What the Law of God is For? – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

 What does the Law (Torah), which is a set of commandments (mitzvot), of God means to you? Where do we find the Law? How do we observe the Law?

These are some important reflective questions to ask ourselves as we go over the Scripture Readings for the 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, Deuteronomy 4:1–2,6–8; Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5; James 1:17–18, 21–22, 27; Mark 7:1–8, 14–15, 21–23.

Through these readings, we are to make sure that we find the Law of God as a helpful divine gift with joy because we know it keeps our hearts pure with true conscience while guiding our path to the destiny, the full communion with the Triune God through Christ the Son (the Parakletos – 1 John 2:1) and the Holy Spirit (another Parakletos – John 14:16).

The Gospel Reading (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23) describes the hypocrites’ abuse of Law and Jesus’ “diagnosis” of this problem, while the First Reading (Deuteronomy 4:1–2,6–8) reminds us of the importance of the observance of the Law, taking a painful lesson from the Israelites during Exodus. The Second Reading (James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27) calls us to act in accordance with the Law, not just letting it pass from ear to another ear. And the Responsorial Psalm (15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5) reminds that acting with the Law means to act justly in the presence of God.

In the Gospel Reading (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23), at first, Jesus and his disciples were accused by the hypocrites, the Pharisees and some scribes for eating with unwashed hands, making it sound like a violation of Exodus 30:18-21, though Jesus and his disciples were not in the tent of meeting. It was obvious that these hypocrites were like spies, to be sent from Jerusalem to find a way to accuse and attack Jesus.

Actually, the Pharisees and some scribes from Jerusalem were accusing Jesus and his disciples for not washing their hands to eat, not based on the written Law but rather based on the tradition of elders that they observe (Mark 7:5). And Jesus called it a human tradition, citing Isaiah 29:13, saying:

Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors 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 (Mark 7:6-8).

To better understand why Jesus accused the Pharisees and the scribes for disgracing God’s commandments in the Law by clinging to human condition, we need to go over Mark 7: 9-13.

In these skipped verses from today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus confronts how the hypocrites tactfully nullify the spirit of the Law in the Word by replacing God’s teaching with human tradition to find a covetous gain for themselves.

The Corban tradition was what the hypocrites made up to let people circumvent what the Law commands on honoring parents (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16), giving people an opportunity to make a plausible excuse to avoid fully honoring parents by making a Corban offering. What is given for a Corban offering should have given to help and honor parents, in accordance with Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16. However, by tempting people what is to be given to honor parents to be offered as Corban – as an offering to God, instead, the hypocrites made them think they honored God above their parents by diverting what was to give to parents to the hypocrites in the name of God.

Jesus confronted the hypocrites for their invention of the Corban requirement to profit for themselves by letting children circumvent their responsibilities for their parents.

In the eyes of Jesus, these who cling to a human tradition – though it may sound like observance of the Law – by disgracing God’s commandments are hypocrites. Such human conditions can be just as abominable to God as the Corban tradition. And even it is the purity tradition of the elders, if it is imposed on such hypocrites, it makes no sense to God’s Law.

Then, Jesus proceeded to give his insights on what make religious people hypocrites in Mark 7:14-23.

Jesus said:

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile (Mark 7:15).

And he further said to his disciples:

Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine? But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 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. (Mark 7:18-23).

The hypocrites may seem to be obsessed with external cleanliness, setting aside the Law by making and upholding a human tradition to satisfy their own legalistic pride. But, what matters to Jesus, in his teaching of the Law, is the purity of our hearts, as the condition of the heart determines whether what we say and do are defiled.

It is important to note that Jesus’ teaching of the Law is not really legalistic but rather psychological, focusing on the condition of our hearts. And this is also found in his teaching during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-48. To meet Jesus’ expectation on observing the Law, we really must let the Law shape our hearts so that we can observe it out of our hearts. This way, we are not likely to defile and fall into a gutter of legalism as the hypocrites did.

Legalism can reduce observance of the God-given Law into mere human tradition. To avoid this pitfall of the hypocrites, the Gospel Reading (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23) challenges us to be able to discern what is the true divine intention in the Law and what is human tradition disguising the divine legal tradition. For this, we need the Holy Spirit for the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and discernment (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

In Mark 7:21-23, Jesus reminds that pathological evidence of corrupt, defiled hearts manifests in vices, which Paul lists in Galatians 5:19-21. And, Paul also tells the necessity of the Holy Spirit, because the multifaceted fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is evidence of our countermeasures to problems of vices, which reflects corrupt and defiled hearts.

This is why Paul has said: if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (Galatians 5:18), and it also means being under grace (Romans 6:14).

For us to be under grace, not the Law, we must be guided by the Holy Spirit, as Paul teaches (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18) by letting the Law be found and shape us from our heart (2 Corinthians 3:3).

The First Reading (Deuteronomy 4:1–2, 6–8) describes Moses reemphasizing the importance of observing the God-given Law in order to enter the Promised Land, crossing the Jordan River. This statement of Moses reflects not only a painfully critical lesson to the Israelites who had sinned against God during Exodus but also the sin of Moses. Because of their sin, not all Israelites would be able to enter the Promised Land (i.e. Numbers 14:20-35). Because of his sin, Moses was also prohibited from entering the Promised Land even though he had served God (Numbers 20:2-12). Reflecting on this two-fold lesson, this is why Moses urged his fellow Israelites to observe the Law carefully, as it is a sign of wisdom and understanding, as the Exodus journey from Egypt to the Promised Land drew nearer to its end (Deuteronomy 4:6).

Failure to observe the commandments (mitzvoth) in the Law (Torah) may result in death without reaching the Promised Land during Exodus (i.e. Numbers 14:29, 32, 35). In contrast, those who observe them may live and enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 4:1).  And we are not to tamper or edit the Law but to observe its commandments faithfully (Deuteronomy 4:2; cf. Revelation 22:7, 18-19).

Tampering the Law (Deuteronomy 4:2) – the Word of God – is a disgrace of twisting God’s commandments to make a human tradition (Mark 7:8). And this is an abuse of the Law, as the hypocrites did (Mark 7:1-13), and will result in a failure to observe the Law.

