Sunday:       Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Date:         August 9, 2015
Year:         B
The readings: [1 Kgs. 19:4-8; Ephes. 4:30-5:2; Jn. 6:41-51]
The message:  The Living Bread that came down from Heaven.
Prepared by:  Catholic Doors Ministry
Total words:  2100

Click here for the Index of all the Homilies

Good morning! On this Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, how pleased the Lord must be with our beautiful gathering for the purpose of feeding our souls with the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Feeding our souls, that is the message that shines forth from the Scripture readings that we have just heard.

Reviewing today's First Reading from the First Book of Kings, [1 Kgs. 19:4-8] when applying a spiritual approach, we can perceive that much of what was said is symbolic. Elijah had gone a day's journey into the wilderness and he was tired. His journey into the wilderness can be perceived as someone who is aimlessly wondering on earth. He has no purpose in life. He does not know why he is living. He perceives life as being born and then dying. It is a life without hope.

Elijah sat under a solitary broom tree and asked that he might die. He had enough of life, realizing that he was no better than his ancestors. He asked God to take his life. Then he fell asleep. From this passage, it can be perceived to spiritually mean that he who has no hope has no purpose in life. He will easily give up, accepting death as his way of ending the miseries of the world. He knows that his human nature is weak. The pleasures of the world will not last. All his wealth will come to an end. Why accumulate treasures if they will all turn to dust once one is gone? In his mind, he says to himself, 'If there is a God, end it all here and now! No more suffering!'

Going to sleep is symbolic of the end of one's walk in the darkness. Suddenly, one is touched by the grace of God. As an angel touched Elijah and told him to eat the cake baked on hot stones and to drink from the jar of water, the one who experiences a spiritual awakening learns of the living hope in Jesus Christ. He learns of the Bread of Life that is represented by the cake baked on hot stones. He learns of the living water, the Holy Spirit, that is represented by the jar of water. He is told to eat and drink. Receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit!

Having eaten, Elijah laid down again to sleep. This is symbolic of relapse into sin. Once more, the sinners walks in the darkness. A second time, the angel of the Lord touched Elijah, this being symbolic of the grace of God touching the heart of the sinner a second time. Once more, the sinner is told to eat and drink, otherwise the journey will be too much for him. As Elijah did, the sinner gets up and returns to the Church Sacraments, allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to continue to sanctify Him in Christ.

By persevering in the living faith through the Bread of Life, such being pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, the faithful one is no longer grieving the Holy Spirit. Now, he has the strength to go on for forty days and forty night to Horeb the mountain of God. The forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mountain of God is symbolic of a forty year journey towards the eternal Kingdom of God. In those days, the people did not enjoy the medical benefits that we enjoy today. As such, living for forty years was the average life span of a person. By persevering in his living faith for all those years, surely, he has obtained his salvation in Christ, inheriting the eternal promises of God the Father.

During today's Second Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, we heard St. Paul say, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption."

Christ Himself declared that He was marked with His Father's seal. [Jn. 6:27] Christians are also marked with a seal: 'It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us; He has put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.' [2 Cor. 1:21-2; Eph. 1:13, 4, 30] This seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service for ever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial." [Rev. 7:2-3, 9:4; Ezek. 9:4-6] (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1296)

Called to be holy as God is Holy, we must put aside our worldly ways that fall short of shining in Divine love. We must set aside all bitterness, revenge, anger, arguments, slander and malice. We are called to a better life than that, to be gentle and kind to one another, to be peace-makers, affectionate, tenderhearted, forgiving as God has forgiven us.

These are the qualities of the children of God who shine in Christlike love. These qualities model after Christ who loved us and who gave Himself up for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

During today's reading from the Gospel of John, [Jn. 6:41-51] we heard the prophetic words of Jesus when He said that He is the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. Through these words, Jesus was preparing the believers for the Last Supper that would introduce the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in the Holy Catholic Church.

Many did not believe Jesus. They complained. They asked how could He have come down from Heaven when they knew that His father was Joseph and His mother was Mary. Many did not believe because they were not listening to what Jesus was revealing to them. They had worldly minds that were darkened, seeking to challenge every word that Jesus spoke rather than listening. Through the hardening of their hearts, they were not spiritually disposed, this preventing them from perceiving the truth.

It is the same today. There are some who do not hear any of the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church because they are not listening. They are placing all their energies towards challenging every word, every authority, every doctrine, etc... rather then listening to the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has been sent to teach and guide them. Sometimes it is necessary to remain silent and to listen. Then we should prayerfully reflect on what we heard for some time, allowing the grace of God to enlighten our hearts so we can see the light in the Spirit of Truth.

