Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
20th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle B)
Readings:
Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:2-7
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), RSVCE (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The words LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that our Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of this Sunday's Readings: The Divine Meal
Our Lord provides a Divine Meal to nourish us on the journey
to salvation, and that meal is the "Thanksgiving" meal of the Eucharist. In
the Old Testament, the Thanksgiving communion meal that reestablished peace
with God was the Toda/Todah. The Greek translation of the Old Testament
rendered the Hebrew word Toda as Eucharistia, and early
Christians applied the same Greek word to the sacred meal Jesus instituted at
the Last Supper. The Eucharist looks backward in time to when Jesus first gave
us His Body and Blood on the night of the Last Supper, but it also looks
forward in time to the promise of the Banquet of Just in our Father's heavenly Kingdom.
The Eucharist is a Divine Meal that is a present and future reality.
In the First Reading, we read about the feast prepared by the "Wisdom of God," personified as a woman who built her house upon seven pillars, a symbol of perfection. All who seek understanding and forsake foolishness receive an invitation to come to her sacred meal. The Wisdom of God's divine banquet is the Eucharist. In the Mass, we hear God speaking to us in the Liturgy of the Word. Then, those of us in a state of grace accept His invitation to come forward to the banquet table at His altar to receive the "bread of life," Jesus's Body, and the "wine of the New Covenant, in His Blood" in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Nourished both intellectually and spiritually, He strengthens us in our faith journey and advances our understanding of God's will for our lives.
In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist testifies to the blessing of having experienced the power of the Lord in his life in times of distress. First, he announces his praise to the Lord for His faithfulness, deliverance, and protection. Then, he invites his listeners to "taste" (meaning to experience) God's goodness for themselves by appealing to God's mercy and by following his example of taking refuge in the Lord for the sake of his salvation.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul urges the Ephesian Christians not to make foolish choices. Paul refers to the wisdom of God that characterizes the new life they received in the Sacrament of Baptism. Paul contrasts godly wisdom with the foolishness of those who have rejected God's sovereignty over their lives. He tells them to act wisely and not to waste time and opportunity by persisting in ignorance. Instead, Paul urges them to seek the will of the Lord by being filled with God's Spirit and participating in communal worship that unites the divine Liturgy of Heaven and earth.
In the Gospel Reading, this is the third consecutive Sunday that we have been reading through Jesus's "Bread of Life Discourse" in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. In the readings on the previous Sundays, Jesus announced, "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst" (Jn 6:35), and "I am the bread of life ... 50 this is the bread that comes down from Heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (Jn 6:49b-51).
Jesus told the crowd at Capernaum, and He tells us today, that He is the divine meal that gives life: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink" (Jn 6:54-55). The sacred meal Jesus offers us is the New Covenant Toda/Thanksgiving meal of peace with God we call the Eucharist. In today's Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist, we receive the invitation to renew our faith and understanding in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We reject the foolishness of believing only in what we can see with our eyes. We come with the vision of faith to the table of the Lord to experience sharing Christ's glorified life to nourish us on our journey through this life in preparation for the heavenly banquet this is to come for those who persevere in faith to the end. His teaching for us is that a person who possesses His life in the sacred meal of the Eucharist will not die the death of alienation from God but has the promise of eternal life with the Lord in His heavenly Kingdom.
The First Reading Proverbs 9:1-6 ~ Divine Food and Drink
1 Wisdom has built
her house, she has set up her seven columns; 2 she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread
her table. 3 She has sent out her
maidens; she calls from the heights out over the city: 4 "Let whoever is simple turn in here; to the one
who lacks understanding, she says, 5 Come,
eat of my food, and drink of the wine that I have mixed! 6 Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance
in the way of understanding."
In Proverbs chapter 9, "Wisdom" and "Folly" are personified as matrons who invite guests to a banquet. Wisdom publically proclaims her invitation through her emissaries to those of child-like faith (the "simple"), providing food and drink of divine doctrine and virtue. What Wisdom offers in her banquet gives understanding and life (verses 1-6).
