20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - 19/8/2012 - Gospel: Jn 6: 51-59
Bread for Eternal Life
Chapter 3 in the Book of Exodus records an episode where on Mt Horeb Moses sees a burning bush but the flame does not burn out. Moses asks….Who are you?
I am who I am was the answer.
It means...I am the beginning and the end.
Thousands of years later Jesus unlocks the mysterious answer.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven, said Jesus. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world. v51.
The living bread that Jesus gives is from heaven and so beyond human knowledge. Earthly wisdom cannot comprehend the living bread. To understand the living bread we need heavenly wisdom and God's grace.
Those who rely on the wisdom of the world will see the bread that Jesus gave as only ordinary bread. However those who accept the teaching of Jesus will see the bread that Jesus gave as the living bread that comes from heaven.
God's grace is given to those who are humble of heart. And those who are humble of heart will be filled with the Spirit of God that enables them to understand the teaching of Jesus.
They see something extraordinary. They see that..
Jesus comes from God the Father.
Jesus gives the living bread.
Jesus is the living bread himself.
Thos who accept the living bread will receive life. The life has no end because it comes from "I am who I am".
I am who I am was the answer.
It means...I am the beginning and the end.
Thousands of years later Jesus unlocks the mysterious answer.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven, said Jesus. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world. v51.
The living bread that Jesus gives is from heaven and so beyond human knowledge. Earthly wisdom cannot comprehend the living bread. To understand the living bread we need heavenly wisdom and God's grace.
Those who rely on the wisdom of the world will see the bread that Jesus gave as only ordinary bread. However those who accept the teaching of Jesus will see the bread that Jesus gave as the living bread that comes from heaven.
God's grace is given to those who are humble of heart. And those who are humble of heart will be filled with the Spirit of God that enables them to understand the teaching of Jesus.
They see something extraordinary. They see that..
Jesus comes from God the Father.
Jesus gives the living bread.
Jesus is the living bread himself.
Thos who accept the living bread will receive life. The life has no end because it comes from "I am who I am".
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia