Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 8, 2021
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 116
Reading I
Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Responsorial Psalm
- (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
And your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
And from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ”
and they said,
“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’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
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.”
Reflection: JESUS, THE BREAD OF ETERNAL LIFE
If you are hungry, any food for you is tasty. Once in a parish we had a new cook and she was not able to churn out proper dishes. Most of us did not like the food, but there was no option. We had to eat what was served. Whenever anyone in the parish sent us food, it was like a feast day. We would relish it. For the starving Israelites, the manna in the desert was a great miracle. It was a miracle which the faithful Jews clung to for centuries. It consoled them in times of trial that God would never abandon them, and in times of plenty it reminded them that every good thing comes from God.
In the first reading from the book of Kings, Elijah is given food and drink by an angel. The cake baked on hot stone is provided by the angel of God. This was the energy source for him. Strengthened by that nourishment, he is able to walk for forty days and forty nights to the Mountain of God, Horeb. In the gospel Jesus claims that he himself is the bread of life come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will never die. The bread he gives is his own flesh for the life of the world. In the gospel Jesus promised food that would bring eternal life. That food was his flesh. He said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (v.51). As if to make sure we do not miss the connection between the bread and life, Jesus uses the words 'life' or 'living' five times in the last five verses. He is making a strong claim that he is in fact the bread of life that gives us life. When we are invited to a dinner, the host will be present. When Jesus invites us to his banquet, he is present with us. He speaks to us in the Word and feeds us with his Word and sacraments. Jesus is the bread of life, the living bread. He becomes our food as he described “The words I have spoken are spirit and they are life” (Jn 6:63). So it is the Word that vivifies us, becomes our food. The Word of God that we hear in the celebration of the Eucharist should be our daily bread; only then it will lead us to a personal encounter with God. Jesus does not say, “He who believes in me will receive eternal life”. Rather he says, “He who believes in me has eternal life”. By eating his Eucharistic bread we are already in possession of eternal life. Our life in heaven has already begun here on earth. We should constantly thank God for giving us his own flesh to be our bread of life. May his example inspire us to give ourselves too for the life of the world, to be the bread that others can feed on and find fullness of life.