The Wisdom of God's divine banquet is the Eucharist. In the Mass, God calls us to hear and accept Christ's invitation to come and understand divine teaching from the word of God in the Liturgy of the Word. Then He calls us to accept His invitation to receive the "Bread of Life" that is Jesus's Body and the "wine of the New Covenant in His Blood in the Liturgy of the Eucharist the we "may live" and "advance in the way of understanding" for God's will in our lives.
Responsorial Psalm 34:2-7 ~ Experience the Goodness of God
Response: "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."
2 I will bless the
LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. 3 Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will
hear me and be glad.
Response:
4 Glorify the LORD
with me, let us together extol his name. 5
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my
fears.
Response:
6 Look to him that
you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. 7 When the afflicted man called out, the LORD
heard, and from all his distress, he saved him.
Response:
Verse 1 identifies Psalm 34 as a Psalm of David. King David was Jesus's ancestor (Mt 1:1), and Jesus is the heir to David's eternal throne (Lk 1:31-32). The psalmist begins by praising God, and he invites others who are suffering and afflicted to unite themselves to Him (verses 2-4, 6). The other verses give his reasons why the Lord should receive our praise. The psalmist has experienced the power of the Lord in his life in times of distress, and he bears witness to the Lord's faithfulness, deliverance, and protection. He invites his listeners to "taste" (meaning to experience) God's goodness for themselves by appealing to God's mercy and following his example by taking refuge in Lord for the sake of his salvation.
David was a shepherd, musician, poet, warrior, fugitive outlaw, and King of Israel. David's life was full of both suffering and glory. Some of that suffering he brought on himself because he was not a perfect man. However, he loved the Lord with all his heart. When he sinned, he was always ready to repent and humble himself before the Lord, returning to a loving relationship with the Lord, accepting his just temporal punishments, and submitting his life to God's divine plan. For this reason, God called David "a man after my own heart" who "will perform my will entirely" (1 Sam 13:15b; Acts 13:22). God made an unconditional eternal covenant with David (2 Sam 7:16; 23:5; 2 Chr 13:5; Ps 89:2-5; Sir 45:25) and chose him to be the ancestor of the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus, the promised Davidic Messiah (Lk 1:32-33).
The Second Reading Ephesians 5:15-20 ~ Understanding the Will of God
Brothers and sisters: 15 Watch
carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, 16 making the most of the opportunity [kairos]
because the days are evil. 17 Therefore,
do not continue in ignorance but try to understand what is the will of the
Lord. 18 And do not get drunk on
wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks always and for everything in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
St. Paul contrasts the wisdom one receives through a "new life" in the Sacrament of Baptism with the foolishness of those who reject a relationship with Jesus Christ and His gift of eternal salvation (also, see 1 Cor 1:18). The Greek word kairos, rendered as "time" in some translations and "opportunity" in others, refers to a point in our lives when we find ourselves in situations and opportunities that moment offers instead of focusing on the ultimate purpose of one's life. Therefore, St. Paul is encouraging Christians to have the wisdom to make the most of the time they have left by striving to live righteously in the image of Christ. They must not waste what little time remains to them in this earthly existence. Instead, he urges Christians to use every situation and every moment to give glory to God and to seek to do good according to His divine will for their lives. St. Josemaria Escriva wrote that "time is a treasure that melts away... it escapes from us, slipping through our fingers like water through the mountain rocks. Tomorrow will soon be another yesterday. Our lives are so very short. Yesterday has gone, and today is passing by. But what a great deal can be done for the love of God in this short space of time!" (Friends of God, 52).
The opportunity to live according to the will of God is a pressing matter because, as St. Paul writes, "the days are evil." St. Peter makes the same point in 1 Peter 5:7-9, writing: So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all our worries upon him because he cares for you. Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.
