Catechism Links [1]
CCC 1402-1405: the Eucharist, pledge of future glory
CCC 2828-2837: the Eucharist is our daily bread
CCC 1336: scandal
 |
“Allegory of Wisdom”
Orazio Samacchini, 1560’s |
Readings for Twentieth Sunday in
Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary:[4]
Reading 1: Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
“Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding,
she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of
understanding.”
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Commentary on Prv 9:1-6
This part of Proverbs begins
a section loosely entitled: “Invitations of Wisdom and Folly." [5] In this reading we
see wisdom personified as a woman (also in Proverbs 1:20ff, less regal than Proverbs 8). The seven columns are probably Hebrew numerology symbolizing
perfection rather than a reference to a specific building type or physical
structure used. The food she offers is rich and sustaining (juxtaposed against
the later offerings of folly. “Unstable and senseless folly furnishes the
stolen bread and water of deceit and vice which bring death to her
guests.”) [6]
There is a
reference in the second half of the reading to the Israelites, the
eschatological banquet promised by Yahweh (in Isaiah 25:6; 55:1-5). For Christians there is a clear
eucharistic reference.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. Taste and see the
goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all
times;
his praise shall be ever in
my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the
LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be
glad.
R. Taste and see the
goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his
name.
I sought the LORD, and he
answered me
and delivered me from all my
fears.
R. Taste and see the
goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be
radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush
with shame.
When the poor one called out,
the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he
saved him.
R. Taste and see the
goodness of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Psalm 34 sings a song of salvation at the hands of the Lord. It
tells of God’s love for those who serve him. The psalmist, fresh from the
experience of being rescued (Psalm 34:5, 7), can teach the "poor,"
those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone. This psalm, in the words of
one being unjustly persecuted, echoes hope for deliverance and freedom.
The psalmist sings of God’s mercy and salvation, in reference to
the promise made to the people of a land flowing with milk and honey.
From a more prophetic perspective we also have an image of Christ in the
Eucharist, the taste of God’s mercy.
CCC: Ps 34:3 716
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Reading II: Ephesians 5:15-20
Brothers and sisters:
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as
wise,
making the most of the
opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in
ignorance,
but try to understand what is
the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine,
in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the
Spirit,
addressing one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the
Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for
everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ to God the Father.
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Commentary on Eph 5:15-20
St. Paul addresses the conversion of the Ephesians, becoming the
“new” people of God. In this passage the apostle teaches the people with the
“wisdom” of the children of Christ. They are to avoid the abuses of wine (see
also Proverbs
23:30), but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit. He commends them to
encourage one another with “hymns and spiritual songs” (see also Acts 16:25, 1 Corinthians 14:26, and Colossians 3:16). Since
suffering and cheerfulness are considered part of human existence, this singing
may be viewed as a type of prayer (See James 5:13-15).
CCC: Eph 5:16 72; Eph 5:17 2826; Eph 5:19 1156, 2641; Eph 5:20 2633, 2742
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Gospel: John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the crowds:
“I am the living bread that
came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will
live forever;
and the bread that I will
give
is my flesh for the life of
the world.”
The Jews quarreled among
themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within
you.
Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the
last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father
sent me
and I have life because of
the Father,
so also the one who feeds on
me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came
down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate
and still died,
whoever eats this bread will
live forever.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 6:51-58
The “Bread of Life” discourse continues, and the Lord escalates
his language. The people who had come to him because they had been fed with the
five barley loaves just cannot make the leap from bread made from wheat or
barley to the Bread of Life offered as true food and drink for the spirit. Even
when he uses manna as an example of real food they still do not see that the
Son of God offers them his resurrected body as their meal and they are repulsed
– especially because of the language he uses (Jesus uses the word gnaw, not
just eat, in the original texts.).
CCC: Jn 6 1338; Jn 6:51 728, 1355, 1406, 2837; Jn 6:53-56 2837; Jn 6:53 1384; Jn 6:54 994, 1001, 1406, 1509, 1524; Jn
6:56 787, 1391, 1406; Jn 6:57 1391; Jn 6:58 1509
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
This week the “Bread
of Life” discourse continues, this time supported by a very interesting reading
from Proverbs and, as is customary, a pragmatic set of instructions from Paul’s
letter to the Ephesians.
The Gospel
contains Christ’s remarkable revelation that what he did at the last supper in
the upper room was not simply symbolic (refuting the claim by some of our
Christian brethren including those who claim sola scriptura, which is ironic). What is interesting is the
different flavor it has when we first hear the reading from Proverbs.
If you
remember, last week the first reading was from the First Book of Kings and how
Elijah was given food for the journey. This week we hear from the Book of Wisdom:
“Come, eat of my food, and drink of the
wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of
understanding.” This passage changes
the focus from the strengthening properties (food for the journey) to the way
the Eucharist changes us in our understanding of God’s will for us (Forsake foolishness that you may live).
What would
happen if we took that same short reading from Proverbs, which sounds like an
early attempt to understand the Holy Spirit, and overlay our understanding of
the Trinity? It might sound something like this:
Wisdom has built
her house,
Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place
for us.
she has set
up her seven columns;
In his Father’s house there are many mansions
supported by gifts of the Holy Spirit.
she has
dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
At the Last Supper, in the upper room, our
Savior gave to us his Body and Blood.
yes, she has
spread her table.
Yes, it is a new and everlasting covenant the
Lord has prepared for us.
She has sent
out her maidens; she calls
from the
heights out over the city:
He left his disciples with the charge to go
out and teach all nations.
“Let whoever
is simple turn in here;
He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide
us.
To the one
who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of
my food,
All you who hunger, here is my body, real
food.
and drink of
the wine I have mixed!
All you who thirst, here is my blood, real
drink.
Forsake
foolishness that you may live;
advance in
the way of understanding.”
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
Here we can get
a sense of the great gift our Lord gave us in his Body and Blood. When he tells
us that he is in us and we in him, we begin to see how he works to conform us
to his glorious image. It is through the gift of the Eucharist that the gates
of Heaven are opened, and it is only through the Eucharist that we can see
them.
Today we pray
for the Church, may we renew our faith in the true presence of Christ in the
Eucharist.
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture used is “Allegory of Wisdom” Orazio Samacchini, 1560’s.
[3]
S.S
Commemoratio[4]
The readings are taken from the New American
Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by
the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication
is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.[5]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., ©
1968, p.500, 24.[6]
NAB footnote on Proverbs 9:1-6.
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