Commentary on the Readings for Sunday – Au9ust 9, 2009
The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
A few Sundays ago the theme of the readings was “God provides for His people.” The reference was to the providing of physical provisions such as feeding the 5000 people who came to hear Jesus preach. The Readings for Sunday have a similar theme, but the reference there is to a feeding that goes much deeper and is more significant. In the Old Testament the Jews had a great reverence for God feeding them in past events (See: Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15, Ps 105:40 and the First Reading below). It is from those events that the Jewish people have come to reverence bread as a symbol of Life. Nevertheless, the point is that God’s feeding His people was something they experienced and reverenced, therefore, Jesus’ statement about feeding them with His own flesh and blood should have been thought-out by the Jewish people and not discarded so lightly. We would be wise to give it some serious consideration as well.
The First Reading is from the First Book of Kings (19:4 – 8). This is an example of God, again providing for His people. In this case, Elijah had been given a specific task by God, but his efforts were not very successful and he was discouraged and tried to run away. God would not let him off that easily. He provided nourishment and water for Elijah and sent him off again to fulfill his task. God is aware of our physical needs, as well as our spiritual needs.
The Responsorial Psalm is (34:2 – 9). This is a beautiful prayer of someone who has been rescued by God from physical or spiritual danger and now glorifies Him out of gratitude. This Psalm is often used in Good Friday sermons because of its later reference to God the Father’s “watching over all His (Jesus’) bones, not one of them shall be broken.” (Ps: 34:21) That’s some watching!
The Second Reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (4:30 – 5:2). Although we might not see it at first, St. Paul gives us the “key” to the way that God watches over His people today. It is the Holy Spirit who guides us – if we let Him. We should place ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit every morning. When we neglect His guidance or advice, it “grieves the Holy spirit” and we are headed toward sin as Paul mentions.
The Gospel Reading is taken from John (6:41 – 51). John’s gospel does not give us the Last Supper scene of Christ giving us His Body and Blood in remembrance, as do the other gospels. Instead, John devotes a good portion of Chapter 6 to this sublime gift which we should meditate on frequently.
Take a moment and think about our faith and religion without the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Wow! The Mass would be only prayers, homilies and singing. We would have nothing physical or tangible to remember Jesus by or be physically close to Him. There would be no tabernacle to visit or host to fill the monstrance to worship on days of exposition. There would be no ministers taking Jesus to the sick or home-bound. Our faith would be missing the essence of God which is the Eucharist. Jesus left us this great gift because it fills a need that we all have. We cannot have spiritual life without it. So you are encouraged to receive Christ in the Eucharist often and, the next time you do, please spend an extra moment with Jesus to Thank Him for this great gift of life and love. Something to think about during your Prayer Time this week!
If you have questions or comments about these or other readings, please send them, in writing, to the parish office. We will try to respond as quickly as possible.
July 22, 2009 -MFB
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Sunday Scripture Commentary – 8-9-09
Commentary on the Readings for Sunday – Au9ust 9, 2009
The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
A few Sundays ago the theme of the readings was “God provides for His people.” The reference was to the providing of physical provisions such as feeding the 5000 people who came to hear Jesus preach. The Readings for Sunday have a similar theme, but the reference there is to a feeding that goes much deeper and is more significant. In the Old Testament the Jews had a great reverence for God feeding them in past events (See: Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15, Ps 105:40 and the First Reading below). It is from those events that the Jewish people have come to reverence bread as a symbol of Life. Nevertheless, the point is that God’s feeding His people was something they experienced and reverenced, therefore, Jesus’ statement about feeding them with His own flesh and blood should have been thought-out by the Jewish people and not discarded so lightly. We would be wise to give it some serious consideration as well.
The First Reading is from the First Book of Kings (19:4 – 8). This is an example of God, again providing for His people. In this case, Elijah had been given a specific task by God, but his efforts were not very successful and he was discouraged and tried to run away. God would not let him off that easily. He provided nourishment and water for Elijah and sent him off again to fulfill his task. God is aware of our physical needs, as well as our spiritual needs.
The Responsorial Psalm is (34:2 – 9). This is a beautiful prayer of someone who has been rescued by God from physical or spiritual danger and now glorifies Him out of gratitude. This Psalm is often used in Good Friday sermons because of its later reference to God the Father’s “watching over all His (Jesus’) bones, not one of them shall be broken.” (Ps: 34:21) That’s some watching!
The Second Reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (4:30 – 5:2). Although we might not see it at first, St. Paul gives us the “key” to the way that God watches over His people today. It is the Holy Spirit who guides us – if we let Him. We should place ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit every morning. When we neglect His guidance or advice, it “grieves the Holy spirit” and we are headed toward sin as Paul mentions.
The Gospel Reading is taken from John (6:41 – 51). John’s gospel does not give us the Last Supper scene of Christ giving us His Body and Blood in remembrance, as do the other gospels. Instead, John devotes a good portion of Chapter 6 to this sublime gift which we should meditate on frequently.
Take a moment and think about our faith and religion without the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Wow! The Mass would be only prayers, homilies and singing. We would have nothing physical or tangible to remember Jesus by or be physically close to Him. There would be no tabernacle to visit or host to fill the monstrance to worship on days of exposition. There would be no ministers taking Jesus to the sick or home-bound. Our faith would be missing the essence of God which is the Eucharist. Jesus left us this great gift because it fills a need that we all have. We cannot have spiritual life without it. So you are encouraged to receive Christ in the Eucharist often and, the next time you do, please spend an extra moment with Jesus to Thank Him for this great gift of life and love. Something to think about during your Prayer Time this week!
If you have questions or comments about these or other readings, please send them, in writing, to the parish office. We will try to respond as quickly as possible.
July 22, 2009 -MFB
Tags: Read more