The Word God Spells

John 6: 52-59
Acts 9: 1-20 / Ps 117: 1-2

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.
(John 6:53)

I live because my life is You,
The promised Word God has given;
I eat Your flesh, my soul renew,
Bread of Life that comes from heaven.

The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up 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. 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.” These things He said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. (John 6: 52-59)

Reflection

Many of the disciples, in spite of all the wonders that Jesus showed, left Him because they could not understand His words (Jn. 6:66). The same can be said today of many people who leave the Church because they still have not understood the doctrine of transubstantiation, wherein the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Bread of Life initiated this at the Last Supper when He commanded, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19).

In the Mass, the mystery of the Eucharist is relived every hour and everyday all over the world without losing its essence and meaning. The Word of God, which is also part of the liturgy of the Mass, is likewise read and heard everyday, throughout our lives, delivering God’s message to us in many different ways. A day will never be the same without receiving the Bread of Life and the Word of God. His Bread and His Word give us life, nourishing our spirits. We can never be “raised up on the last day” unless we partake of Him in His Word and in His flesh. Jesus is inviting us to take His Flesh and Blood and His Word into the very essence of our being. The life that He offers is the very life of God Himself.

We praise you, Lord God eternal. Your Flesh and Blood and Your Word will nourish us all the days of our lives, until the end of time. Amen.

John 6: 44-51
Acts 8: 26-40 / Ps 66: 8-9, 16-17, 20

I am the bread of life … the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die … If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever … the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
(John 6: 48,51)

The Word of God we must believe,
This mystery men can’t perceive:
From God the Bread of Life was sent
As our eternal nourishment.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will 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 he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers 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. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:44-51)

Reflection

Much of the things we read in the Bible pertain to food. The fall of Adam and Eve in the first book of the Bible (Genesis) came about because of a forbidden fruit that they ate in disobedience to God’s command. The tribe of Israel moved to Egypt so that Jacob and his people could obtain all the grains they needed in the long years of famine. Centuries later, when Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, God provided them with manna from heaven to sustain their 40-year sojourn in the desert. The four Gospel books are replete with parables about eating and food production (Parable of the Sower, Weeds among the Wheat, the Leavened Bread, the Wedding Feast, Prodigal Son, etc.), and passages where Jesus is invited to banquets. And of course we recall the two times that Jesus fed thousands of people when He miraculously multiplied a few loaves of bread (Mt.14:19-21, Mt.15:35-38).

Our loving Father has shown us in the Bible how much He cares for His creation, and most of all His children, whom He made in His image and likeness. In the words of Jesus, God said, “Do not worry about what you are to eat, and what you are to drink. Only the unbelievers worry about such things. Your Father knows you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.” (Read Mt.6:25-34)

Finally, the Ultimate Food that God gave man was His Only Son, and it was not mere coincidence that the Baby Jesus was laid on a manger, a feeding trough. It was a symbolic gesture that the Son of God was destined to become the food of all who believed in Him, and would serve as our nourishment for eternal life. Jesus said: “I am the Bread of Life … the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (Jn 6:48, 51). He has fulfilled His Word. All over the world, those who believe in Him are nourished and saved in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Lord, give us this Bread always, so that we may never fear death, but will always be filled with the hope that one day we shall all enjoy Your banquet in heaven. Amen.

John 6: 35-40
Acts 8: 1b-8 / Ps 66: 1-7

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
(John 6:35)

In Jesus we shall not hunger,
If in faith we do not resist;
God’s love in Him we discover,
Receive Him in the Eucharist.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Reflection

Earlier in this chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus performed a great miracle of feeding five thousand hungry people from five barley loaves and two fish, and even had twelve wicker baskets left over. Having fed them, Jesus and His disciples traveled on to another place, but the crowds still followed Him. Jesus admonished them, saying, “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” (Jn.6:26-27).

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were sustained by manna coming from heaven in their travel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Jesus, the fulfillment of God’s Word, assured His and the succeeding generations (of Christians) that God would always provide the temporal and spiritual nourishment that we need in our journey to God’s Promised Land in heaven provided we believe in Him.

Today we see this promise fulfilled in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which gives us spiritual sustenance and strength. As He said in the Gospel of Matthew, “I am with you always until the end of time” (Mt. 28:20). Our Lord Jesus will always be with us in the Holy Eucharist. We should receive Him as often as we can if we want Him always to be present in our life.

Lord God, You give us sustenance and strength that we need in our journey to Your kingdom through the Bread of Life, Your own Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that we may always have the opportunity to receive Him in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Amen.

Luke 17: 20-25
Wis 7:22–8:1 / Ps 119

The kingdom of God is not like something you can observe and say of it: ‘Look, here it is! There it is!’ See, the kingdom of God is among you.
(Luke 17:20-21)

God will transform our state of mind
If we seek His will and wisdom;
Then in our hearts one day we’ll find
The majesty of His kingdom.

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Then He said to His disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”

Reflection

Our Lord’s response to the Pharisees’ question seems at first to be incongruous. First, He said, “The kingdom of God is among you,” referring to Himself as already in their midst. (17:21) Then three verses later, He said, “As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man.” (17:24) It could be that Jesus was talking about His second coming in the latter portion, when He would suddenly make His appearance like a flash of lightning for all to see. In the first verse, Jesus was presenting himself as the personification of God’s kingdom, now present before them. The kingdom was already in their midst.

