed but sublimely in an authentic likeness of Jesus for the Father.

People of God, we are not called to be rich in worldly consolations and satisfactions: we are believers whose faith and provisional experience of God are strong enough to fill us with a desire for that of which Jesus has spoken and for which He has given us His promise.  We are not individuals confident in our own ability and strength: we are called to be disciples who find our comfort and strength in the Spirit Jesus has given us and the hope which He inspires within us.   Above all we are children; children of God who know most surely that there is a Father Who has already spoken to us, and Who is still drawing us to Jesus; a Father Whom Jesus has assured us we can, in Him, call ‘Our Father’, a Father Whose heavenly kingdom will be our eternal home.

We are a people called to gratitude for God’s innumerable blessings and gifts, not to complaisance in our own achievements; a people called to confidence in His goodness, not to pride in our own self-sufficiency; a people called to aspire to and hope for the supreme joy of His loving presence, not to selfish anxiety and fear for our present freedom from trial and trouble, and the certainty of our future eternal safety.

Dear People of God, let us learn in prayer to look for and praise God’s wondrous beauty; re-discover and constantly remember His many blessing to you personally over the years; and never be surprised at His enduring and ever-erupting goodness in your lives.

                        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21st Sunday Year B 2021

 

                21^st. Sunday of Year (B)                      

 (Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69)

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Our Gospel passage today, People of God, refers to the Eucharist, and Jesus is there addressing certain Jews who, quite understandably found the thought of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus as repulsive and unacceptable.  Jesus said to them:

Does this offend you?   What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

In today’s Mass, however, the Gospel has been joined with a passage from St. Paul who has become a “bête noir” for modern feminists who regard his teaching as being degrading for women.  But then, those feminists themselves, what sort of women are they, women who aspire to confrontationally show themselves as equal to men in everything: be it dutiful -- as members of special forces trained to be expert killers, or “laddering-it-up” alongside a fellow fireman to a high blazing building with burning beams and collapsing walls, and depending on their partner’s sheer strength perhaps at  times, or as pugilists tough as nails and expert at hurting and even harming, or maybe, and to prove their absolute equality, be it criminal, such as gang activities or filthy language?  

Christian, Catholic, women, on the other hand are members of a Church and aspire to a society where men and women are always regarded as equal in personal dignity and most social activities, but also as complementary to men in others aspects of their lives, and social aspirations?

In that respect the words of St. Paul we will study today can be introduced by those words of Our Blessed Lord already mentioned in another context:

It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words My chosen Apostle Paul speaks to you in My name are spirit, and they are life.

Dear People of God, the devil’s sin is pride, and the easiest way for him to lead human beings astray is to give them a shot or two of pride in the arm so to speak ... the families’ honour ... giving as good as you get ... etc.; and consequently, we Catholics need to beware of those who strive to make themselves prominent, and be careful whom we choose to support or follow.  

Let us, therefore, consider today’s reading from St. Paul, who, as St. Luke tells us about the Apostles in general:

            Never stopped (both) teaching and proclaiming the Messiah, Jesus. (Acts 5:42);

And notice first of all that there, in today’s reading from St. Paul we have his proclamation of Christian life in Christ, by one who could say of himself as the one sent by the risen Christ to proclaim His truth:

We have the mind of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 2:16)

We have here Paul’s advice not a direct command received as such from, and handed down in the name of, Jesus:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord: as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands. (Ephesians 5:22, 24)

Today’s feminists say, of course: what woman could accept that?  Are we therefore to assume that they also think it degrading for Mother Church to be subject to Christ?

Paul had never been put off, dismayed, or disheartened by the pride of pagans disputing with him or setting themselves up against him:

I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a constraint on you; I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by God’s mercy is trustworthy. (1 Corinthians 7:35, 25).

Other passages in his letters show that Paul knew precisely what he was teaching:

To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light (for all) what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church.    

Pray for me, that speech may be given me to open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel.   (Ephesians 3:8–11, 6:19)

Paul was, therefore, most deliberate when he made this his proclamation of Christ, the Messiah, and went on to say:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her, nourish and cherish (them), just as the Lord does the Church.

This time, it is the lads around us -- the boys -- who respond immediately with: what man would want that? The feminists hate what they see as the humiliation of woman in Christian marriage, while the boys hate the bondage and responsibility that Christian family life would thrust upon them.

