Switching Sides

20th Sunday In Ordinary Time
16 August 2009



We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built herself a house,
she has erected her seven pillars,
she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine,
she has laid her table.
She has despatched her maidservants
and proclaimed from the city’s heights:
‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’
To the fool she says,
‘Come and eat my bread,
drink the wine I have prepared!
Leave your folly and you will live,
walk in the ways of perception.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 33:2-3,10-15

Second reading Ephesians 5:15-20
Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but you redeem it. And do not be thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not drug yourselves with wine, this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit. Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the Jews:
‘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.’
Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Reflection
By Gharri Tulabut

Three weeks ago, I shared to you my thoughts about the feeding of the five thousand. This account in Jesus’ life on earth is always one of my favorites either in the religion classes, in Mass homilies, or even in bed time stories I listen to as a kid (Yes my father told us bible stories at bed time!). This is because it always presented two sides of the miracle that happened – either the miracle of sharing made by the people or the supernatural phenomenon that Christ divided the bread and fishes to feed the multitude. Almost always, just like what I have also written three Sundays ago, the former wins the argument. We can’t blame those who sided for the miracle of sharing. Aside from its call for us to share and give to our neighbors and its teaching that together we can make even the hardest task done, the supernatural phenomenon seems to tell us nothing new. We might say so what if Jesus was able to magically multiply the food brought by that boy? What lesson in life can we learn from that? We always knew that He can perform miracles much more amazing than that.

Now, I want to switch sides. Not that I give no regard to the miracle of sharing, no. I just want to emphasize something important that I believe is neglected because we concentrate on the said miracle. I am talking about doing what we need to do first, that is to seek God and follow His will. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto us. Put God above all. Like the five thousand, let’s follow Him and he will provide everything else, whether He divides the food to fill five thousand stomachs or initiate potluck among the followers, it does not matter. He will not let us down if we put Him above all.

In today’s Second Reading, St. Paul was telling us to live not as foolish but as wise, not to live in ignorance but try to understand the will of the Lord. And the wisest thing to do is to look for His kingdom, to hunger for the Lord, to hunger for the Bread of Life. Today’s Gospel reading tells us that Jesus is the bread of life. He is the living bread that came down from heaven and whoever eats this bread shall not hunger again. That it is only Him we have to seek and the rest will surely follow.







Lord, thank You for giving us the Bread of Life. May we always seek first to fill our hunger for You above all. Amen!