Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

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.

Consumed in the Eucharist, Jesus' flesh becomes absorbed into our flesh, and we receive the grace that his sacrifice offers to us - not as an idea, or an intellectual exercise, but a physical reality.

Going out into the world then, we are nourished and strengthened to live according to God's will for us. Yes, at times living according to the values of the Gospel is difficult - especially when we are surrounded by a world that seems to operate according to a different value set. And in our desire to fit in and belong we can find ourselves tempted to go with the flow. But thanks to the gift of the Eucharist, good is not just something we do. It is literally who we are. As we hear these words again in today's Gospel, may it remind us of this.

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