To read the texts click on the texts: Prov 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20; Jn 6:51-58
In a debate
class, the teacher presented hypothetical situations to encourage his students
to talk and argue for their position. One case was: “If you were in a sinking
boat with your mother and your sister, whom would you save?” In another case,
the situation was modified such that a man had his wife and daughter with
him. Whom would he save? The condition
was that only one could be saved. One had to make a choice.
The word
“choice” summarizes all three readings of today. In the first reading of today,
wisdom invites all who are listening, and especially the unlearned, to choose
the meat and wine that she has to offer in order that they have life of both
body and spirit. This is in contrast to what folly offers namely, stolen water
and pilfered bread which lead to death. It might seem obvious to make the
choice for wisdom and life rather than for folly and death. However, the
invitations issued by wisdom and folly are identical. One needs the gift of discernment in order to
make the correct choice.
This gift
of discernment is what the author of the letter to the Ephesians invites them
to have. It will help them to choose wise conduct over foolish conduct and to
choose to do the will of God rather than continue in ignorance. Accordingly,
the presence of true wisdom should be obvious in the life of the believer who,
by virtue of that wisdom, will not fritter away his/her energies in careless,
thoughtless living. Rather, the grace-filled disciple of Jesus lives each day
empowered by a full and thoroughgoing faith. The process of integrating faith
with life is one which begins in prayer and finds its fullest expression in
prayer, particularly in Eucharistic, liturgical prayer.
In the
Gospel text of today, Jesus invited those who had their fill of the physical
bread that he provided them, to realize that there was much more to life than
merely satisfying physical hunger. Jesus
invited them to choose to partake of the bread that he alone could give: the
true bread that indeed comes from heaven. This they would do if they made the
deliberate choice to eat his body and drink his blood. This scandalized and
shocked his listeners. They could not
accept that Jesus himself could be the sacrifice and so offer them his flesh
and blood. They questioned, they quarreled, and they refused to make the choice
for him.
Though on
the rational level it seems clear that any person will choose wisdom over
folly, meat and wine over stolen water and pilfered bread, and life over death,
this does not always happen. Often, the choice we make is for untruth over
truth, for darkness over light, and for death over life. This is because, at
first glance, untruth, darkness, and death seem so much more desirable and easy
to choose. It is because we think that the choice of truth, light, and life
will mean that we have to make changes in our life styles that we are not
prepared to make. It is because we mistakenly think that the stolen water and
pilfered bread can bring us the happiness that we seek, which seems so elusive.
Even as we
struggle with the choice that we have to make, Jesus invites us, beckons us,
even challenges us to make the choice for him and for his kingdom. This is
because to eat his flesh and to drink his blood is to become totally identified
with his very person, with his deepest thoughts, with his vision of life, with
his values, and with his mission to build the Kingdom of God. The flesh and
blood of Jesus is, above all, that part of him which he totally surrendered in
his suffering and death. He is inviting us to be with him, sharing totally and
unconditionally his mission and destiny. To opt for Jesus means to make a
choice for all that is positive and enhancing, for all that leads to life in
all its fullness. It is to make a choice for selflessness over selfishness, for
sharing rather than hoarding, for giving rather than receiving, for light
rather than darkness, and for life rather than death. It is to opt for a life
that is not closed in on itself but is lived in the full knowledge that, since
one is loved unconditionally, one can only love in return.
To eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood means being filled with his spirit.
This is a spirit of generosity, a spirit of freedom, and a spirit that will
give thanks to the Father always, and for everything, in the name of Jesus
Christ
No comments:
Post a Comment
You may use the "Anonymous" option to leave a comment if you do not possess a Google Account. But please leave your name and URL as www.errolsj.com