19th Sunday In Ordinary Time
09 August 2009
First reading 1 Kings 19:4-8
Elijah went into the wilderness, a day’s journey, and sitting under a furze bush wished he were dead. ‘O Lord,’ he said ‘I have had enough. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down and went to sleep. But an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked round, and there at his head was a scone baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too long for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he walked for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
Psalm or canticle: Psalm 33:2-9
Second reading Ephesians 4:30-5:2
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for you to be set free when the day comes. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.
Try, then, to imitate God as children of his that he loves and follow Christ loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.
Gospel John 6:41-51
The Jews were complaining to each other about Jesus, because he had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ ‘Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph’ they said. ‘We know his father and mother. How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus said in reply, ‘Stop complaining to each other.
‘No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to me.
Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one who comes from God:
he has seen the Father.
I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’
Reflection
By Gharri Tulabut
Whenever I write something funny in my blogs (especially when I write them in Tagalog) my friends would say I write like Bob Ong. Whenever I write Bible reflections, my friends would say I write like Bo Sanchez. This often made me want to write a book and wish that either of them would endorse it. I thought that if only Bob or Bo would say at the back cover of my book that “this guy is a copycat; gaya-gaya; no originality” then my book would become a best seller.
I have a friend named Leo. We call him Leo Groban. I think you guessed why. Because whenever he sings Josh Groban songs in our karaoke nights, he really gives justice to his idol’s works and live up to the nickname we gave him.
And there is this kid I know who likes Kobe Bryant so much. And whenever he plays ball with other kids, he would shout the name “Kobe Bryant” as he drives into the hoop as if it were the words of a game announcer over a megaphone.
Why do I write like Bob Ong or Bo Sanchez? Why does my friend sing like Josh Groban? And why is this kid trying to emulate Kobe?
It’s because they’re our idols. We like them so much sometimes we even love them as much as we love their work. And because of this we surround ourselves with their works. We read all their books, buy their CDs, watch their games, and follow every story about them on TV and on the internet like what a real fan does. That is why unconsciously we imitate them because they are already part our system.
Ephesians 5:1 tells us to become imitators of God. Tough act to follow? You bet! Sometimes I still deliberately ask myself “What would Jesus do?” in making choices just to make sure. And when I do that, I always make the right choice. But how do we know what Jesus would do?
Why not become His fan! Yes, a Jesus fan! Why not familiarize ourselves with His works? His biography along with some clippings, documentary and fan mails about Him are compiled in one bestseller. It is called The Bible. There are film adaptation of this book too. All block-busters! What else do you need? A CD soundtrack? Posters? Action figures? What about go to His gigs and fans’ days? They’re called sacraments, fellowships, outreach programs, retreats. We can also make friends with other Jesus fans and surround ourselves with friends who can bring us closer to Him. Let us be His fans! After all, what He has done for us is incomparable to what our earthly idols can do.
It is only then when we become certified fans do we familiarize ourselves of His style. It will be easy to know what He would do in a particular situation. But for the meantime, if you’re still a new Jesus fan, don’t worry, Jesus gave us His number and He can be reached 24/7 if the need to show-off your Jesus-moves arrive! Just dial 7-7-2-9 (P-R-A-Y) and He will guide us to make the right choices according to His ways!
Now, before I end this fan-mail…err… reflection, think about our lives as a book we are now writing, or a CD we are recording, or a film we are directing. Yes, an autobiography. On judgment day, how would you like Jesus to sign the back label of your work, endorsing it to the Father with words “This guy is my copycat!” Now that’s what I call a best seller, a multi-platinum, and a block-buster… in Heaven!
Now, about my friends’ comments that I write like Bob and Bo… Okay, I just made that up. I am actually just a fan who wishes I could write like them!
Lord Jesus, thank you for being the best example for us to follow. May we be able to familiarize ourselves more of Your Jesus-styles and practice more of Your Jesus-moves. May we impersonate You more. Amen!
Switching Sides
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