Yet, before we go on to look more deeply into this situation, we should remember that marriage is optional, in the sense that anyone is free choose to live by preference a celibate life which is, indeed, recommended in the Scriptures; moreover, in marriage itself the choice of partner is also preferential, indeed, totally free.  But, whatever choice is made, it must be lived as a Christian option for us who will to love and serve Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Now, in all this where does Our Lady stand?

Feminists -- as a whole -- pay her little attention, they certainly have little admiration for her lowliness:

My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, Who looks on the lowliness of His handmaid.

As for the boys … few of them would be ashamed to say they admire, perhaps even love the Virgin Mary, above all as Mother of Jesus, Mother of the Church (if they are still ‘practicing’), and as their Mother …  but, they might add with genuine humility, that she is too good for them, somewhat in the style of St. John of the Cross who, as a little boy, dirtied by playing outside and, if I remember correctly, struggling in some water, did not want that lovely lady (Mary) who appeared to him, to grasp hold of his dirty hand.

Mary has always been seen in the Church as a litmus test for adventitious doctrines as they relate to the Person of Jesus and His teaching.  Now, the modern ‘boys’ have no doctrines, whereas the feminists do most certainly have doctrinal intentions, contesting and ‘doctoring’ certain passages in the Scriptures, and life-changing attitudes very closely aligned with those of abortionists.  As a result, whereas ‘the boys’ are known as poor Catholics, our modern feminists – on the whole – can be hardly recognizable as Christians or Catholic at all.

If those views – of the feminists and the ‘boys’ -- were the only possible interpretations of St. Paul’s teaching it would be very difficult indeed to understand how it has come about that Christianity has raised the status and dignity of women immeasurably more than any other religious faith.  How could a religion preaching the so-called humiliation of woman in marriage ever have lifted up the status and confirmed the dignity of women, as has the Catholic Church in the love, ‘worship’, and honour she willingly and gratefully gives to the Virgin Mary as mother of her Lord and Saviour?  On the other hand, if the bondage of responsibilities and chastity were so objectionable and unsatisfying for men -- as the boys say -- how could it be that the Christian family life has for many centuries shown itself to be the bed-rock of Western, indeed world-wide, democratic society?

As you can see, so much depends on how you look at things.  That is why we heard in the first reading that Joshua, the leader of the Israelites after Moses, said to the assembled people, “Make up your minds”:

Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt.  And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."  So, the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods.

Our troubles today are largely the result of people who publicly say they don’t want to forsake the Lord, but who, in their hearts, neither hold Him in fear, nor are they willing to discipline themselves so as to serve Him obediently in sincerity and truth.

Jesus, in the Gospel reading, knew some such people who found His teaching hard because they were unwilling to commit themselves entirely to Him:

When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?   It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  

What if you see the Son of Man ascending to heaven?  Can’t you understand where I am leading you?  You will see Me ascend as your leader to the place where I am to prepare a place for all who will follow me.  I am not preparing My disciples for a mere seventy or eighty years of life in this sinful set-up we call our world; I have been sent to help you become children of God, able to live for ever in an eternal home prepared for you in My Father’s Kingdom!  But for that, you have to be willing to trust Me.

Just as there are many rooms in the Father’s Kingdom where Jesus is preparing to receive His faithful disciples, so too, here on earth, there are many ways of learning discipleship and some, indeed, are better than others, as both Mary and Martha learnt; but all acceptable ways necessarily involve loving God and one’s neighbour, serving and following Jesus by obeying His Spirit in the Church. 

Whatever way we choose, the whole of our life as Christians is a time of preparation for our heavenly home, a preparation whereby we are gradually purged and cleansed of our sins and formed in the likeness of Jesus by His Holy Spirit.  It is not a time for the pre-eminent pursuit of worldly pride or pleasure, nor is it a process we can -- at any time -- monitor and appraise for our own satisfaction.  The progress of life on earth for a disciple of Jesus is a spiritual work, a work carried out by the Holy Spirit; and it is a faith work, a work that can only be done for those who live by faith in Jesus Christ and in that way open themselves up to His Holy Spirit thus allowing Him to prepare them as children of God destined for heaven.