When a person's life is in harmony with the obedience of faith, true wisdom is the result. Such a person makes the most of the time and the opportunities that he has on his journey through life by being filled with the Spirit of God (verse 18), doing the will of God in works of righteousness (verse 15), and avoiding sin that leads to immoral behavior (verse 18). Christian wisdom comes from the knowledge and understanding of God's divine plan, submitting one's life to the will of God, and rejoicing with other Christians by addressing God with hymns of thanks and praise in the liturgical assembly (verse 19).
The Gospel of John 6:51-58 ~ The Sacred Meal that gives
Life: The Eucharist
Jesus said to the crowds: 51 "I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my
flesh for the life of the world." 52 The
Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?" 53 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 do not have life within you. 54
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him on the last day. 55 For
my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my
blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just
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. 58 This is the bread that came
down from Heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats
this bread will live forever."
Jesus was speaking literally and sacramentally, using powerful language to say that those who seek eternal life must eat His flesh (sarx in Greek) and drink His blood. The New Testament scholar Fr. Raymond Brown points out in his commentary on this passage that Jesus is not speaking in a Hebrew idiom as some scholars have suggested (The Gospel According to John, Anchor Bible Commentary). There were two Hebrew/Aramaic idioms. One is much akin to our expression of "flesh and blood," meaning "life." We, for example, express family relationships as "they are my family, my flesh and blood" or "flesh and blood" as a reference to the human condition. The second, "to eat the flesh" or "drink the blood of the enemy," referred to the horrors of war. If Jesus were using either of these idioms, He would have to use the words "flesh and blood" or "eat the flesh" together in one phrase. Instead, He very distinctly separates these words and phrases and makes the statement in such a way that leaves no doubt as to His meaning: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him" (bold added for emphasis), meaning that Jesus gives life that person. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to consume "life" that is supernatural, and in doing so, He elevates that person to become a sharer in His divine nature (see 2 Pt 1:4).
The words from verses 51-57 in this passage are what the disciples will remember when they receive Eucharist from the hands of Jesus in the Upper Room a year later at the sacred meal of the Passover victim on the night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus said, "the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (6:51); and in the Upper Room the night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread He will say: "Take it and eat ... this is my body" and "Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood..." (Mt 26:27-28).
A significant difference is that while Jesus speaks of his "flesh" (sarx) in John's Gospel, He uses the word "body" (soma) in the Synoptic Gospels accounts of the Last Supper. Fr. Raymond Brown points out in his commentary that there is no Hebrew or Aramaic word for "body" as we understand the term, and many scholars maintain that at the Last Supper, what Jesus actually said was the Aramaic equivalent of "This is my flesh." Proof to support this theory is in the letters of St. Ignatius, the third Bishop of Antioch (Syria), succeeding St. Evodius, the immediate successor of St. Peter after he left Antioch for Rome. Bishop Ignatius suffered martyrdom by the Romans circa AD 107/10. In his letters, St. Ignatius uses "flesh" in numerous references to the Eucharist (Letter to the Romans 7.3; Letter to the Church at Philadelphia 4.1; Letter to the Church at Smyrna 7.1; etc.). The terminology of Jesus' "flesh" is also in the letter St. Justin the Martyr (circa AD 155) wrote to the pagan Roman Emperor Antonius Pius explaining the Christian faith (see Apology I,66).
