SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2021
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
YEAR B (ST RITA)
First Reading: Joshua 24: 1-2, 15-18
Second Reading: Ephesians 5: 21-32
Gospel: John 6: 60-69
This is the fifth and final week of our journey through John Chapter 6 which speaks about Jesus the Bread of Life. The solemnity of Assumption took the place of the fourth. Our Gospel today speaks more specifically about the reception of the revelation of Jesus not only as the Bread of Life but as the heavenly wisdom who invites us to come and eat and drink. And so, it invites us to look again at the entire chapter.
It all started with the multiplication of loaves and feeding the multitude. It is the only miracle that is recorded by the four Gospel writers. Matthew and Mark have another miracle of multiplication of loaves and feeding of 4000 men not including children and women. John called this a sign, a sign that points to Jesus as the bread of life that nourishes for eternal life. The people missed the meaning of the sign. When they returned the following day to look for Jesus, He told them they were looking for Him because they had their fill of the meal He provided. He told them not to work for food that perishes but for good that endures for eternal life which the Son of man will give them. They asked Jesus, what work God wants them of them, Jesus replied, you must believe in the one God has sent. They realized He was talking about Himself and asked Him for a sign that they may believe in Him. Jesus said, I am the true bread from heaven.
By calling Himself the true bread, He sets this bread above others including the ones their fathers ate in the wilderness and are dead. He is the true bread in contrast to the manna that is only a figure of the true bread. Those who eat it become the people of the new and true Exodus. Was Jesus speaking metaphorically when He said “the Bread that I shall give you is my flesh for the life of the world?” Obviously, Jesus is not advocating cannibalism. He was also not speaking metaphorically. Flesh and blood mean the whole person. It is the very life of Jesus that is the life-giving food. He Himself is present, body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharistic bread and gives us life.
At the end the chapter, we reach a crises point, a time when a decision must be made. The English word “crises” comes from the Greek word “krisis” (ς) which means judgement or decision. Judgment involves making a choice. That explains the selection of the first reading today from the book of Joshua. The background to the first reading is this: Israel has entered the Promised Land and Joshua is the undisputed leader of God’s people. Towards the end of his life, many Israelites had abandoned the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel to worship other gods. He gathered the people at Shechem and issues a challenge, “choose you this day whom you shall serve!” he tells them, “As for me and my and my household, we will serve the Lord.” He is the one who saved us from slavery and performed miracles to protect us. This way Joshua made the new generation of Israel renew their commitment to God.
The appointment of this reading for today is governed by the parallel between the choice made at Shechem and the choice confronting the disciples after the discourse in John 6. The challenge “choose this day whom you will serve” parallels “will you also go away”? Jesus addressed to His disciples and the response, “we will serve the Lord, for He is our God” parallels Peter’s response, “Lord, to whom we shall go? You have the message of eternal life.”
We are everyday confronted with the choice for or against God. Sometimes it comes in the most subtle way. The responsorial psalm says, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” The Israelites in the first reading made a choice for God because they remembered His wonderful work in their midst. We too, see wonders of the Lord in our lives and especially the work of our salvation. The mystery of the Holy Eucharist demands a special faith. Our challenge is not just to repeat the words of the Israelites in the first reading or those of Peter in the Gospel, but to make these words our own and with the same conviction.
Happy Sunday
Rev. Fr. Chidi Onwuka MSSCC