And so, marriage -- the Christian life-sharing and potentially child-bearing relationship between man and woman -- is a most important relationship for the training of God’s heavenly children.  It is not, and cannot be, a relationship which is private to the two concerned, for that would be a mere a free-love association.   Christian marriage is the union of man and woman offered to Jesus, to be lived in accordance with His teaching and guidance as handed down to us by His Apostles and Mother Church: it is a human relationship offered to God for His glory, for Him to guide so that it serves the salvation of the spouses, helping form them for His heavenly family.  Every blessing comes to us through the Cross; consequently, in all Christian living, including marriage, there is experience of the Cross of Jesus; but as we see in Jesus, the Cross is ultimately something which a Catholic disciple can learn to embrace with his Lord for love of the Father, and thus it becomes something that can lift us up from this earth to heaven.

Just to put it briefly in answer to the feminists and to the lads: Christian marriage is meant to help a Christian man and woman grow in humility on the one hand, and in true love on the other hand, both of which demand total, responsible, self-commitment and willing self-sacrifice.  To enable them both to achieve this, the Christian bond of marriage bestows a share in divine love, and a gift of grace which gives those who want to receive it strength to live in a way which is more than human; and that is precisely why the feminists and the lads cannot understand Catholic marriage and Christian love, because it is for those destined for heaven, not for those satisfied, or seeking to be satisfied, with whatever renown, success, satisfaction, pleasure or prestige, they can win or grab for themselves in this largely pagan world.

In all this, however, argument is of limited value, for as Jesus said:

Therefore, I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.

That does not mean that the Father denies anyone the opportunity or the ability to come to Jesus, but simply that He will not force it upon anyone; while those who do come to discipleship, must realize that it is a gift of God, not their own work.

In His days in Palestine, Jesus’ message displeased many:

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Contrary to the impression given in these our times by some of His disciples both high and low, Jesus does not depend on human backing, He does not find it necessary to count “bums on seats” -- as the saying goes -- before He can trust His Father.  For, just as of old:

He said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to go away?",

even so today, He looks and listens for those true disciples who can wholeheartedly repeat and confirm those words of Peter:

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

                                                           

 

 

 

The Assumption of Our Lady 2021

 

The Assumption of Our Lady                                                       (Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6,10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1: 39-56)  

    

Let us hear first of all the official teaching, the dogmatic teaching of the Church, about Our Lady’s Assumption which we joyfully celebrate today.  The dogma proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1950 is quoted in our modern Catholic Catechism and reads as follows:

The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.

The Catechism goes on to explain:

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.

That means that Mary’s Assumption is a share in Jesus’ Resurrection; it was not, of course, achieved by her own power, nor was it due to her own singular merits: it was a gift, a unique share in the power of Jesus’ resurrection, given her thanks to the merits of Jesus Who -- though human in body and soul -- was divine in His Person; the very Son-of-God-made-flesh, He alone could win victory over sin and death for the whole of humankind.  Having won that victory using the flesh and blood He received from Mary, the Assumption is Mary’s special sharing with Him because, being the mother of Jesus, she was and is uniquely special to Him.

Her Assumption is most significant for us, because Mary, though most truly the mother of God, remained also just one of us.  Human in body, soul, and personality, Mary was, nevertheless, chosen to become the mother of Jesus -- the Son of God made flesh -- and to be ultimately endowed with a unique participation in His Resurrection, which is her own Assumption.  She always remained not only our full sister, but also became our true glory, Mary of Nazareth; and, therefore, her Assumption is a sign of hope for all of us: a sign that we too – in our measure -- might aspire, by the Spirit of glory, to share with her in Our Lord Jesus’ Resurrection.

Jesus, wanted very much to underline that oneness between us and Mary, His Mother, as we can learn from His somewhat startling response to her on a very public occasion:

His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  A crowd seated around told Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who are My mother and My brothers?"  And looking around at those seated in a circle about Him, He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:31-35)

Evidently, He willed to make it clear for subsequent generations that Mary was no goddess, nor was she ever to be regarded as anything other than one of us.  Nevertheless, as St. John tells us, Jesus -- with what were almost His very last words as He hung, dying, on the Cross -- chose to give the utmost emphasis to the bond of reverence and love that should exist between Mary and all who are His disciples:

Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.  When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"  Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" (John 19:25-27)

Therefore, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory, it was not simply for Mary herself: for she is not only our sister whom we might hope to follow; she is also our mother too; and thus, we can be absolutely sure that she will be a most powerful help to us who have been handed over, so to speak, into her maternal care.  In that way we are encouraged to have most firm confidence that if we are faithful disciples of Jesus to the end, we can and will follow Our Lord heavenward and eventually share in His glory, as she, our sister and our mother, has already done.