Jesus was not avocating cannibalism of His Body (a charge for which Christians suffered martyrdom in the 2nd century for insisting that they were indeed eating the flesh of Jesus Christ). The definition of cannibalism is the eating of a dead human being. Jesus is not dead; He is more alive in His glorified flesh than we are. Consuming flesh and blood on the natural level of a lower level of life was forbidden under Mosaic Law. A violation of this law resulted in ex-communication from the covenant people (Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-12; Dt 12:16 & 23). To consume Christ does not pull us down to the level of animals but elevates us to His glorified life:
It is significant to note the different Greek verbs for "to eat" used in Jesus's dialogue. In the earlier part (verses 49-53), He uses the standard Greek verbs phago/ephagos for to eat or consume. He continues using the usual word for "eat" until becoming frustrated with the Jewish crowd's lack of understanding. He then increases the intensity of His words (beginning in verse 54) when He abruptly changes the verb. Now, when Jesus speaks about Himself in verses 54, 56, 57, and 58, He uses the verb whose Greek root trogo means to "chew or gnaw." This word appears in Greek literature to describe the feeding of animals such as mules, pigs, and cattle. It was not used in the 1st century when referring to the eating habits of people. The verb trogo appears five times in St. John's Gospel, four times in the second half of the Bread of Life Discourse (5th time is in John 13:18). And in every case, its use is in connection with Christ. Jesus's use of the verb trogo marks a change of emphasis from normal eating to the necessity of faith in the consumption of the Eucharist. The graphic and almost crude connotation of this verb adds even greater force to the repetition of Jesus's words as He demands we express our faith by eating His Flesh and consuming His Blood in a real and physical way in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Here is a breakdown of the verbs used in the discourse:
| Verse 49 | "Your fathers ate [ephagon] manna in the desert, and they died" |
| Verse 50 | "so that one may eat [phage] it and not die" |
| Verse 51 | "whoever eats [phagon] this bread will live forever" |
| Verse 52 | "How can this man give us his flesh to eat [phagein]?" |
| Verse 53 | "unless you eat [phagethe] the flesh of the Son of man" |
| Verse 54 | "Whoever eats [trogon] my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life" |
| Verse 56 | "Whoever eats [trogon] my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me" |
| Verse 57 | "the one who feeds on [trogon] me will have life from me" |
| Verse 58 | "it is not like the bread our ancestors ate [ephagon]" "but anyone who eats [trogon] this bread will live forever." |
S>ee Logos Library system, Greek text translation John 5:49-58.
Another interesting Greek word is the verb menei/meno, meaning "to remain or abide," found in verse 56: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains [menei] in me and I in him. When one receives Christ in the Holy Eucharist, He "remains/abides/lives" in that person. The Greek verb meno is one of the most important theological terms in John's Gospel:
Just as Jesus has His life from the Father and the Father is in Him, so too believers who receive Christ in the Eucharist have life because Jesus remains/abides/lives in them. This is His promise to abide/live with us in the sacred meal of the Eucharist, and He fulfills His commitment to remain with us always, until the end of time (see Mt 28:20; references = The Interlinear Bible: Greek-English, volume IV: New Testament; The Gospel of John; Logos Library system).
The Catechism teaches:
The Church has taught about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist since the time of the Apostles. It is a teaching that includes the warning of God's judgment for receiving the life of Christ in the Eucharist without being in a state of grace or believing in the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ. St. Paul wrote: Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Cor 11:27-29).
Catechism References (* indicated Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Psalm 34:3 (CCC 716*)
Ephesians 5:16 (CCC 672*); 5:17 (CCC 2826); 5:19 (CCC 1156, 2641) 5:20 (CCC 2633*, 2742)
John 6:51 (CCC 728*, 1355, 1406, 2837*); 5:53-56 (CCC 2837*); 6:53 (CCC 1384); 6:54 (CCC 994*, 1001, 1406, 1509*, 1542) 6:56 (CCC 787, 1391, 1406); 6:57 (CCC 1391); 6:58 (CCC 1509*)
The Eucharist, pledge of future glory (CCC 1401, 1402*, 1403*, 1404*, 1405*)
The Eucharist is our daily bread (CCC 2828*, 2829, 2830*, 2831*, 2832, 2833*, 2834, 2835*, 2836*, 2837*)
The scandal of hearing Jesus words (CCC 1336*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2015; revised 2021 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.