Why do we need to fool around the Law, as it gives us life? Just meditate on the longest Psalm, Psalm 119. See if you can share the joy of the psalmist’s joy with the Law as it is the joy to be with God. And this is also reflected in the Responsorial Psalm (15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5).

Being with God in perfection is our destiny, as it is the condition of the Kingdom of God, our ultimate Promised Land, as presented by Jesus.

So, why don’t we embrace the Law wholeheartedly? It, in the form of the Word, is the perfect gift from God, to give us life and entitles us to salvation of our souls, enabling us to practice perfect and undefiled religion, through our acts of mercy, while keeping ourselves unaffected by the world, as James reminds us in the Second Reading (James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27).

Dividing Reactions to Jesus' Living Bread of Life: Those Who Taste and See the Goodness in the Living Bread and Those Who Reject This Bread - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

On the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, we now conclude readings from John 6 for the past five consecutive Sundays. The question is: do we accept the spiritual food offered by Christ and believe in him to be in full communion with Christ for eternal life ,or do we reject this spiritual food but stick to material food and die?

Those who taste and see the goodness of the Lord accept it and praise Him and continue to serve the Lord, enjoying being in oneness with the Son and eternal life. 

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Since the 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time,  Sunday Gospel Readings have been taken from John 6, up to this Sunday, the 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, on Cycle B. Though Sunday Gospel Readings on Cycle B during Ordinary Time are drawn from the Gospel of Mark, we have an extended break from Mark’s Gospel as we have been reading from John 6 for these five consecutive Sundays.

On the 16^th Sunday, we read Mark 6:30-34, and it was about Jesus responding to a large crowd with his deep compassion (splagchnon), as they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34). Jesus’ compassionate response to the crowd was twofold: teaching many things (Mark 6:34) and feeding them miraculously out of five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:35-44).

Rather than reading Mark 6:35-44, we read John’s version of Jesus feeding the crowd (John 6:1-15) because the rest of John 6 (vv.22-71) gives how the crowd reacted upon being fed and how Jesus further responded with a discourse (vv.26-58), followed by the crowd’s reaction to Jesus’ discourse (vv. 60-66) and the disciples’ reaction (vv.67-71).

John 6:1-15 – the 17^th Sunday       

Jesus fed the crowd of the size of nearly 5,000 out of five loaves and two fish to completely fill their stomachs, as they kept chasing him as if nowhere else to go but to seek him.

John 6:24-35 – the 18^th Sunday

Though they were fully fed by Jesus with bread and fish, the crowd continued to chase him all the way to another side (Capernaum) of the Sea of Galilee (See of Tiberius), hoping to fed by him again. But, Jesus confronted their motive to follow him and began his discourse, which is known as the Living Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:26-58) with these words:

Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal (John 6:26-27).

And Jesus revealed that the food that endures for eternal life to be sought (John 6:27) is he, who is the Bread of Life that frees us from becoming hungry and believing in him will be freed from thirst (John 6:35), in these words:

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (John 6:35).

Then, Jesus also revealed that he came from heaven to do the will of the Father, giving eternal life to those who see and believe in him, as he will raise them from the dead on the last day (John 6:36-40).

John 6:41-51 – the 19^th Sunday

In reaction to the first segment of the discourse (John 6:26-40), the crowd had a problem with Jesus being the Bread of Life from heaven as it is not the kind of Jesus whom they knew as the son of Joseph  (John 6:41-42).

So, Jesus revealed him in a Christological sense, in his relation to the Father in heaven – rather than speaking of his relation to Joseph, hoping that the crowd would understand why Jesus is the Bread of Life sent from heaven by the Father – so that they would understand why he, who is the Bread of Life from heaven can give eternal life, though Manna from heaven did not (John 6:43-50).

And he further expounded on what he meant by the food that endures for eternal life (John 6:27), which is he, who is the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48) in these words:

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 (John 6:51).

John 6:51-58 – the 20^th Sunday

Now, Jesus revealed that what he meant by the food that endures for eternal life (John 6:27), which is he, who is the Bread of Life to liberate us from hunger, while believing in him will keep us from thirst (John 6:35), from heaven (John 6:33, 38), is the Living Bread of Life, which is the living flesh (sarx) of Jesus, to be eaten by us for eternal life (John 6:51).

To this, the crowd had a problem with the fact that Jesus called them to eat his living fresh (sarx), not dead flesh (kreas), as the Living Bread for eternal life (John 6:52).

So, Jesus further explained that Jesus’s flesh, the flesh of the Son of Man, is the true food and his blood is the true drink for eternal life through resurrection (John 6:53-55). And he also revealed that eating his flesh as the Living Bread, the true food, and drinking his blood as the true drink, is not only for eternal life but also to be in fully communion with him (John 6:56; cf. John 14:20) for it is to be with the Father (John 17:21-23), as he is the only way to the Father (John 14:6), reflecting that those who are drawn to him by the Father will be raised and have eternal life (John 6:44).

Because of this, eating the living flesh of Jesus as the Living Bread of Life from heaven, sent by the Father, leads to eternal life though Manna sent by the Father from heaven did not (John 6:57). Jesus is not just another Manna from heaven but the very life itself as he is the Living Bread, which is his living flesh.

John 6:60-69 -  the 21^st Sunday

The above unfolding Christological revelation of Jesus as the Living Bread of Life, in the discourse (John 6:26-58) is what leads to today’s Gospel Reading (John 6:60-69). And it is about how the crowd and the disciples reacted to the discourse.

The crowd murmured, saying how they could accept the discourse as it is too difficult for them to make sense (John 6:60).

So, Jesus said to the crowd:

Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life (John 6:61-63).

This statement is the last straw that Jesus threw to further explain the meaning of the Living Bread of Life discourse (John 6:26-58), especially why he called them to eat his living fresh and to drink his blood for eternal life and for becoming one with him in full communion with him.