Jesus said to those who were complaining among themselves, "No one can come to Me unless drawn by the Father who sent me." As previously said, it is by the grace of God the Father that we are drawn to Jesus through the indwelling Spirit of Truth who teaches us and guides us. Those who are drawn to Jesus, those who listen to His teachings, those who believe in Him and live their Christian faith in Christ, He will raise them on the last day.

Jesus asked those who were present, is it not written in the Scriptures that the prophets said, "And they shall all be taught by God?" This is a very powerful statement. It echoes God the Father drawing His children to Jesus. It echoes God the Father saying in our hearts, 'He is the way, the truth and the life.' It echoes the incarnation of God through Jesus. It echoes Jesus who is God teaching the people. Through Jesus, at that moment, the prophecy of the prophets was being fulfilled. Jesus who is God was teaching the people.

Jesus said, "Everyone who heard and learned from the Father comes to me." Those who listen to their hearts, the free gift that they have received during the Sacrament of Baptism, they hear the calling of God and they are directed towards Jesus. For no one can go to the Father unless they go through the Son, Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of God draws us to the Father. Through the grace of the Father, our faith is established in the Truth. We believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. We believe in the resurrection of the dead. We believe that Christ will resurrect our physical bodies on the last day so we too may be gloriously transformed in His likeness. Everything that God does for us is accomplished by the involvement of all Three Divine Presences of the Holy Trinity.

Then Jesus said that no one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. No one has ever seen the Father because the Father is formless and invisible. [Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27] In their struggle to bring God the Father down to earth in a physical and visible nature, over the centuries, painters have created pictures of God the Father as an old man. This practice, on the increase during the last century, has spread to every nation, especially during the last few decades. None of these paintings and "so called" holy pictures accurately reflect God the Father. In fact, they are an insult to the Divine Presence of God the Father, turning the believers away from the truth.

The holy Catholic Church teaches us, "We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God." (CCC. # 239) God Himself said, "I am God and no mortal." [Hos. 11:9]

The creating of images of God the Father as an old man is literally creating a false god, another idol to worship. It falls short of reflecting the true nature of the Divine Presence of God the Father as He has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ. On this subject, the Holy Catholic Church further says, "The purification of our hearts had to do with paternal or maternal images, stemming from our personal and cultural history, and influencing our relationship with God. God our Father transcends the categories of the created world. To impose our own ideas in this area 'upon him' would be to fabricate idols to adore or pull down."(CCC. # 2779)

God the Father manifested Himself through Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, "If you know Me, you will know My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him." [Jn. 14:6-7]

Jesus continued His discourse on He being the Bread of Life. Whoever believes in Him has eternal life. While the ancestors of the Old Testament ate the manna in the wilderness, they all died. But those who eat the Bread that came down from Heaven, they will live forever. And the Bread that He gives is His flesh for the life of the world.

These words echo the whole mystery of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus is God! In Him dwelled bodily the fullness of the Three Divine Presences of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In a short while, I will be consecrating the bread and the wine. At that moment, they will be transformed into the Body and the Blood of Christ. At that moment, God will physically be present with us through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. In the consecrated Bread and Wine shall be physically present the fullness of God, all Three Divine Presences of the Holy Trinity. When you will receive the Holy Eucharist, you will be receiving the physical Divine Presences of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in your hearts.

My brothers and sisters, believe in the Words of Jesus. Believe that the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the Bread of Life. Without it, you have no life in you. Those who believe in the teachings of Jesus, who persevere in their living faith, and who receive the Church Sacraments, they are on their way to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

For the Sacrament of Baptism bestows you with the first instalment, the new creation of the seed of God. It makes you righteous in the eyes of God. If you sin, reach out to the Sacrament of Confession to reinstate your righteousness. Once you are righteous again, reach out to the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Living Bread that secures your salvation in Christ!

* * * * * * * * * *

The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

* * * * * * * * * *

First Reading...

Elijah went a day's journey into the desert, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: 'It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.'

Then Elijah lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an Angel touched him and said to him, 'Get up and eat.' He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.

The Angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, 'Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.' Elijah got up, and ate and drank: then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mountain of God." [1 Kgs. 19:4-8]

* * * * * * * * * *

Second Reading...

"Brothers and sisters, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together will all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."[Eph. 4:30-5:2]

* * * * * * * * * *

Gospel Reading...

"The people began to complain about Jesus because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven?'

Jesus answered them, 'Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw them; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.'

'I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the word is my flesh.'" [Jn. 6:41-51]

* * * * * * * * * *