Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

All of us have become very familiar with images like this over the past few years.  In fact, I still have the occasional Pavlovian response to sing Happy Birthday twice in my head whilst washing my hands. So, to hear that Jesus' disciples weren't taking the time to wash their hands before eating, and that Jesus was defending them for it, might sound odd to a modern-day listener.  But a close reading of this interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees reveals that it is not about handwashing at all. Jesus takes this opportunity as a teaching moment to tell all those who were witnessing this attempted 'gotcha' that outward signs of observance are meaningless, if what comes from within is unworthy of us as people created in the image and likeness of God.  (And doesn't Jesus give us a cracking list of what to avoid? F ornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride and folly.)   This is not to say that outward expressions of...

In this Sunday's Gospel the bread of life dialogue reaches its inevitable climax. Those who have struggled to comprehend and accept what Jesus has been saying declared that,  'this teaching is intolerable' . And many of His disciples left Him.  Here there has been a shift in the extended narrative that is John chapter 6. Previously the writer told us that it was the crowd that questioned, argued with, and then rejected what Jesus was saying. Now it is not just those who have gathered to hear what He has to say, but many who had become His disciples, who had followed Him and his teaching for some time.  And, to be fair,  it is difficult to understand. Neither our senses, nor our lived experience of the world can explain what happens in the Eucharist. It can only be comprehended by faith.  As an aside, in my days of parent led sacramental preparation, a number of what I was told were 'challenging' children were placed in my First Communion group. 'You're a sc...

In this week's Gospel we hear that the Jews continued to argue about what Jesus meant by his previous statement that he is 'living bread' sent from heaven. If they were perturbed by this and still questioning who he thinks he is, then what Jesus says next would have really upset them.  'My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.'  For some this ongoing dialogue is interpreted as Jesus using vivid imagery . And for some this translates into the gifts of bread and wine that we offer and receive in communion as symbols of God's all-encompassing love. But Jesus himself says to us, 'I tell you this solemnly' , that what we have come to know as his body and blood in the Eucharist is real. That what we offer is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and becomes his body and blood offered for us.  For those who first heard him speak these words this was a radical idea in the true sense of the word that it fundamentally challenged their understandin...

  Growing up with a dad that served in a wide range of organisations from school and parish councils, to sports club committees and community service clubs, I heard him many, many, many times quote Oscar Wilde’s famous saying about what happens when you assume anything. So, assumptions aren’t good, right? Assumptions should be questioned? So why, growing up in a practicing Catholic family, was Mary’s Assumption something we celebrated? I can’t ever remember a time when I didn’t own a set of rosary beads (or a number of them, in drawers, in bags and in the glovebox of my car) . Or when I didn’t turn to Mary whilst waiting and hoping for something important to happen. From a job interview, or waiting to hear that my mum had come out of surgery, to holding my breath as Mick Cronin lined up a kick at goal at the SCG. *   But without faith in the doctrine that Mary had made her way to heaven before us, and without believing that her prayers help to amplify ours, there’d be n...

This week's Gospel reading is the third in a row from chapter 6 of John's account. And once again, it draws on the image of bread. It begins with 'the Jews' expressing their frustration with Jesus' statement that He is the bread that has come down from heaven. We know that John's account of the Gospel is written almost two generations after Jesus' death and resurrection to a Christian audience, and by identifying these complaining voices as 'the Jews'  John  sets them apart clearly as those who have rejected the teaching that comes next. Specifically that ' the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world .'  Not that it is symbolic of the salvation that God offers, but that it is through His flesh that the grace of salvation is effected.  In the sacrifice of the Eucharist, Jesus becomes present to us body, blood, soul and divinity on the altar, and by receiving Him in communion the life of Jesus comes to live in us.  Consu...

In Sunday's Gospel John relays to us another story with bread as the central motif (the second of three consecutive Sunday's). This time Jesus challenges those who have come seeking another miracle like the feeding of the five thousand, to look beyond this world. ' Do not look for food that cannot last, but work for the food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering. '  When they press Jesus to give them a sign that He is indeed the one sent by God he does not perform another miracle, but speaks to them saying, ' I AM the bread of life .'  These words, 'I AM' are themselves a recurring theme in John's account of the Gospel, and they have a powerful connection to Jesus' audience. These are the words that God uses to answer Moses' question on the mountain, ' who will I say has sent me? '  In last week's reflection we were reminded that God's providence is there to provide sustenance for all, if so...