The dogma of the Assumption was, as I said, promulgated in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.  It was nothing new; it had been loved, meditated and celebrated in the Church from the earliest times.  It was at the beginning of the 5^thC. that the “birthday” of Mary began to be celebrated, and what had been the anniversary, so to speak, of her death -- the Dormition, or sleeping, of Mary – became rather the celebration of her “birthday”, meaning her birth into heaven, her Assumption.  There are apocryphal stories written early in the history of the Church telling of the death of Mary, how her body was buried under the tree of life, and how she was translated into heaven.  Some scholars think these stories arose after the feast started to be celebrated; others, however, think the first of the apocryphal tales go back to the earliest times, and that there was probably an immemorial veneration of the tomb of Mary in Jerusalem by early Jewish converts to Christianity.

Such stories, however, although picturesque and sometimes instructive or even moving, are not the basis of our present faith: that rests on the perennial devotion and worship of the Church under the guidance of the Spirit and the teaching of the Scriptures.

Whenever the body of a disciple of Jesus and child of the Church is brought into church the night before burial we read the Gospel passage which goes:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:1-2)

There, at the Last Supper, Jesus was speaking to His sorrowing disciples to comfort them in their distress at the thought of His imminent Passion and Death.  Think how Jesus must have willed above all to comfort His Mother in her distress; surely, first and foremost, He would want and most certainly will to prepare a place for her!

And where would that place be?  The disciples were distressed that Jesus was going to be taken from them, and so Jesus promised:

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself; so that where I am, you also may be. (John 14:3)

Who more than Mary longed to be where Jesus was?  For her agonizing perseverance beside the Cross on which hung her beloved Son, was not other than the most worthy crown of her life-long love, humbly self-effacing service, and supreme devotion, to Him Who was her God-given Joy and Delight.    

Again, Jesus prayed most solemnly at the Last Supper:

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)

Now, who could conceivably long to see the glory of her Son more than His Mother?  Who, more than Mary, could conceivably deserve to see the glory of her Son?

However, every such situation and relationship is included in, and embraced by, those other words of Jesus:

If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour. (John 12:26)

Mary’s whole life with her Son was, indeed, a life of total and whole-hearted love and service, given directly and personally to Jesus from the moment of His conception, and yet, that is not the sum total of Mary’s commitment to and sharing with Jesus throughout their lives on earth, for, just as St. Peter, writing to the early Christians threatened with persecution by the Roman State, said:

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you (1 Pet 4:14);

so too we are told of Mary that she was blessed with the Spirit of glory and of God resting on her from the beginning of her motherhood.  That is, she was blessed with the ability, and called to embrace the opportunity, to share with her Son in His sufferings; and this was made abundantly clear to her in the Temple at Jerusalem when, we are told -- together with St. Joseph -- she was presenting her Son to the Lord, a Temple priest -- Simeon by name -- came towards them and:

Blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." (Luke 2:34-35)

Yes, Mary followed her Son, unswervingly, to the end, even to the foot of the Cross.

The fact is that Jesus, in all that He did, carried with Him, and worked in and through, the flesh and blood that Mary had uniquely given Him.  She was so intimately one with Him in all that He did in and through His sacred humanity, and that is why she alone has been so uniquely honoured by the Father that she is now where Jesus is, in heaven!  Jesus, bearing Mary’s flesh, had died, was buried, and rose again.  Therefore, Mary too, in her flesh died and was buried; and then -- knowing no corruption just as she had known no sin – she was also, thanks to her Son’s Personal holiness and divine majesty, raised to share with Him in His heavenly glory.

Honoured by the Father and the Spirit of glory at the beginning her Son’s earthly  ministry with a promised share in His sufferings; and after a whole lifetime of total love, dedication, and unremitting service which found its culmination in the agony of Her beloved Son’s crucifixion and her own subsequent -- despite St. John’s reverential love and care -- enduring earthly sense of loss and dereliction; it was indeed only right and fitting that Mary should also be sublimely honoured with that totally unique share in her Son’s Resurrection and eternal glory which we call her Assumption.

