22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.

Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

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21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 

Jn 6: 60-69 

v. 60 -- Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

It is the disciples who found, as many still find, the contents of this discourse hard! The final phrase should read ‘listen to him?’ rather than ‘listen to it?’

v. 62 – What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

‘Where he was before': A plain reference not only to the continuing existence of Jesus after his death, but also to his pre-existence (cf. 3:13; 13:3 and 17:5).

v. 65 – And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”

The verb ‘said’ is in the Greek imperfect: 'he kept on saying all the time'. This underlines the importance of 6:37and 44 as basic Johannine doctrines. Belief in Jesus is impossible without the work of the Father. Unbelief is not some strange human behavior; belief is a miracle of God. 'No one can say "Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit is Paul's recognition of the same truth’ (1 Cor. 12:3).

v. 66 – As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

‘As a result of this’: offers both a chronological and a logical basis for interpretation. It was after the discourse, and because of it, that many left Jesus.

v. 68 – Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

'Master': Here, in contrast to its use in 6:34, rightly so rendered. In v. 34 it should read 'Sir'.

v. 69 – We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

'We have believed, and are convince”: Evidently the reference is to some real 'belief' at 1:39ff, that has now grown in depth and in their continuing association has bred the certitude of faith, a knowledge that has an integrity of its own.

20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

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.

Jn 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds…

The traditional translation would be: “Jesus said to the Jews….” It is as if Jesus and his disciples were not Jews. It would seem that when John wrote his gospel, Christians were already aware that they had an identity of their own. They were not a religious group within the Jewish religion.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

The Jewish hearers of Jesus would know that the bread that came down from heaven was manna. It was this bread that kept their ancestors alive during their wandering in the desert. Jesus asserts that he is the true manna (for he is 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

And just as the manna of the Old Testament kept the Israelites alive in the desert, so also this manna which is his flesh will give life to those who eat it. Obviously, Jesus is talking here about the Eucharist.

Giving his flesh refers to his death on the cross. For the life of the world is another way of saying “saving mankind”. In other words, the death of Jesus is salvific.

Life is a favourite theme in John’s gospel. In his encounter with the Samaritan woman, he offers to give her living water. When Jesus went to see Lazarus who had died, he tells Martha that he is the way, the truth and the life.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

The word “eat” here is literally “chew” or “masticate”. John may want to underline the fact that the Eucharist is REALLY partaking of the body and blood of Jesus.

Jesus also tells us that the Eucharist is contains within itself the promise of resurrection to those who believe.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Food and drink sustains life. Since the Eucharist is real food and drink, it follows that it gives life, eternal life.

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.

To live is to enter into communion with the Son and with the Father. The Eucharist is a special sign of this communion. Hence, the Eucharist when received is called Holy Communion. 

19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

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 6:41-51

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