Homily Ordinary 19B: Jesus feeds us with his Word

Homily for Ordinary Time – 19th Sunday Year B 2018 

1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51

Introduction 

“Bread and butter”; that is the expression we use to describe something basic and important, such as our jobs, our customers, our livelihood.  Perhaps this expression comes from the fact that from time immemorial, bread has been a basic staple for many peoples, especially those who live in the Mediterranean Basin.  From wheat or some other cereal, they made this basic food, bread. 

We still have a residue of this practice in today’s society, whereby during meals we put some bread at table alongside the main dish.  At a restaurant for example, especially an Italian restaurant, they put bread on the table, as a matter of course, whether you ask for it or not.  In bread we see something beyond mere physical nutrition; bread represents the everlasting, the profound and the sweat that makes it, as well as the bond it creates when bread is broken and shared. 

Scripture and Theology 

It is no wonder that Jesus uses the same image of bread in John Chapter six, the bread of life discourse, which is our gospel for five weeks. 

• Two Sundays ago, we heard Jesus feed the thousands with bread and fish that he multiplied miraculously. 
• Last Sunday, the crowds looked for him, expecting more food.  But Jesus asked them to look for food that lasts, the bread of life, that is himself. 
• Today’s and next Sunday’s gospel passages expand on what Jesus means when he calls himself the bread of life.  In today’s passage, the emphasis is on Jesus feeding people with bread of the Word; next Sunday’s gospel will focus on how Jesus feeds them with the bread of his Flesh and Blood. 

These two ways of feeding are reflected in the two main parts of our Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  And so today we focus on Jesus our bread of life in the Word, how he feeds us at the Table of his Word. 

We know how Jesus traversed the hills and valleys of Judea and Galilee, preaching the Word to Jews and sometimes to Gentiles as well.  We have come to love his great parables such as that of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and that of Lazarus and the Rich Man.  We are familiar with his great sermons such as that of the Beatitudes and long sermon at the Last Supper in which he teaches the disciples about service to one another.  But what is Jesus really saying in all these teachings, sermons and parables? 

In a nutshell, Jesus is conveying the good news, the news that God loves us, that despite our rebellion and sin, God still loves us, to the extent of sending his son to pay our debt for us.  And so, Jesus is the bread of life in part because he feeds us with this wonderful message of God’s love and he invites us to love God back. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus emphasizes how important it is to listen to his Word.  He says:  “It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God.  Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.”  In other words, for us to have salvation, we need to learn from God.  And Jesus is one who has come from the Father and is now telling us what the Father wants us to hear and act upon.  This message perhaps goes counter to our American ethic of pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps.  Jesus is telling us that our salvation comes, not from our own efforts, but from listening to the Father.  That is why he concludes this section by saying: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”  We must listen to his Word and believe in him. 

But unfortunately as we heard in the gospel, the crowds rejected this message of Jesus.  "The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.'" In their minds they wondered: "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?  Then how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven?'"  They rejected his message, because they thought him to be merely a human being, moreover one that hails from a rather small village like Nazareth.  They thought, "what can he teach us about God?" 

Christian Life 

Fortunately for us, Jesus continues to offer himself to us in the Word.  In fact the whole gospel and the books of the New Testament are Jesus himself speaking to us, through the words, the instruments of those who wrote those books. 

• We continue to hear Jesus’ good news when we read the Bible quietly at home or in Bible Study groups.  When did you last read your Bible? 
• We hear the Word of Jesus when we read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a very important source of that Good News.  For in the Catechism, it is like the Pope and Bishops have taken different ingredients from the different parts of the Bible, and prepared a sumptuous meal for us.   
• We continue to hear Jesus’ Word spoken to us in the teachings of those who have taken the place of the Twelve Apostles, the bishops and their collaborators the priests and deacons, as well as catechists.  It is like they have taken the food and cut it up in small morsels that we can chew. 
• Most importantly, we continue to hear Jesus’ Word at Mass, in the Liturgy of the Word: the readings, the psalm, the gospel, the homily, the creed and the prayers of the Faithful.  This is the Table of the Word. 

In all these ways Jesus is continuing to give himself as the Bread of Life for us. 

Unfortunately, sometimes like the Jews, we too reject his Word.  Like them we reject this Good News because of the messenger, whom we see as not being worthy enough to teach us anything, just like the Jews thought of Jesus.  And maybe today's messengers, we the deacons, priests and bishops, unlike Jesus, do not always do a good job of being the best bearers of the bread of life.  Perhaps our moral failures, our defects of character and personality, even sometimes our laziness stop us from effectively feeding God's people with the bread of his Word.  And when we fail in all these ways, we shall certainly have plenty to answer for when we meet our maker. 

But let not the failures of men stop you from feeding on the food of God's Word.  God will accept that excuse, since he has given you a conscience.  He wants you to hear his Word, regardless of who delivers it. Whether it is Simon Peter or Judas Iscariot who speaks it, listen to God's word.  He himself will sort out Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot, but you must try to listen to his Word. 

But besides poor messengers, there is a second reason why we sometimes reject the true bread of life in God's Word.  We reject it because it does not rhyme with our worldview, our ideology, our political party, just as Jesus’ message did not rhyme with the worldview of the Jews.  You see in their worldview, they expected a political messiah who would free them from the Romans.  But here Jesus was appearing as only a spiritual messiah. 

Whether we are aware of it or not, the worldview of the secular world affects how we think, how we believe.  We must therefore not listen to Jesus with a secular worldview that clogs our ears.  Perhaps you might consider doing like a Catholic friend of mine who resolved that for every hour he spends reading internet blogs and other media, he will spend a quarter of an hour reading the Bible and the Catechism.  For he realizes, how much better his life will be, influenced more by the theology of Jesus Christ, rather than by the ideology of the secular world. 

Conclusion 

As we prepare to be fed at the Table of the altar, let us be prepared by the Table of the Word.  For as Jesus has strongly taught at the end of Mark's gospel (16:15-16): 

Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.