Gospel: August 18, 2024
(Sunday)
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 34: 2-3, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 (9a)
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
1st Reading: Proverbs 9: 1-6
Wisdom has built her house set upon seven pillars; she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine and laid her table.
Next, she sent her servants to call from the central square of the city, “Pass by here, you who are fools.”
To the senseless she says, “Come, eat and drink of the bread and wine I have prepared.
Give up your foolishness and you will live; take the straight path of discernment.”
2nd Reading: Ephesians 5: 15-20
Pay attention to how you behave. Do not live as the unwise do, but as responsible persons. Try to make good use of the present time, because these days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Do not get drunk: wine leads to levity; but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Gather together to pray, with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing, and celebrate the Lord in your heart, giving thanks to God, the Father, in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, always, and for everything.
Gospel: John 6: 51-58
I am the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”
The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
“My flesh is really food, and my blood is truly drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me, and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”
Lectio Divina:
Read: Jesus said that he is the living bread from heaven. The one who eats such bread will live forever. The bread which Jesus will give is his flesh. He will give it for the life of the world. The Jews were arguing among themselves as to how Jesus can give them his flesh as food. Jesus told them that they will never have eternal life unless they eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus’ flesh is the real food and his blood is the real drink. The Father has life. The Father sent Jesus. Jesus has life from the Father. Consequently, the one who eats Jesus’ flesh will also have life from Jesus. Jesus is the true bread from heaven.
Reflect: Jesus is the true bread from heaven. He is the living bread that gives life. Those who eat his bread and drink his blood will live forever. In our participation in the Eucharist, receiving Jesus in the form of bread and wine, we have life from Jesus. The life we have from Jesus also entails the conforming of our life to that of Jesus. The more we receive Jesus’ body and blood, the more we have the chance of aligning our values to the life-giving attitude of Jesus.
Pray: Let us pray that our reception of Jesus in the Eucharist may truly transform our lives for the better.
Act: Let us think of a couple of Christian values we want to exemplify, and start practicing them along with our reception of Jesus in the Eucharist.