People of God, let us, therefore, rejoice on the occasion of this solemn feast, and repeat with heartfelt joy the words of Mary herself:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; for He has looked with favour on the lowliness of His servant.  From this day forward all generations will call me blessed: for the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. (Luke 1:46-49)

Having praised God in the first outpouring of her soul’s gratitude, Mary then spoke words for the comfort of her children, words which should give us both confidence and courage as we strive to serve and follow Jesus our Lord and Saviour:

He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.

The Assumption of Mary is still for us, in this the third millennium, a source of inspiration and of hope: for the arm of the Lord is not shortened, His mercy and love are eternal.  What was given to Mary was indeed given to her uniquely, but not exclusively; it was intended also for us, ‘those who fear Him from generation to generation’.  Let us, therefore, as her children, treasure and take to heart the words Elizabeth used to characterize our mother:

Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord.                                                                 

                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19th Sunday Year B 2021

Nineteenth Sunday, Year (B)

(1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2; John 6:41-51)

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Obviously, it must not have been easy to hear a man say:

            I am the bread that came down from heaven;

today, we would think such a man mad and laugh him out of court!

And so, the first thing to notice about today’s Gospel reading is that the Jews did not do any such thing.  No!  They had had experience of Jesus: having frequently heard Him speak, closely observed His personal bearing, and at least heard reports of certain miraculous ‘works of His hands’.  Consequently, they were not drawn to laughter when He made a claim even so extraordinary as:

            I am the Bread that came down from Heaven.

The truth was that they felt a certain anxiety in His presence, and becoming irritated with themselves and each other for no apparently good reason they started complaining and grumbling among themselves, voicing His words and their own apprehension:  ‘Come down from heaven, indeed’!

Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we not know his father and mother?  Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’

Why did they not just laugh?   What a testimony it was to Jesus that they didn’t!

It seems that only the hypocritically self-righteous chief priests, scribes and elders would ever be able to laugh at Him, but their laughter was always intentional: being meant to protect and serve their ever-increasing fear for their own security with regard to the Roman occupying authorities and the subservient esteem of their own people. 

As regards the ordinary people, indifference to anything that was not directly pertinent to their own worldly concerns was their greatest fault, because it made them so very malleable, so very ‘mob-able’, for those hypocritical decriers and increasingly deadly enemies of Jesus.

There were some others, however, less public figures indeed, but familiar with and closely observant of those murmuring Jewish leaders, who made known their own reasons for believing most seriously that Jesus was not One to be laughed at: He was One Whom they -- as both widely experienced and secretly observant, individuals -- found to be far different from any other man they had ever come across: for them, there was a mysterious Personal 'righteousness’ which signaled Jesus out as rather awesome or very dangerous.  Such, indeed, were the feelings of the wife of Pilate who warned her husband:

            Have nothing to do with that righteous Man;

and of the centurion who, having watched Jesus’ suffering and death, spontaneously acknowledged his own sinfulness in the face of such righteousness saying:

            This Man was innocent beyond doubt!

It was this Personal ‘something’ about Jesus – not just the fact that He had only recently miraculously fed a very large crowd from a boy’s picnic lunch of a few loves and fish – that was secretly troubling the Jews speaking with Him in our Gospel reading; it was a suspicion, indeed, even a certain heartfelt disquiet, that somehow, something, was being asked of them that they were not able or ready -- each of them for personal reasons -- to answer, and so being disturbed in their own hearts, they complained, murmured, and argued among themselves, until Jesus found it necessary to say:

Stop murmuring among yourselves, no one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draw him.

Instead of complaints to bolster a prejudiced opinion, there had to be a desire to know God’s truth and a willingness to recognize that such spiritual truth about Jesus, His work and His teaching, might stretch or even transcend the limits of their earthly wits  and appreciation.  The truth about Jesus could only be received, ultimately, as a gift – the Gift -- from the Father.

And it was in order to afford them a motive  that might induce them to welcome and embrace such a gift that Jesus added words of power:

            And I will raise him up on the last day.

The prophet Jeremiah had foretold that, in the days of the coming Messiah, all men would be taught by God; and here Jesus – having quoted the prophet -- added what were His very own mysterious and provocative words:

            Everyone who listens to My Father and learns from Him comes to Me.

