Readings for Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 7:51—8:1a
St. Stephen is martyred for proclaiming Jesus Christ risen. He is the first Christian martyr, stoned outside of Jerusalem with the consent of one of the representatives of the Sanhedrin (“The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.”) who we know later became St. Paul.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 31:3cd-4, 6 and 7b and 8a, 17 and 21ab
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
This is an individual lament. The section links nicely to the death of St. Stephen with “Into your hands I commend my spirit” and “You hide them in the shelter of your presence from the plottings of men.”
Gospel John 6:30-35
Jesus continues the “Bread of Life” discourse. In today’s selection we are given that most solemn of statements by Jesus which is an unambiguous statement about the real presence in the Eucharist: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Reflection:
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The people come to Jesus as a prophet. Perhaps unwittingly, they quote scripture at him, recalling how, when the Israelites groaned with hunger in the desert, Moses interceded on their behalf and asked God to help the people and he sent them manna to sustain them on their journey. We wonder even now if those who posed this question or posited this quote recalled the situation. Moses had just led the whole people out of Egypt – through the Red Sea – into the desert reroute to the land the Lord would give them (Exodus 15).
First the murmured against Moses because they were thirsty and they were lead to water. When they were satisfied, they once more set out and started grumbling because they were hungry. They challenged Moses saying "Would that we had died at the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!" (Exodus 16; 3) It was then that the Lord furnished them with manna, bread from heaven.
We see the whole story as Jesus must have remembered it; the “stiff-necked” people who could not come to believe and give thanks to God released from their hard slavery still not satisfied. They could not seem to understand or recognize the great gift of freedom God had given them in sending Moses to bring them home. Now ancestors of these same tribes come to the Son of God and ask him for a sign. Querulously they ask “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?” In his heart the Lord must have felt a pang of déjà vu.
He responds, remembering the whole story as he says “…it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They could not look past Moses and see the hand of God. He would make the see, make them understand.
They still wanted a physical sign. They would not hear the Lord’s words. Still they grumbled “Sir, give us this bread always.” If we had been there, standing a bit to the side, would we have seen the expression of Jesus soften in disappointment? Like a parent whose child just does not seem to understand a lesson repeated over and over again, the Lord responds: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” The sign they sought was standing before them, the food that would give them life was not bread at all – it was the Logos and they could not see it.
Today we shake our heads as we see first St. Stephen crumble under the stones of an angry mob and then as in ages past we hear the Lord still trying to get the people to understand that it is the spirit that must live because the body is as perishable as the manna, eaten only on the day it was collected, that they coveted. And what lesson do we walk away with? We have heard this exchange many times before and have seen in it the prefigurement of our Eucharistic meal.
We still bask in the warmth of Easter, recalling the risen Lord who left us this True Bread that brings life. As we next receive it, let us recall the journey of the spirit we are on and give thanks to the Lord for his gift “…whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Pax
Please Pray for Esther.
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The Picture used today is “The Gathering of Manna” by Guido Reni, 1614=1615
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 7:51—8:1a
St. Stephen is martyred for proclaiming Jesus Christ risen. He is the first Christian martyr, stoned outside of Jerusalem with the consent of one of the representatives of the Sanhedrin (“The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.”) who we know later became St. Paul.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 31:3cd-4, 6 and 7b and 8a, 17 and 21ab
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
This is an individual lament. The section links nicely to the death of St. Stephen with “Into your hands I commend my spirit” and “You hide them in the shelter of your presence from the plottings of men.”
Gospel John 6:30-35
Jesus continues the “Bread of Life” discourse. In today’s selection we are given that most solemn of statements by Jesus which is an unambiguous statement about the real presence in the Eucharist: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Reflection:
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The people come to Jesus as a prophet. Perhaps unwittingly, they quote scripture at him, recalling how, when the Israelites groaned with hunger in the desert, Moses interceded on their behalf and asked God to help the people and he sent them manna to sustain them on their journey. We wonder even now if those who posed this question or posited this quote recalled the situation. Moses had just led the whole people out of Egypt – through the Red Sea – into the desert reroute to the land the Lord would give them (Exodus 15).
First the murmured against Moses because they were thirsty and they were lead to water. When they were satisfied, they once more set out and started grumbling because they were hungry. They challenged Moses saying "Would that we had died at the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!" (Exodus 16; 3) It was then that the Lord furnished them with manna, bread from heaven.
We see the whole story as Jesus must have remembered it; the “stiff-necked” people who could not come to believe and give thanks to God released from their hard slavery still not satisfied. They could not seem to understand or recognize the great gift of freedom God had given them in sending Moses to bring them home. Now ancestors of these same tribes come to the Son of God and ask him for a sign. Querulously they ask “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?” In his heart the Lord must have felt a pang of déjà vu.
He responds, remembering the whole story as he says “…it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They could not look past Moses and see the hand of God. He would make the see, make them understand.
They still wanted a physical sign. They would not hear the Lord’s words. Still they grumbled “Sir, give us this bread always.” If we had been there, standing a bit to the side, would we have seen the expression of Jesus soften in disappointment? Like a parent whose child just does not seem to understand a lesson repeated over and over again, the Lord responds: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” The sign they sought was standing before them, the food that would give them life was not bread at all – it was the Logos and they could not see it.
Today we shake our heads as we see first St. Stephen crumble under the stones of an angry mob and then as in ages past we hear the Lord still trying to get the people to understand that it is the spirit that must live because the body is as perishable as the manna, eaten only on the day it was collected, that they coveted. And what lesson do we walk away with? We have heard this exchange many times before and have seen in it the prefigurement of our Eucharistic meal.
We still bask in the warmth of Easter, recalling the risen Lord who left us this True Bread that brings life. As we next receive it, let us recall the journey of the spirit we are on and give thanks to the Lord for his gift “…whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Pax
Please Pray for Esther.
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The Picture used today is “The Gathering of Manna” by Guido Reni, 1614=1615
No comments:
Post a Comment