Reflection on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sometimes I think the “Jews,” who in John’s Gospel passage for today refers to the religious leaders, get a bad rap. Let’s pretend for a few minutes. Suppose Aiden Miles, a new employee in the dining room, were to ask to speak to this group on Sunday morning. Suppose he forcefully announced that he had come from the Father and was appointed by God to be a prophet. What would your reaction be? Who is this guy? Well, we know him, he’s Betty Keely’s grandson; we watched him grow up right here in the neighborhood. My guess is that 99% of us would wonder if he has a problem and needs help. Perhaps the other 1% would say, “He seems to be very sincere. Let’s see what else he has to say, maybe he is for real.” So when the “Jews” have questions about Jesus, they are just being normal human beings. It’s what they decide to do next that is the problem.

Jesus had to work hard to prove himself. It is easy to forget that. When we read that someone left everything and followed him, that was the exception. Others took their time in deciding about him, whether in accepting him or not. He was definitely someone who did not fit the description of what a young Jewish man should be. At the same time, he was attractive. They noticed how he treated people, especially the poor and outcast. Those who fit that description took him to heart immediately. He was their champion. The proper religious leaders frowned on such behavior. Jesus kept on, just being himself, until he gathered more and more followers. Taking the time to watch and listen was what enabled people to believe in him.

Our personal spiritual understanding and growth takes work and time also. I doubt that any one of us is in the same place we were in our 20s. Times have changed, and so have we. Unfortunately, our theology has not kept up with new knowledge, and so threading our way to a clearer understanding of God and God’s role in all of what we now know has been difficult. So what do we do? We read, we listen, we discuss, we ponder, we pray, we share with one another. It is not easy but we have to keep searching for truth.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus stresses his closeness to God whom he calls his Father. But he also talks about his desire to be close to people. “I am the bread of life” Sixty years ago I would have said that means that he is giving us his own body in the form of bread. The “in” word was transubstantiation. I would have thought it meant that he was physically present to me in the host. I would not have questioned that interpretation at all, even though I found it difficult,  because it was dogma which I had to believe if I were going to consider myself Catholic. 

My understanding has changed over the years. Bread is an absolute necessity in our lives no matter what form it takes. Call it manna, pita, baguette, tortilla, or pane, it nourishes our bodies. It becomes a part of our body as we digest it. 

But for the moment, let’s substitute another word in what Jesus said: “I am the ‘Love’ of life.” Love nourishes and sustains. Babies do not thrive without love. Adults turn to anger and violence without love. Troubled teenagers who do not know they are loved or cannot love themselves commit suicide. Lonely people wander the streets. We cannot live fully human lives without love. But doesn’t God’s love flow through all of creation, including each and every human being? Creation evolved out of God’s desire to share love outside of God’s self. It enables us, our planet and the whole universe to exist. It strengthens us to make our little corner of the world a better place. Finding that love and nourishing it in ourselves and others becomes our task. 

Have you noticed that Scripture never shows Jesus eating alone, he was always with groups of people? He fed the men and women who followed him when they were hungry, he gathered his disciples together to break bread, he shared bread with the rich and poor, sinners and saints together. He shared bread and love with everyone he met. He instructed us to gather together for the breaking of bread to remember all that he did for us.

Sharing bread at Mass or a Communion service calls us to be in a relationship of love with God, Jesus, one another,  all of humanity and all of creation. It calls us to hold the suffering people of the world in our hearts – to share our love and energy with them. It calls us to feed one another, physically and spiritually, to look out for one another, to listen for sadness, loneliness or joy. Taking the bread of life, (the love of life), is not a time for just Jesus and me, it is a time for Jesus and us.

We now know that all of creation from the smallest particle to the tallest mountain is in relationship, cell to cell as energy, God’s energy, sustains and holds it all in sync. Human beings are no exception. We, too, are in relationship with every other created thing. Becoming bread (love) for each other follows nature, but the beauty of it for humans is that we do it on a conscious level, freely and intentionally. It is a gift and our privilege.