And that, dear People of God, is the precise point for our own entry into the drama of today’s Gospel reading!

The Jews seeking Jesus were ‘murmuring’ among themselves about His words, (others translate ‘murmuring’, as ‘complaining’, ‘grumbling’), and Jesus said, quite bluntly, ‘Stop that.  Try to listen to your God and My Father and learn from Him.’

Notice those words very, very carefully, People of God; Jesus advised that, for life’s important decisions, we try to listen to God and learn from Him, not that we argue with ourselves or others.  Salvation is absolutely personal and relational; involving a truly humble awareness of God’s presence in our life and our need of Him for fulfilment.

Note that Jesus did not even say, ‘Discuss it with the Father’, or, ‘Pray to the Father’, because such prayer can, with many people, so easily become a matter of ‘discussing’ or ‘praying’ with themselves firmly seated in the driving seat.  Therefore, Jesus concentrated attention on one word, listen to their God and His Father: that is, that they should calm their heart by humble acceptance of its need before Him, and still their fevered imaginations and thoughts by unconditional trust in Him.  He advised them, and advises us, to patiently wait upon the Father’s mercy and hope for His blessing; having only our gratitude and praise to offer for His goodness.

And now we come to a great truth about the world we live in, People of God:  

I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died.   I am the living bread that came down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.

The Father was already teaching and preparing the Jews as they were being led from slavery in Egypt.  He was preparing them for Jesus’ coming, by teaching them to look for life in food from heaven.  They accepted that all food came ‘from heaven’ in so far as it was ultimately given them by God; but all such food originated from, and sustained life on, earth.  They had to become able to understand the need for living bread originating from heaven, which alone could give them heavenly, eternal life.

For over more than a thousand years God had been guiding Israel towards the possibility of their being able to understand and appreciate something of truly living Bread coming from Heaven; and such, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, is His guiding Providence for us today!

There is a spiritual purpose “attached to”, “involved in” our earthly existence and life’s experiences!   They are all, under God’s Providence, able to guide us -- if welcomed  prayerfully and humbly -- to an initial appreciation of the ultimate realities of heaven.   That is what can make our present every-day life and living, such a wonderful experience:  that is how we, with St. Paul, can manage to see behind the veil so lightly covering the beauty of God!

            Everyone who listens to My Father and learns from Him comes to Me.

Listening to God means not just listening with our ears, it involves the desire of our heart, it concerns the ‘background’ attention of our mind ever hovering around God, and our willingness and ability to drop earthly concerns when Jesus passes nearby:

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.   On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”  And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”  Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So, they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, He is calling you.”  He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.  Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man replied to Him, “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Him on the way.   (Mark 10:46-52)

Bartimaeus there gave a most beautiful master-class in the Christian art of listening, for and to God!

Such listening can make life and our daily living it out a truly wonderful experience, offering personal pointers to heavenly realities; and when we learn to so look at, question and taste, the joys and sorrows, bitter and sweet things of life, then everything becomes able to beckon us ever on and ever more engagingly.

Jesus has yet one more piece of life-enhancing advice for us though:

Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.

Whoever eats this bread which is My Flesh … once again we have one supremely important word which is, this time, ‘eats’.

And notice, once again, that Jesus does not say ‘receives’, but ‘eats’.  We have not only to open our mouths or put forward our hands to receive such food, but we have to positively ‘eat’ it, as some might rightly say we have to ‘chew’ it.  The essential point of our ‘eating’ is that we each of us recognize the food as essential to, necessary for, my very life.   Moreover, it is not to be anonymously received, but eaten with heart-felt joy and gratitude for the One Who so generously gives it.  And according to the book of Proverbs, having been generously given such food, we should give a thought to our returning like for like, in other words we should be stirred to want to give ourselves in return to the Lord Who gives us all.

My dear People of God, living such a life, full of intriguing invitations and loving calls, receiving such daily Personal Food, we are most certainly not alone on our journey through life, but are developing, as the years pass by, an ever-greater companionship and intimacy with One Who is of Himself, and wills to become for us personally, the Love, Truth, and Life of our life.  May we participate in this Holy Mass and hopefully receive Holy Communion with such faith and love as to experience that intimacy and companionship as never before.   Amen.