Jesus mentioned his ascension to heaven (John 6:62), which follows his death and resurrection, as it is the final part of his threefold glorification, in connection to the meaning of eating his living flesh as the Living Bread of Life and drinking his blood for eternal life. Because Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, are due to Theos-Logos (God-Word) being incarnated (John 1:1-2, 14) in the human flesh of Jesus, in the womb of Mary through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18),  he implied that the eating his living flesh as the Living Bread of Life and drinking his blood as the true drink will entitle to being like Jesus: having our bodies being raised from the dead and being taken up to (assumed into) heaven with new incorruptible bodies (i.e. 1 Corinthians 15:12-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). And this is why eating the Living Bread of Life, which is the living flesh of Jesus, and drinking his blood, leads to resurrection and eternal life, while making us in full communion with him.

Though living flesh (sarx) is different from dead meat (kreas), the living flesh (sarx) of Jesus as the Living Bread of Life is different from ordinary sarx, which itself cannot give life, but what really gives life is the spirit , namely the Holy Spirit (John 6:63), as the Theos-Logos (God-Word) became the living fresh (sarx)(John 1:1-2, 14) by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18), leading him to his threefold glorification in the climax of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus: his death on the Cross, his resurrection, and his ascension to heaven, from where he was sent to us as the Living Bread of Life to be eaten – to be in full communion with him. And this is why we can have eternal life as Jesus have and we can be taken into heaven as he ascended, as we eat this Bread.

The bottom line of Jesus’ discourse on the Living Bread of Life as the true food that endures for eternal life (John 6:26-58) really is about the Spirit of Life (John 6:63).

In other words, the Living Bread of Life, which is his living flesh (sarx), together with his blood as the true drink, for eternal life, is about the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit give life to material matters (i.e. Genesis 2:7), we understand that the Living Bread of Life is loaded with the Holy Spirit. And without the Holy Spirit, the bread would not be the Living Bread of Life, and that is why Manna, though it was also sent from heaven, did not give eternal life. And this is why it is written that we cannot live on bread alone but to live on what comes out of the mouth of the Lord, including the Word (Deuteronomy 8:3, cited by Jesus in Matthew 4:4). As to reiterate this truth, Jesus reminds that the Word in the words of kerygma, spoken out of his mouth to reveal himself as the Living Bread of Life for eternal life and for the full communion with him (John 6:26-58) is the Spirit of Life, the Holy Spirit (John 6:63). And, the Living Bread of Life is his living flesh of Jesus (John 6:51), which is what the Theos-Logos (God-Word) (John 1:1-2) incarnated to be among us (John 1:14), by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18). Therefore, the essence of the Living Bread of Life is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Life, while the substance of Manna is carbohydrates, which does not give eternal life as flesh without the Holy Spirit does not give eternal life.

Now it is revealed that the Living Bread of Life can give eternal life because its substance is the Holy Spirit (John 6:63). In connecting the Living Bread of Life, which is the living flesh of Jesus, and his blood as the true drink, for eternal life, to the institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (i.e. Luke 22:14-20),  it is clear that Jesus’ Christological self-revelation as the Living Bread of Life through the discourse (John 6:26-58) and his further explanation (John 6:60-63), upon feeding the crowd (John 6:1-15), is to point to the Eucharist.

Perhaps, these words of St. Ephrem of Syria on the Eucharist can help to see the role of the Holy Spirit in the Living Bread of Life to be life-giving, while Manna did not give life, in regard to these words of Jesus:

Our Lord Jesus took in His hands what in the beginning was only bread; and He blessed it, and signed it, and made it holy in the name of the Father and in the name of the Spirit; and He broke it and in His gracious kindness He distributed it to all His disciples one by one. He called the bread His living Body, and did Himself fill it with Himself and the Spirit.

And extending His hand, He gave them the Bread which His right hand had made holy: “Take, all of you eat of this, which My word has made holy. Do not now regard as bread that which I have given you; but take, eat this Bread, and do not scatter the crumbs; for what I have called My Body, that it is indeed. One particle from its crumbs is able to sanctify thousands and thousands, and is sufficient to afford life to those who eat of it. Take, eat, entertaining no doubt of faith, because this is My Body, and whoever eats it in belief eats in it Fire and Spirit (Hymns of Praise, 4.4).

Though he offered his whole body and blood with soul and divinity, as the true food, the Living Bread, and his blood as the true drink, for us to have eternal life and to be in full communion with him, Jesus already knew that not all who heard his words on the Living Bread would believe. And, many did not believe as they rejected his words in the discourse, rejecting the Living Bread, along with the true drink, for eternal life – forfeiting eternal life and the way to the Father by being in full communion with the Son (John 6:64-66).

And Jesus pressed the twelve if they, too, would reject:

Do you also want to leave? John 6:67.

And representing the twelve, Peter responded:

Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God (John 6:68-69).

At least, the twelve believed in their master, Jesus, as the Living Bread of Life, the Holy One of God, with the words of eternal life, also as to echo what Jesus said:

It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life (John 6:63).

The Gospel Reading for the 21^st Sunday (John 6:60-69), as the contrasting reactions to Jesus’ Christological self-revelation through his discourse of the Living Bread of Life (John 6:26-58), following his feeding of the crowd that kept chasing him (John 6:1-15), evokes the eschatological separation of those who will be saved in heaven and those who will not (Matthew 25:1-46). And this is also reflected in these words of St. Ephrem referring to the Living Bread of Life as the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist:

But if any doubter eat of it, for him it will be only bread. And whoever eats in belief the Bread made holy in My name, if he be pure, he will be preserved in his purity; and if he be a sinner, he will be forgiven.” But if anyone despise it or reject it or treat it with ignominy, it may be taken as a certainty that he treats with ignominy the Son, who called it and actually made it to be His Body (Hymns of Praise, 4.4).

In the first reading (Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b), Joshua, the successor of Moses,  pressed the elders, judges, leaders, and officials, during an early period of the settlement in the promised land, if they would really continue to serve Yahweh (the Lord), and they all made a resolved response to serve only Yahweh, affirming their observance of Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6.  And this is echoed in Jesus pressing the twelve if they would believe in his words on the Living Bread of Life for eternal life or not and how Peter, representing the twelve, affirmatively responded with a reason that Jesus is the Holy One of God, who have the words of eternal life (John 6:67-69).

Those who found the teaching of Jesus’ Living Bread of Life too difficult to accept left him, forfeiting eternal life (John 6:60-61, 64), resulting in a division between those who believed and those who did not.

