19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year II)
Readings:
1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 24:2-9
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
John 6:41-51
Community Word: Jesus the living bread is our way to eternal life.
Theme: Eternal life is to live and love as Jesus did.
Promise: “The Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” (Ps 34:8b)
Reflection:
Whenever we hear that a member is to be covenanted at any BLD District, there
is reason for the whole global community to rejoice and celebrate. We all know
that the path to covenanting is not an easy road to travel, and many fall to the
wayside along the way. “Many are called but few are chosen,” (Mat 22:14).
Furthermore, our course does not end after we become covenanted disciples.
Covenanting is just the beginning of a lifetime journey with its many trials and
sufferings in our unending quest for the everlasting Kingdom.
Our theme for this week provides us with the formula to sustain us in the
journey: “Eternal life is to live and love as Jesus did.” It sounds deceptively
simple, but we all know how difficult and involved the process really is. How do
we live as Jesus did? How do we love like Him? Our readings proclaim that the
key to living as Jesus did, and gaining eternal life, is for us to eat the Bread of
Life. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the
bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this
is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not
die (John 6:47-50).”
There can be no better way of eating the Bread of Life than by receiving our Lord
Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, a sacrament that deserves more of our attention
and devotion. The importance of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is best
stated in the Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia of his Holiness Pope John
Paul II: “For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth:
Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made
living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men.”
The same encyclical expounds on the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
in further stating, “…it is a presence in the fullest sense: a substantial presence
whereby Christ, the God-Man, is wholly and entirely present.” By faith we believe
that the Sacred Host is not merely a symbolic presence. Through the doctrine of
transubstantiation, ordinary bread and wine are transformed into His Body and
Blood at the moment of Consecration during the Holy Mass.
Eternal life is to live and love as Jesus did.
“The Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” (Ps 34:8b)
It is said that we are what we eat, and therefore we partake in the divinity of
Jesus whenever we receive Holy Communion. It’s a source of grace and strength
for our spiritual life, powerfully transforming us into the image of Jesus. We hear
His voice, obey His commandments and share His life, making us one with Him.
He comes alive in us and is truly present in our very being. We allow His life to
flow into ours to make us better disciples with a heart like His.
The encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, explicitly states that the Holy Eucharist
is food that gives eternal life in the here and now: “This is no metaphorical
food: ‘My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed’ (Jn 6:55).
Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to
receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future
fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the Eucharist we also
receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of time: ‘He who eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day,” (Jn 6:54)
Regardless of the state that we find ourselves in as members of BLD, whether
as committed or covenanted disciples, we need to keep moving forward in our
journey, like the prophet Elijah who responded to the angel’s order, “Get up and
eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” (1 Kings 19:7). We count on
the assurance given by the encyclical: “In the humble signs of bread and wine,
changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our
food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of
hope.”
Prayer:
Lord, I want to be more and more like You each day. I want to live and love as
Jesus did. I cannot do it on my own but it is when I’m weak that I find strength
in You. Give me the grace to be united with You in the Holy Eucharist, that in
partaking of the Bread of Life, I may partake likewise of eternal life. For as I
receive You, I share in Your divinity and I am transformed unto Your image and
likeness. Don’t keep me apart from You, but rather grant me the opportunity to
receive you in Holy Communion regularly, allowing You to flow into my life daily.
I want You to come alive in me so others will see You in me, and in everything
I say and do. Lord, to whom can I go? You have the words of eternal life. In
Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Reflection Questions:
1. How do I prepare myself for receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist?
2. After receiving Holy Communion, how do I make Jesus come alive in my life?
3. How often do I hear mass and receive Communion?
Next Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
August 13, 2012 (Mon)
August 14, 2012 (Tue)
August 15, 2012 (Wed)
August 16, 2012 (Thu)
August 17, 2012 (Fri)
August 18, 2012 (Sat)
Ez 1:2-5, 24-28/ Ps 148:1-2,11-14/ Mt 17:22-27
Ez 2:8-3:4/Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,131,Mt 18:1-5,10,12-14
Rv 11:19;12:1-6,10/ Ps 45:10-12,16/ 1Cor 15:20-27/
Lk 1:39-56
Ez 12:1-12/ Ps 178:56-59, 61-62/ Mt 18:21-9:1
Ez 16:1-15, 60,63/ Is 12:2-6/ Mt 19:3-12
Ez 18: 1-10,13,30-32/ Ps 51:12-15, 18,19/ Mt 19:13-15
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