The kingdom of God here on earth is not a physical area enclosed by borders. His kingdom is in everyone, just as God Himself is everywhere, pervading everything. His Kingdom is in the hearts of all men who bow to their Heavenly King and offer themselves in service to His rule. When we conform our lives to His will, then His kingdom is “among us.” But when we disobey His precepts and decrees, then we fall away from His kingdom.

Another word for describing God’s kingdom, that we read in today’s first reading, is Wisdom. “She penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity. For she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty, therefore nothing that is sullied enters into her.” (Wisdom 7:24-25) When we disobey any commandment of God, we fall into sin, and thus ‘sullied’, we can never hope to gain wisdom, or enter the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is something we come to be, as a result of our obedience to God’s will. It is the sum of all our prayers, good works, and meditations on the Word of God. We are all part of the kingdom of God. As St. Paul said, we are members of a “building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on Him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and we too, in Him, are being built into a house where God lives in the Spirit” (Eph 2:20-22).

Everytime we receive you in the Holy Eucharist, Lord, we believe that Your kingdom is in our midst. May You always reign in our hearts forever. Amen.

Luke 5: 33-39
Col 1:15-20/Ps 100:1-5

No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed as well.
(Luke 5:37)

Nothing will last, but in its place,
The old will be replaced with the new;
Leave the comfort of tested ways,
And choose the path taken by the few.

They said to Jesus, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.” He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

Reflection

Ever since Vatican II, we have witnessed some ‘radical’ changes in the traditions of the Catholic Church, especially in the way the Holy Mass is celebrated. For almost 1,500 years, for instance, the Tridentine Mass was the universal form of worship since the time of St. Gregory in the 6th century. It was during the watch of Pope Paul VI that the old Latin rite of the Mass took on a new format, and was celebrated in the language of the country where the diocese was located. I believe the “new wine, new wineskin” principle here may have been invoked. Many Christians now are wondering whether the same principle could someday apply to priests being allowed to marry, especially since the Vatican has allowed married priests from the Evangelical and Anglican denominations who have converted to the Catholic faith to join the clergy. So now, with this special dispensation, we do have married priests in our Church.

Jesus is telling us in today’s Gospel that in order to understand our New Life in the Spirit, we must undergo a transformation, a renewal in our way of thinking, shedding the old skin of prejudice, doubt, and fear. Today’s Gospel is offering us something entirely different, a new way of thinking, a new way of understanding life better through the Good News of God’s Word. It is not easy to change. The religious leaders in Jesus’ time kept resisting His invitation, even if they were witnesses to His new ways of showing God’s love, and were moved by His teachings. They had grown too comfortable in their traditional ways of worship, and were afraid to try this New Covenant. How about us? Are we prepared to receive the ‘new wine’ of evangelization into our lives? Father Glenn, a Franciscan monk, said, “The New Evangelization is not a new Gospel, but it is a new presentation; new wine, new wineskins.” This is the challenge God is calling us to take: to face these new developments in our Church with complete faith in its leadership, and simply accept it as the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit.

I have come that you might have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10) Thank you, Lord Jesus, for converting me into a ‘new wineskin’ with the ‘new wine’ of Your Word. Grant that I may be bold in sharing this New Life in the Spirit with others. Amen.

Luke 4: 31-37
1 Thes 5:1-6.9-11/Ps 27:1,4,13-14

What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!
(Luke 4:36)

If we follow Jesus our Lord,
We’ll have no fear of plague or sword;
As God’s children we’re all assured
Of the protection of His Word.

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” Jesus said sternly, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the land.

Reflection

The power of God’s Word continues to amaze us as they did thousands of years ago when they were spoken by Jesus. Our Lord continues to teach us today as He did His disciples in Capernaum and Galilee. Just as He promised before He ascended into heaven — “I am with you always until the end of time” (Mt.28:20) — He is present with us still, not only in the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Eucharist, but in the power of His words in Holy Scripture.

If we only read the Bible often enough, we will come to realize that the Gospel is not just a story depicting the life of Jesus Christ, but a miraculous source of tranforming power that has changed the lives of millions of saints here on earth in the course of thousands of years. It has given spiritual healing, helped cast out evil spirits, and brought life to once moribund souls who in turn have become potent witnesses for Christ, sharing His light to those who are still in darkness. How many ‘insignificant lives’ have we heard at the podium — many without a college degree — boldly, and articulately proclaiming how the Word of God changed their lives?

Is Jesus calling you to be a witness for the Gospel? Or do you feel weighed down, or even chained by come materialistic obsession? Do you feel possessed by immoral thoughts or tendencies that you have no control of? Turn to Jesus to give you the healing that you need. Simply pray to Him for healing, and listen to Him by reading the Gospel accounts of His life and teachings. Try it. You have nothing to lose, but an eternity of freedom and joy to gain.

Father God, Your greatest Covenant is Your Beloved Son, Jesus the Word made flesh, Who is with us in Spirit and in Holy Scripture. Fill us with the desire to read Your Word daily, so that we may be transformed completely, and be able to serve Your kingdom as effective witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.