The Second Reading (Ephesians 5:21-32) is another example of a teaching difficult to accept, resulting in a division between those who accept and those who reject.

Those who reject this Pauline teaching only see it as a problematic gender issue. But, is that so?

In connection to John 6:26-69, we can see this teaching of Paul on husband and wife, in juxtaposition to Christ and his Church, we understand that Paul’s intension for this difficult teaching, risking a controversy, was for us to see the Sacrament of Matrimony as the sacred union of husband and wife, reflecting the eschatological matrimonial union between Christ the Lamb and his bride, the Church (Revelation 19:6-9), characterized with purity.

Through his flesh in the Living Bread of Life and his blood as the true drink, Jesus wants us to be in full communion with him: us in him and he in us as one (John 6:56), just as he is in the Father and He in him (John 10:30, 38)(John 17:21-23), Paul calls husbands and wives to be likewise.

 Christ humbly submits himself to us in offering his body and blood to us (John 6:35, 48, 51; cf. Luke 22:14-20), and he calls us to submit ourselves to him, in his self-offering (i.e. Mark 8:34). Paul wants all husbands to be like Christ in offering up themselves to their beloved wives, as the wives submits themselves to this self-giving love that their husbands offer to them.

This passage should not be reduced to a gender issue in marriage. Otherwise, this Pauline text can be a source of grumbling, as Jesus’ call to eat his flesh and to drink his blood has resulted in the crowd’s rejection to follow him.

 We, like the twelve, understand that eating the living flesh of Jesus in the Living Bread and drinking his blood as the true drink is the way to be in full communion with him, having him in us and us in him (John 6:56), as those who accept the Pauline teaching in the Second Reading (Ephesians 5:21-32 ) is for husband and wife to be in full communion as we, the Church, to be in full matrimonial union with Christ.

So, as we believe and accept Jesus, the Holy One of God, with the words of eternal life, and accept him, whose living flesh (sarx) as the Living Bread of Life to be eaten for eternal life and to be in full communion with him, we can joyfully and gratefully “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” as in the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm (34:9a), praising the Lord.

Juxtaposition Between the Divine Wisdom and the Living Bread of Life for Full Eucharistic Communion with Christ – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

As the Solemn Feast of Assumption (August 15) was also the 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time this year (2021), Cycle  B, we celebrated the heavenly assumption of the Mother of Christ, the Seat of Wisdom. Given the sequential Sunday Gospel Readings from the 17^th Sunday to the 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time on Cycle B from John 6,  it is important to review the Scripture Readings for the 20^th Sunday, nevertheless.

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The Scripture Readings for the 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, (Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58) remind us of necessity and importance of divine wisdom to receive and enjoy its benefit of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which is represented with the Living Bread of Christ together with the blood of Christ.

Given a wisdom theme from the First Reading (Proverbs 9:1-6), in connection to an impression of the wisdom as the pre-existing and pre-incarnated Christ (Proverbs 8:22-31), there is multiple juxtapositions between the personified or incarnated wisdom (Proverbs 9:1-6; cf. 8:22-31; cf. 1:22-33; cf. 3:13-18) and incarnated Word (John 1:1-2, 14; cf. 1 Timothy 3:16; cf. 1 John 1:1-2; cf. 1 John 4:2)) and Jesus the Christ as the Living Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48, 51; cf. 6:53-58; cf. 6:63; cf. Matthew 26:26-29//Mark 14:22-25//Luke 22:14-20). In fact, the First Reading (Proverbs 9:1-6) describes that the personified wisdom, alluding to the incarnated wisdom, namely, Christ the incarnated Word, has built a house with seven pillars, which are allegorical to seven virtues, and invites us to enjoy the food and drink prepared by the wisdom – to stand against vices (Proverbs 9:7-18).

The wisdom built a house with seven pillars, indicating that the wisdom built with the seven virtues to stand against vices. Now the wisdom is calling us to taste and see (Psalm 34) the food and the drink prepared by her. And this is an allegory of the Church that he builds upon the rock (i.e. Matthew 16:18) in which we the faithful are called to eat the Living Bread of Life as the Body of Christ and to drink the wine as the Blood of Christ at Mass. The Church herself is also one Body of Christ with many parts, which we are (1 Corinthians 12:12-27), and it is the risen Body of Christ to be the new Temple, the House of God (John 2:19).

We are, in fact, the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), as we remain in him, while him in us, by eating his flesh transubstantiated in the species of the Living Bread of Life (the Eucharistic bread) (i.e. Luke 22:19) and by drinking his blood transubstantiated in the Eucharistic wine (i.e. Luke 22:20) (John 6:56; cf. John 14:20;17:21-23; cf.15:5, 9-10).

So, as the wisdom is calling us to her house to feast on the food and the drink that she has prepared for us for a life against vices and for further understanding (Proverbs 9:1-6), Jesus, who is the Christ, incarnated wisdom, as well as, the incarnated Word, is calling us to eat his flesh in the Living Bread of Life and to drink his blood through his discourse (John 6:26-58) as we are to receive Corporis et Sanguinis Christi in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at Mass until his return in Parousia.  In this juxtaposition, the Living Bread of Life as the flesh of the incarnated Christ is the food of wisdom, while his blood of life is the drink of wisdom, so that we can advance further in understanding (Proverbs 9:6). And Paul indicates that it means to fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit to understand God’s will for us to live with wisdom (Ephesians 5:15-18). And this is to be done with thanksgiving to God the Father (Ephesians 5:20), as Jesus himself did when he instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at his Passover celebration supper on the night before his death (Luke 22:17, 19). In the biblical Greek word for “eucharist”, “εὐχαριστία/eucharistia”, implies “giving thanks” (i.e. Ephesians 5:4) for what is well-given for free (eu + charis).

So, did the crowd of the size of about 5,000, whom he fed out of five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15),  understand and become grateful to Jesus for his offering of his body in the Living Bread of Life from heaven with his blood?

Though the kept chasing Jesus to have their stomachs filled again (John 6:26), Jesus really wanted to fill them with the food that endures for eternal life (John 6:26), which is, indeed, the Bread of Life that inoculates us from hunger (John 6:35, 48), while he wanted them to believe in the Father (John 6:29) , who is the one to provide this food for eternal life from heaven  by sending Christ, who is incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus (John 6:37-40). And believing this truth keeps us free from thirst (John 6:35b).

