Monday, August 27, 2012

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) - The Bread of Life Discourse


Eucharist transforms us into Jesus Christ 

Introduction
-          Cannibalism still exists in some part of the word where human beings eat human being. In the initial centuries of Christianity, the Christians were equated to cannibals some people because if anybody listen to our gatherings from outside, he would listen to this, ‘this is my flesh, take it, this is my blood, drink it’. So the early Romans saw Christians as cannibals.
-          This is the same reason why Jews at the time of Jesus could not accept Jesus’ teachings on bread of life.
o   Gen 9:4 – ‘Do not eat any meat with its life blood still in it’.
o   Story of ‘Dinuguan’, a delicious dish in the Philippines with the blood of pig.

Content
-          Why Jesus offered his body and blood for us as the food of life?
o   You are what you eat. We usually take lots of material things through our senses everyday and are disturbed. Eucharist purifies us and keeps us in the right disposition.
o   The best example is children are the flesh and blood of their parents especially their mother. They resemble the characteristics of their parents.
-          What happens in the Eucharist?
§  In the Eucharist the bread is taken, blessed, broken and given to the people. Through these processes the bread is no more the bread but the body of Christ.
a.       Taken
-    The bread for the Eucharist is taken from the many breads of the world. It is selected bread.
-    We are taken (chosen) by God to participate in the Eucharist. We are a selected people.
b.      Blessed
-    Eucharist is a blessing; it is not on our worthiness but rather a pure gift from God.
-    We also should be a blessing to others by receiving the Eucharist.
c.       Broken
-    The breaking of the bread signifies our brokenness within us. We are broken by our own problems as well as of others.
-    He knows and understands us fully – our limitations and weakness.
-    We confess our brokenness several times in the Eucharist. E.g., ‘I confess..’ , ‘though I am not worthy to receive…. say a word and I shall be healed’.  
-    He lives with us fully in the form of my brothers and sisters who are broken. Therefore accept the brokenness in our brothers and sisters.
d.      Given
-          Reminds our duty to be food drink to others. By our works and sacrifices for others Christ should live in me.
-          To take the body and blood of Jesus means fully assimilate into our being the very person of Jesus. Thus we become the living Eucharist / Christ in the society.
-          The parents should become the food and drink to the children. Our social call is to become food and drink to our fellow brethren.

Conclusion
-          We are called to receive the Eucharist and be the Eucharist in the society.
-          May we try to be the Eucharist
o   By positively responding the call of God for the Eucharist (taken)
o   By being a blessing,
o   By accepting our brokenness and our broken brethren
o   By giving to others by breaking myself and thus become a living Eucharist.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) – (Jn 6: 41-51)


Bread from Heaven

Introduction

-          Past week was a week of achievements.
o   The Olympics is on. Every day new world records are born. It shows the progress of the athletes. It is an achievement.
o   The man made satellite Curiosity landed on the surface of Mars after travelling 567 million kilometers. It took around eight months to reach Mars. It is a big leap in the planetary exploration. It is a great achievement.
o   These achievements have a nature.
§  The Olympics records will be broken in the coming Olympics and new records will be set.
§  After some years the new satellite would go to another planet and will make us proud. Therefore we have lot more to achieve in all these fields.
-          In today’s gospel Jesus speaks of an achievement that is set for Human being. It is the greatest achievement that human can ever achieve. There is no higher achievement then that unlike the achievement that is mentioned earlier. That is “ETERNAL LIFE”. Jesus gives us a clue to achieve this in today’s gospel and that is - ‘the bread of life’.

Content

-          In the first reading we heard the story of Elijah who received the bread from God and walked forty days and nights with that strength. To walk forty days and nights is something impossible for human being. But it made possible by the bread that he received from above. In other words the bread from God makes the impossible things possible.
o   Eucharist is the bread from God, which is Jesus Christ. It makes impossible things possible. Eternal life is impossibility for human being. It is made possible by the bread from above, the body of Jesus Christ.
-          Therefore what is Eucharist? – it is “Word became Flesh and Flesh became Bread”. In other words it is God the word became Human, Jesus and Jesus became the Eucharist for us.
-          I would like to mention three important functions of the Eucharist. They are;
1.      Keep us united
§  The church is united as family from the 1st century till today. It is because we gather together around the Eucharistic table on every day, especially on Sundays.
§  There is a saying, “the family that prays together stays together”. I would change that maxim in to “the family that eats together stays together” and that is what the Eucharist is. We eat from the same table and stay together.
2.      Make us spiritually strong
§  For the prevention of the deceases we take vitamin C. It keeps our body strong against the sickness.
§  There are diseases that affect out spirit. It is mentioned in the 2nd reading like bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, hopelessness, despair, envy and so on. What is the medicine for these sicknesses of the soul? It is the Eucharist.
3.      Leads us to eternal life
§  It is the promise of Jesus that those who receive the bread of life that he himself is, will live with him forever. Jesus is so faithful in his promises. So we all, who take part in the Eucharist, will live with him forever. 

Conclusion

-          What is the practical implication of these functions
·         If you are having a division in your family or society, come to the Eucharist and get united.
·         If you are spiritually sick, come to the Eucharist and get healed.
·         If you need life in its fullness, come to the Eucharist and receive it.
-          What should be our response to this greatest gift?
·         ‘Acceptance with gratitude’. Let us hear the call of our loving God to take part in the Eucharist everyday and fill ourselves with the divine life to achieve the greatest achievement – eternal life.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Bread of Life (Jn 6: 24-35)


Believe Him and Receive Him

Introduction
-          Around 80 percent of our energy is spent for our acquiring the food for the body.
o   Eg: The parents work day and night for giving food for the family members.
-          The food that we acquire is “perishable” in today’s biblical language.
o   Sometime we work overtime for this perishable and get sick and spend all the income in the hospital.
o   The story of a mother who left her work in Middle East for the family – because she realized that her children would grow physically but not as good citizens. They need the loving presence of their mother with them for their holistic growth.  
-          Perishable things have some basic natures.
o   It never satisfies the one who owns it. The more we acquire it the more we desire it again.
§  Eg – people change car or cell phone and are never satisfied.  
o   It causes an endless desire.
§  Is there anybody who says that ‘I have enough material things?’ everybody needs more.
o   Endless desire leads to quarrels and despair.
§  Eg: The quarrels between brothers and sisters for the ancestral property.
o   There is an addictive behavior for these kinds of food. Unless we are aware of that we will be addicted to those things and spend the whole life time for those things.
§  I cannot live without a particular brand or a particular thing.
-          Today Jesus reminds us to work for the food that is imperishable in nature.

Body
-         There are different kinds of hunger within us.
o   Physical hunger – that is compared with poverty. It is the hunger for material things.
o   Emotional hunger – that is the hunger for love, affection, care, etc.
o   Psychological hunger – we need recognition and acceptance in the society
o   Spiritual hunger – As St. Augustine said, ‘My soul is restless until it finds rest in You’. This hunger is within us since we are created in God’s image and likeness.
-          To satisfy our spiritual hunger what should we do?
1.      “Believe Jesus” - Believe in the one who was sent by the heavenly Father.
§  It should lead to total surrender
§  As Mary said, ‘Let your will be done’.
2.      “Receive Jesus” - Take the bread of life for our spiritual growth.
§  In the Holy Eucharist Jesus extends his invitation to receive him and grow towards him.

Conclusion
-          According to Jesus we should strive hard for the imperishable food that leads to eternal life.
-          Through the active participation in the Eucharist and reception of the Holy Communion, let us grow in spirituality.
-          May God nourish with the eternal bread.