Reflections
for Sunday, August 16, 2015
It is more difficult to follow the Lord if we don't believe in Him! That
seems like a self - evident kind of statement, but every day there are
instances where those of us who profess to follow Him, do not live
according to His word. Not living according to the word of the Lord is, in
effect, not believing in Him.
This is why our first reading today, from the Book of Proverbs, invites the
simple and the foolish to come and know true life and understanding. We
can only know that true life and understanding if we are willing to believe
Jesus and to follow Him. As we follow him, our belief can increase as we
come to know how He acts. His way of acting in our lives is the not
generally the way we act in the lives of others.
The second reading today, from the Letter to the Ephesians, repeats this
call to wisdom. We are told not to live in ignorance but at least to try
to understand what is the will of the Lord. How often do we do that? Do
we actually take time and seek the will of the Lord? Many of us just live
without thinking and without pondering what the will of the Lord might be.
We humans are people capable of reasoning but quite often we do not use our
reason.
The Gospel today is still from Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. This means
that it is still about the Eucharist as it has been for the past several
Sundays. Over and over this Gospel writer keeps telling us: Jesus is
Lord, Jesus is God, Jesus is our Savior, Jesus is truly in the bread that
He gives us, Jesus is the bread that nourishes us.
This type of imagery is reflecting the reality of Jesus for us. It is not
enough just to eat the bread of the Eucharist. We can eat that bread
unworthily as well. We must come to know Jesus in the bread. We must
consume Jesus in our daily lives. When we eat Jesus, we become Jesus.
Usually when we eat something, that something becomes us. In the case of
Jesus, when we eat Him, we become Him.
We eat Jesus by doing His will, by believing in Him and following what He
asks of us. We eat Jesus by doing acts of love for others, even when we
must sacrifice ourselves. We eat Jesus when we care for the poor and the
outcast. Perhaps we eat Jesus most when we recognize His true presence in
the Eucharist and receive Him physically in communion and also respond to
that communion by our way of living. Let us walk in the way of the Lord.
Readings of the day:
First Reading: Proverbs 9.1-6
Second Reading: Ephesians 5.15-20
Gospel: John 6.51-58
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