In this discourse of the Living Bread of Life (John 6:26-58), Jesus progressively revealed what this heavenly and spiritual food for eternal life, entitling us to the resurrection, is about.

At first, Jesus called the crowd to seek the food that endures for eternal life rather than food that perishes and makes us hungry again, by believing (John 6:26-29). Then, he declared  that the food that endures for eternal life (John 6:27) is he, who is the Bread of Life that keeps us free from hunger (John 6:35), sent from heaven by the Father , as it is His will for those who seek His Son, Christ, to have eternal life (John 6:37-40).

But, the crowd failed to believe this Christological truth of Jesus, who is the Bread of Life from heaven, because they only saw Jesus as the son of Joseph (John 6:41-42). Their confirmation bias that prevented them from believing is a stumbling block to receive wisdom and what she prepares to nourish us for understanding (Proverbs 9:1-6).

So, Jesus revealed more about him – making further Christological revelation –  as the Bread of Life is living – the living flesh (σάρξ/sarx) of his (John 6:51) to them, in the context of  his relation to the one who sent him, the Father in heaven, in the hope that they would understand that he is the Bread of Life sent from heaven (John 6:44-51).

But, again, the crowd failed to believe. This time, they had a problem not only with the fact that he is the Bread of Life from heaven but also with the fact that eating the Bread of Life, which is the Living Bread of Life, means eating his living flesh (σάρξ/sarx) rather than “dead meat”(κρέας /kreas) (John 6:52).

So, Jesus said:

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever  (John 6:53-58).

In the above kerygma, Jesus expounded on what he meant by:

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 (John 6:51).

And it is what Jesus meant by:

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (John 6:35).

And, it is how Jesus elaborated what he meant by:

Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal (John 6:27).

You sure want to live. You sure prefer to have food that endures for eternal life (John 6:27),   and this food is Jesus, who is the Bread of Life from heaven to keep us free from hunger, keeping us free from thirst in believing in him (John 6:33, 35). And this is the food well-prepared (cf. Proverbs 9:2) by the Father (John 6:37-40), who sends it well and freely, in His Son, out of love (John 3:16), to bring us to Him through Jesus (John 14:6), who is the incarnated divine wisdom (i.e. Proverbs 8:22-31), the incarnated Word (John 1-2, 14), as the wisdom calls us to her house (Proverbs 9:3-5).

Coming to Jesus to receive him as the Bread of Life (John 6:35) is also to learn from the Father by listening to him (John 6:45) – seeking to understand by coming to the house of wisdom and to receive what the wisdom has prepared (Proverbs 9:1-6).

This way, we can understand how the Bread of Life (John 6:35) leads to eternal life though Manna did not (John 6:47-50) and what Jesus means by the Living Bread of Life is his living flesh to be eaten for eternal life (John 6:51) and why he calls us to eat his flesh and to drink his blood for eternal life (John 6:53-55). We will come to understand that the Living Bread of Life, which is his flesh to be eaten by us as our true food for eternal life, also drinking his blood as the true drink, is to be one with him – to be in full communion with him (John 6:55), just as he is so with the Father (John 10:30, 38; cf. John 17:21-23). And this is the ultimate reason why the Father has sent His only begotten Son out of His love (John 3:16) as the source for our eternal life (John 6:56-58), as the true food that endures for eternal life (John 6:27).

It is also the divine wisdom calling us to eat and drink what she has prepared for us to live a life of understanding (Proverbs 9:1-6) – to understand the meaning of Jesus as the Living Bread of Life for eternal life and for the way to the Father by becoming in full communion with him (John 6:26-58).  And this is how we live a life filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. John 6:63), the Eucharistic life of giving thanks, as our life of virtues against vices (Ephesians 5:15-20), singing psalm of praising God for calling us to taste and see His goodness (Psalm 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7. 9a).

Now, having listened to Jesus’ discourse on the Living Bread of Life (John 6:26-58), since the 18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, in the Sunday Gospel Readings (John 6:24-35; 41-51; 51-58), are we grateful for this food for eternal life, along with the true drink, for eternal life and full communion with Christ, to be his body (John 6:51-56; cf. John 14:20; 17:21-23; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27)?

Jesus will ask us if we accept his teaching on the Living Bread of Life in the Gospel Reading for the next Sunday, 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B (John 6:60-69).

The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Immaculate Conception, the New Ark of the New Covenant, the Blessed Bearer of the Firstfruit

The Assumption of Mary is deeply connected to her Immaculate Conception. Why? It is all about the fruit of her blessed womb, to complete God's salvific and redemptive plan for us.

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Mary’s life is characterized with full of grace as pronounced by Gabriel at Annunciation (Luke 1:28). It means that Mary’s life has been preserved completely free from any stains of the Original Sin, from the very beginning of her life at her conception in Anna’s womb on. Thus, she is the Immaculate Conception, meaning that God has kept her Immaculate since her conception in order her to serve as the mother for the Word to be incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus (John 1:1, 14), as he must be unblemished to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; Exodus 12:5). If his mother’s flesh were not Immaculate, free from any stain of the Original Sin, Jesus would be blemished.

So, how Mary, who is full of grace, kept Immaculate, from her conception on, complete her life on earth?

The answer to this question is her Assumption into heaven. And this is celebrated on August 15.

Like the Immaculate Conception of Mary, her Assumption is not explicitly described in the canonical scriptures.  However, this important Marian event was officially made into the official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Pius XII in 1950 with these words:

The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

Munificentissimus Deus, paragraph 44

As made it clear in these defining words, Assumption of Mary is associated with her Immaculate Conception.

So, Pope Pius XII describes how Assumption is connected to Immaculate Conception in paragraph 21 of Munificentissimus Deus (1950), citing St. John Damascene’s homily:

St. John Damascene, an outstanding herald of this traditional truth, spoke out with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges. "It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God."

