August 09, 2015
19th Sunday
in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 Kg 19:4-8
2nd Reading:
Eph 4:30-5:2
Gospel: Jn 6:41-51
The Jews murmured because Jesus had said, “I am the bread which comes from heaven.” And they said, “This man is the son of Joseph, isn’t he? We know his father and mother. How can he say that he has come from heaven?”
Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to me.
“For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
“I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread which comes from heaven so that you may eat of it and not die.
“I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
A bakeshop came up with a unique idea of baking bread in the form of “lechon baboy”. The bread appears like real pig but tastes like real bread. When I saw and tasted one, I asked if the bakery was also baking fish-looking bread for health-conscious people, snake-looking bread for exotic food patrons or Jesus-looking bread for lovers of the Holy Eucharist. Of the forms I mentioned, the last one shocked the owner of the bakery because of the morbidity of the idea of eating bread that looks like a roasted person.
This takes us to the heart of today’s Gospel reading. When Jesus presented himself to the people as bread to eat they murmured because they found it ridiculous to eat the flesh of Jesus. Jesus must have been serious in offering his flesh to eat, otherwise he could have reworded rephrased his proposal when people left one by one in disgust. He did not.
Today, Jesus makes the same offer at the Holy Eucharist. At consecration the bread used at Mass becomes real body of Christ and the wine his real blood. This time the repugnance is lessened because the bread and the wine retain their external appearances even after consecration by operation of the mystery of trans-substantiation. Since the consecrated bread does not even look like the body of Christ, repugnance should no longer be an issue. The real issue is how much of ourselves is transformed by frequent partaking of the body of Christ. — Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website:www.frdan.org.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT <message/ name/age/address> at i-send sa 4467.