Thanks to Pope Pius XII’s teaching in Munificentissimus Deus, Assumption of Mary into heaven can be understood together with her Immaculate Conception because she has been meant to serve as the mother of the Son of God, who is the Christ, to redeem offspring of Adam and Eve, tainted with the Original Sin. For this, throughout her life, Mary has been privileged to be full of grace, the Immaculate, as her Son, Jesus, is kept unblemished from the moment of his incarnation in her womb.  By being assumed into heaven upon completion of her earthly life, Mary’s body was not subjected to corruption – though bodies of all other offspring of Adam and Eve are corruptible, until the Parousia of Christ.

As the Immaculate Conception of Mary, marking the beginning of her life, is to reflect her status of being full of grace, her Assumption into heaven at the completion of her earthly life also an implication of being full of grace. And this is because Mary was made fit by God the Father to share her flesh when the Word was incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus in her womb through the Holy Spirit (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:20).  Because of her such a unique relation to Christ, in celebrating her Assumption, we regard her as the New Ark of the New Covenant, reflected in the readings for the Vigil (1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2; Psalm 132:6-7, 9-10, 13-14 :1 Corinthians 15:54b-57; Luke11:27-28), and as the blessed bearer of the firstfruit from the dead to be honored as the heavenly Queen, reflecte4d in the readings for the Solemnity (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56).

Mary was made into the Immaculate Conception to serve as the New Ark of the New Covenant, the blessed bearer of the firstfruit from the dead, as God’s handmaid to give birth to Christ to overcome death, which has been waged by sin (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:56) and to destroy Satan (Revelation 20:10), fulfilling the prophecy made by God the Father to Satan for making Adam and Eve fall that he would be defeated by the Son of Mary (Genesis 3:15).

In the First Reading for the Vigil (1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2), we see how King David prepared the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to Jerusalem, commanding the Levites. Then, the First Reading for the Solemnity (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab), we see Mary as the New Ark of the New Covenant, bearer of Christ, representing the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13; 9:15; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-40; cf. Matthew 26:27–28), in a heavenly sign.

So, this is how Mary is seen in a heavenly sign as the bearer of Christ, as the New Ark of the New Covenant, in God’s plan to conquer Satan through Michael and Christ, born of her. 

God’s temple in heaven, in which the Ark of God’s covenant was seen, was opened, with lightening, rumbling, pearls of thunder, great hail storm, and earthquake, following the sounding of the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:19; cf 8:5) to bring a great heavenly sign: a woman of late term pregnancy, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head (Revelation 12:1-2).  The appearance of the woman in this heavenly sign clearly implicates her as a heavenly queen. 

Miguel Sanchez, an early 17th-century theologian, interprets this woman in the heavenly sign (Revelation 21:1) as Mary, in particular, as Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, who appeared to San Juan Diego on the Typeyac hill, Mexico, in December 1531, while this pregnant woman in the heavenly sign can be also interpreted as the daughter of Zion, collectively referring to the faithful. 

And another sign appeared in heaven, the gigantic red dragon with seven heads, seven crowns, and ten horns (Revelation 12:3), and this red dragon wanted to destroy the fruit growing in her womb as soon as she bring the fruit forth (Revelation 12:4).

As the red dragon symbolically represents Satan, eager to destroy the child in the woman's womb (Revelation 12:4), and given the description of the child (Revelation 12:5), it is fitting to interpret the woman in this heavenly sign is Mary, as the heavenly queen, as the mother of Christ, the Son.

Facing this great danger, the woman in the heavenly sign, Mary, gave birth to her Son, who is the Chris to rule the world with his iron scepter (Revelation 12:5a; cf. Luke 2:7; cf. 2:27; 19:15; cf. Psalm 2:9).

The Son was snatched up to God and His throne (Revelation 12:5b), reflecting the Ascension of the risen Christ (Luke 24:51), while Mary was brought to safety (Revelation 12:6), until her Assumption, as John took care of her (John 19:27).

Then, there is a vision for Revelation 20-21, the complete destruction of the dragon, Satan, the consummation of Christ’s salvific mission at the eschaton (Revelation 12:10).

In the Gospel Reading for the Solemnity (Luke 1:39-56), we see the New Ark of the New Covenant in the First Reading (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab) as the bearer of the firstfruit of God’s mighty salvific plan in her womb, blessed by Elizabeth during the Visitation, following the incarnation at the Annunciation and her fiat to be God’s handmaid (Luke 1:26-38).

As Mary arrived, Elizabeth greeted her with her benediction:

Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled  (Luke 1:42-45).

In response, Mary sung her canticle, glorifying God, known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).

In this doxological canticle, Mary juxtaposes almighty God the Father to the strength of her Son in her womb, as the ultimate powerful ruler  the world with his iron scepter, striking down all those who are antagonistic to the almighty God ( Luke 1:49-55; cf. Revelation 12:5b, 10).

Before the Son, the fruit of Mary’s womb, was snatched up to God the Father and His throne in heaven through Ascension (Revelation 12:6), he has conquered death, which was brought by the Original Sin (1 Corinthians 15:56a; Romans 5:12) (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 54b-57), making our resurrection and assumption into heaven to follow Mary to be eternally united with Christ possible (1 Corinthians 15:12-57).

Because of her role in God’s salvation and redemption scheme as the New Ark of the New Covenant, the bearer of the firstfruit from the dead, God rewarded her as the Queen of the Universe, as reflected in the Responsorial Psalm for the Solemnity (45:10, 11, 12, 16).

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Mary has been preserved free from any stain of the Original Sin, thus, being kept Immaculate, since her conception in the womb of her mother, Anna. It was evident that God the Father had already chosen Mary to be the Immaculate Conception to serve as His handmaid to carry His only begotten Son in her womb and to nurse him with her breast. Such Mary’s role is reflected in the readings for the Vigil as the New Ark of the New Covenant, and in the readings for the Feast as the bearer of the firstfruit from the dead in her womb.

Together with her husband, Joseph, Mary raised Christ in Jesus, who is the Word incarnate.

As evidenced in her presence at the foot of the Cross, Mary followed her Son (John 19:26). There, Jesus proclaimed her also as our Mother, entrusting John to look after her (John 19:27).

As explained by St. John Paul II in his general audience of Wednesday, 21 May 1997, the risen Christ first appeared to Mary, before appearing to Mary Magdalene. It is to remind of Jesus’ bodily closeness to his Mother, Mary, who bore him in her blessed and immaculate womb, as the firstfruit.

Upon his Ascension, Mary remained with John and the rest of the disciples, and was infused with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, as reflected in Lumen Gentium, paragraph 53:

The Virgin Mary, who at the message of the angel received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world, is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and Mother of the Redeemer. Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie, she is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth. At the same time, however, because she belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all those who are to be saved. She is "the mother of the members of Christ . . . having cooperated by charity that faithful might be born in the Church, who are members of that Head." Wherefore she is hailed as a pre-eminent and singular member of the Church, and as its type and excellent exemplar in faith and charity. The Catholic Church, taught by the Holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection and piety as a most beloved mother.

When her earthly life was completed, God assumed her into heaven to reward her with a heavenly crown, as the Queen of the Universe, as he is the King. Upon her Assumption, Mary was once again together with her Son, the New Covenant, as well as, the firstfruit.

So, what does this mean to us?

The Assumption of Mary into heaven upon her completion of life gives an eschatological implication of our bodily resurrection with new incorruptible bodies to be taken into heaven upon Jesus’ Parousia (1 Corinthians 15:29-58).

As implicated in the First Reading for the Solemnity (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab), Satan in the figure of Dragon, has tried to destroy the fruit of Mary’s womb but failed because of God’s protection. Therefore, she was able to give birth to Christ the Son, bringing forth the fruit of her womb. And this fruit of her womb was placed on the manger, wrapped with swaddling clothes, with Joseph’s help (Luke 2:7). This reading narrative reflects that God preserved Mary free from any stain of the Original Sin, as she is the Immaculate Conception, as put into the official dogma by Pope Pius IX in Ineffablis Deus (1854), based on John Duns Scotus’ theological concept on the beginning of Mary’s life. And, the condition in which Mary gave birth was far from ideal, as she had to give birth in an animal stable (Luke 2:1-7).   Despite all these adversarial condition, the fruit of Mary’s womb was brought, thus making the New Covenant of God available to us. Then, Herod the Great, representing the Satan, tried to destroy him (Matthew 2:16-18), but God protected both him and his mother, as Mary and Jesus were taken to safety in Egypt by Joseph, representing God the Father (Matthew 2:13-15).

As God prophesized (Genesis 3:15), the fruit of Mary’s womb is to destroy Satan, who let the humans, fell, making subject to death. This is why Paul reminds us that the wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but this is overcome by the victory of the fruit of Mary’s womb, Jesus, as the fritfruit from the dead, in his Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-58).

Yes, Mary served as God’s handmaid (Luke 1:38) to make all of this stream of salvific events possible as the bearer of Christ, the New Covenant, as the fruit of her womb, which is the New Ark of the New Covenant.

Now, her Assumption into heaven gives us eschatological hope, assured by the Resurrection her Son, as the firstfruit from the dead – as the hope for our resurrection with incorruptible bodies and assumption into heaven to follow her to be with him in heaven, where he reigns as the King, and where she resides as the Queen.

And in Lumen Gentium, we can see why Mary has been preserved full of grace from the moment of her Immaculate Conception to Assumption into heaven at the end of her earthly life in its implication to us:

Placed by the grace of God, as God's Mother, next to her Son, and exalted above all angels and men, Mary intervened in the mysteries of Christ and is justly honored by a special cult in the Church. Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, under whose protection the faithful took refuge in all their dangers and necessities. Hence after the Synod of Ephesus the cult of the people of God toward Mary wonderfully increased in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation, according to her own prophetic words: "All generations shall call me blessed, because He that is mighty hath done great things to me". This cult, as it always existed, although it is altogether singular, differs essentially from the cult of adoration which is offered to the Incarnate Word, as well to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is most favorable to it. The various forms of piety toward the Mother of God, which the Church within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the conditions of time and place, and the nature and ingenuity of the faithful has approved, bring it about that while the Mother is honored, the Son, through whom all things have their being and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, is rightly known, loved and glorified and that all His commands are observed.  Paragraph 66

It gives great joy and comfort to this holy and general Synod that even among the separated brethren there are some who give due honor to the Mother of our Lord and Saviour, especially among the Orientals, who with devout mind and fervent impulse give honor to the Mother of God, ever virgin. The entire body of the faithful pours forth instant supplications to the Mother of God and Mother of men that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers, may now, exalted as she is above all the angels and saints, intercede before her Son in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families of people, whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still do not know the Saviour, may be happily gathered together in peace and harmony into one people of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.  Paragraph 69

"Ego sum Panis Vivus": Jesus the Living Bread of Life from Heaven, Our Daily Bread, Our Heart's Desire - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

What are you really hungry for? What do you thirst for?

St. Ignatius of Loyola can invite us to join him to reflect on our heart’s deep desire, asking such questions as the above, in discerning God’s desire for us, through his Spiritual Exercises. Then, we let the Holy Spirit guide us to our clear awareness of our true desire deep not only deep in our heart but in God’s heart.

Starting last Sunday’s (18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B) Gospel Reading (John 6:24-35), we continue to read from Jesus’ Living Bread of Life discourse (John 6:26-58) and its reception in public (John 6:60-71): this Sunday (19^th Sunday): John 6:41-51, 20^th Sunday: John 6:51-58, 21^st Sunday: John 6:60-69, to discern our deep desire in God and God’s desire for us and see how these can match.

Through his Living Bread of Life discourse and conversations with the crowd following the discourse, Jesus progressively reveals his desire for us in speaking of the Living Bread of Life as himself and its benefits for eternal life. However, not everyone who listened to Jesus responded with gratefulness. In fact, many rejected the Living Bread of Life that is Jesus himself, though they kept chasing him to fill their stomachs, upon being miraculously fed out of five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15).

As we continue read and reflect on the Living Bread of Life and its benefits until 21^st Sunday, we are to realize our deep desires cannot be truly satisfied with what the world can offer but can be fulfilled only by what God offers, namely, the Living Bread of Life, which is actually Jesus himself. This is reflected in Jesus’ words in the Gospel Reading for 18th Sunday (John 6:24-35), as Jesus taught us to seek food that endures for eternal life given only by him (John 6:27). And this truth is reiterated in these words of self-revelation:

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (John 6:35).

In other words, Jesus expounded what he meant by the food that endures for eternal life only given by him (John 6:27) as the Bread of Life for those who come to him to be free from a cycle of hunger and thirst in his “I AM” self-revelation statement (John 6:35). He made it clear that the food for eternal life only given by him is Jesus himself, who is the Bread of Life to liberate those who come to him and believe in him from a cycle of hunger and thirst.

Jesus continued on with his Bread of Life discourse.

Jesus explained why he, as the Bread of Life, can fee those who seek him and believe in him from hunger and thirst. And it is because he was sent from heaven by the Father, with everything given by Him, to do His will (John 6:37-38). This is to explicate what he said about the bread of God sent from heaven that gives life (John 6:32-33) in reference to manna that the crowd mentioned (John 6:31).

Revealing that Jesus himself is the Bread of Life that endures for eternal life, therefore, freeing from hunger and thirst, is sent from heaven, he explained that it was for the Father’s will to save and raise those who believe (John 6:39-40).

So, this is the pretext to the Gospel Reading for 19^th Sunday (John 6:41-51).

The Gospel Reading first tells how the crowd reacted to the first segment of Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6:26-40), and they were murmuring about Jesus because it made no sense to them that the son of Joseph could be the bread from heaven (John 6:41-42).

Then, Jesus basically said: Shut up! and Listen to me! (John 6:43).

And he continued on with the discourse with these words:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day (John 6:44).

Jesus shifted a focus on the Father, who is the sender of the bread for eternal life, Jesus.  He explained that it is the Father who draws people to His Son, the Bread of Life for eternal life.

In reference to Isaiah 54:13, Jesus elaborated on what he meant by the Father to draw believers to him for the Bread of Life:

They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me (John 6:45).

Here, Jesus wanted the crowd to understand that it is the Father’s desire for us to be drawn to His Son, Jesus the Bread of Life for eternal life and to be raised on the last day, as our learning from God. And this is how we are to be as His Law being written in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

And Jesus further spoke on the Father as seen by no one but him (John 6:46), and this statement is theologically important as it implicates Jesus’ relation to the Father. This is also the relation of the Bread of Life with the one who sends, the Father.

The Father is seen by nobody but the Bread of Life, Jesus, because of his unique relationship with Him, who sends him, the Bread of Life, from heaven for us to have eternal life and to be raised on the last day.

Then, Jesus made it clear how important belief is to be benefited from the Bread of Life for eternal life (John 6:47), because he knew that the crowd did not believe him though they had seen him (John 6:36).

One important teaching from the Gospel Reading for 19^th Sunday (John 6:41-51) is that our belief in Jesus is an absolutely necessary condition for us to receive Jesus the Bread of Life and to be benefited from this bread for eternal life.

So, Jesus once again reaffirmed himself as the Bread of Life (John 6:48; cf. 6:35).

Then, Jesus further expounded what the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48) is, in contrast to manna from heaven given by the Father through Moses (John 6:49-50), saying:

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 (John 6:51).

Jesus has revealed further of himself from being the Bread of Life to the Living Bread of Life. This bread from heaven sent by the Father to give believers eternal life is the life itself, because it is the living bread. In fact, Jesus himself is the life, as well as, the way and the truth (John 14:6).

In his response to the disbelieving crowd who regarded him as a nice person to feed them with bread, Jesus made it clear about resurrection for those who believe in him (John 6:40) and connected the resurrection of the believers to eternal life through the Living Bread of Life (John 6:51). This is also echoed in Jesus’ statement to Martha, who believed:

I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-26).

One important lesson from the Gospel Reading for 19^th Sunday (John 6:41-51) is that our belief in Jesus is an absolutely necessary condition to enjoy the full merit of the Living Bread of Life for eternal life, being raised on the last day, being free from a cycle of thirst and hunger.

Jesus knew about the disbelief of the crowd (John 6:36), and this disbelief of the crowd was related to their familiarity of Jesus as the son of Joseph, resulting in murmuring about him and his heavenly self-identification (John 6:41-42).

This is a problem of what is known in social psychology as “cognitive bias”. Our human mind has a disposition to box objects perceived by our senses to cognitively process in the brain. And these boxes are reflected on cognitive biases. So, the crowd’s cognitive bias boxed Jesus as the son of Joseph, preventing them from seeing him more than the son of Joseph. The bias restricted their abilities to see Jesus to mere human, the son of Joseph, whom they knew. And this kept them to remain as disbelievers, disqualifying them to be entitled to the Living Bread of Life.

So they just murmured about Jesus.

In light the Second Reading (Ephesians 4:30-5:2), the disbelieving crowd’s murmuring about Jesus is an example of “grieving the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30), and disbelief can become malicious, just as bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling. This is what we can see how Jesus’ act of healing a paralytic man on Sabbath was perceived by those who with disbelief and how this resulted in the progressive malice eventually leading to intense hatred toward him, having him killed (John 5:1-19:30).

And we will see how the crowd’s stubborn disbelief affected the way they reacted to the portion of Jesus’ discourse on the Living Bread of Life in this Sunday’s Gospel Reading (John 6:41-51) in the Gospel Reading for the next Sunday (John 6:51-58) and the Sunday after next Sunday (John 6:60-69). We will see how the crowd’s cognitive bias that boxed Jesus as the son of Joseph also prevents them from seeing the Living Bread of Life as the flesh of Jesus.

Let us not allow our cognitive bias become an obstacle to our belief in Jesus as the Living Bread of Life, whose flesh we are to eat for our resurrection and eternal life.

And this heavenly Living Bread of Life can restore our strengths when it is weaken, as the food that God gave Elijah did to him (1 Kings 19:4-8) but not just for 40 days but all the way to eternal life because it is the true food that endures for eternal life (cf. John 6:27). So, we shall seek this Living Bread of Life daily, as we say in our prayer to the Father: Give us this day, our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), as taught by him during his Sermon on the Mount.

This, our daily bread from heaven, the Living Bread of Life, is not our stomach's desire but our heart’s deep desire to be free from hunger and thirst, also in God’s desire for us as it is in His will.