[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we'll explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, August 18, 2024, the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
[00:00:24] The title of this week's episode is: Bread from Heaven, and in the readings we'll ask ourselves if we are able to accept the wisdom and knowledge God offers us? Or are we tempted to turn away from it?
[00:00:39] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: are we really willing to take Jesus at his word?
[00:00:48] So let's begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of this day, for the gift of our time together, and for the gift of your word. We ask that you open our hearts and our minds and allow that word to dwell deeply within us, to infuse our words, our actions, and to help it make us the people you intend for us to be. And we ask that we have the strength and the faith and the belief to accept Jesus for who he says he is and accept what he says about himself. And we ask this in his name. Amen.
[00:01:32] So this week we're still in the Gospel of John 6: 51-58. "Jesus said to the crowds, 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.’”
[00:01:54] “The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;’”
[00:02:11] “’he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.’”
[00:02:24] “’He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.’”
[00:02:39] “’This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.’”
[00:02:50] So this is actually Part IV of the Bread of Life Discourse, and you'll notice that the beginning actually overlaps last week's reading a little bit - that first sentence of Jesus in there - where he says, “I am the living bread.” So we've already kind of talked about that, and we've already talked that the Greek meaning of the word flesh would be the totality of Jesus… but I want to take that a step further this week and say, the bread from heaven which imparts eternal life is actually the Crucified and Glorified flesh of Jesus himself - and realize he had to go through his Passion and his Death on the Cross and then be Glorified in order to be able to bestow this flesh upon us. So now let's pick up with the new section. It says, “the Jews then disputed among themselves” - so disputed… think of quarreled or fought. They were certainly doing their best to try to reject what Jesus said, because… what is their question? “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus words would have been appalling to his listeners. In Leviticus - chapter 7 and chapter 17 - they (both chapters) say specifically that anyone who consumes blood, or meat containing blood, shall be cut off from the people - exiled from the community for consuming blood. Therefore, eating human flesh is something that - for them - would be simply beyond comprehension. So when Jesus says this, he is… they don't know how to respond to it! Blood is sacred, and so consuming it is just not something they can even consider. Then Jesus said to them in reply, “truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” The same flesh and blood sacrificed on the Cross and Resurrected in glory is what is given to us in the Holy Eucharist in Mass. That is something that's, again, very difficult for our Protestant friends to accept.
[00:05:05] But that's exactly what Jesus says here in this Gospel. And then he doubles down. He says, “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” In other words, they will share in Christ's Resurrection. And then he doubles down even further… he says, “for my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” He's not saying: well, gosh, you know, I mean, it looks like my flesh or… well, it's meant to be a sign of my flesh or… gosh, you can think of it as my flesh, but it isn't really. No, no, no! He says none of that. He says, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” “For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” He makes no qualms about this. He doubles down… once, twice, three times… on what he says to us. Then he goes on to say, “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” That word abide - that is dwell or remain. When we receive Holy Communion, as Catholics, we believe that Jesus… we take the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ into our body. And “as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.” These instances of the word eat would actually be more accurately translated as munching or chewing. And this is Jesus doubling down even further… munching or chewing like an animal would eat. He is not pulling any punches here. He's not trying to hide anything. He's not trying to say: oh, gosh, yeah, well, it's really just a sign, so don't concern yourselves with it, just what do you eat? Whatever you feel. No, no, no. He is saying to us that we must eat the flesh that he gives us, which is his flesh for the life of the world.
[00:07:20] This entire section here is describing a very personal, intimate, and transformative encounter. Jesus has life in him from the Father. Therefore, those who consume that same flesh will have that same life.
[00:07:36] No questions… no equivocation… no hints that he doesn't mean what he says… he says what he means, and he means what he says. And because he is the Logos, the spoken Word of God, what he says… is! It's just that simple.
[00:07:59] Now he goes on to say, “this is the bread which came down from heaven” - this new bread, this flesh and blood of Jesus – “this is the bread which came down from heaven.” And of course, he means in the Incarnation. “Not such as the fathers” - so the Jewish Fathers, the Israelites that wandered in the desert – “not such as the fathers, ate and died” - not like manna, manna that was eaten, and then the people that ate it still died. No, no, no. “He who eats this bread will live forever.” It will grant eternal life. And again, Catholics see this as talking about the Eucharist, Holy Communion, and as the true flesh and true blood of Christ.
[00:08:50] In The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of John, specifically, it calls the Eucharist “the beating heart of the Church, pumping Christ's blood through the members of his [mystical] body.”
[00:09:07] So remember, Jesus invites us to look beyond the humble bread we receive in our hands or on our tongues, to see his Body offered out of love for us. He invites us to look beyond the simple wine in the chalice that we receive and drink from, to see his Blood - poured out in obedience to the Father's will - for us.
[00:09:40] St. Gregory of Nyssa, who was a 4th century theologian (a church father) wrote, “the bread […] is at first common bread; but when the mystery sanctifies it, it is called and actually becomes the Body of Christ.”
[00:09:56] We, as Catholics, call that transubstantiation and, yes, it is difficult sometimes to accept. It's certainly difficult for Protestants to accept. There are some Catholics that struggle with that because it retains the outward form of bread. So it still looks like bread, but we believe that it becomes the Body of Christ.
[00:10:21] We believe that the same Jesus - the same divine son of God - who had the humility to leave the confines of eternity and come down and be born as a simple babe in a backwater town… in a little country in the Middle Cast, called Israel…
[00:10:49] that same humility is what enables Jesus to take on the form of what appears to be simple bread so that he can nourish us for eternal life. He loves us so much that he is willing to do that for us.
[00:11:11] And that is why we, as Catholics - what I've always said to people is that - at every celebration of the Mass, heaven touches down on earth… heaven touches earth… and we are the recipients of that great gift.
[00:11:31] There was a 20th century Catholic author by the name of Flannery O'Connor, whose writing dwelt extensively on questions of morals and ethics.
[00:11:43] She wrote mostly short stories and magazine articles, a couple of books, but most of her work is collections of short stories. But she was a very well received dinner guest… people loved to have her… she pulled no punches in her speech and in what she said and in how she said it. So she, famously, was at a dinner party given by a society hostess. And as it often did when Flannery O'Connor was present, the conversation over dinner turned to Catholic theology. And the hostess, who had been a previous Catholic who had left the Church and gone into the Protestant faith, said to Flannery: as a symbol, the Eucharist is a pretty good symbol. And Flannery O'Connor's response to that was, famously, “If it's a symbol, then hell with it.”
[00:12:51] I think that most Catholics would agree with that! If what we receive, when we go to Mass every week, if we're going to just look at it as a symbol… if we're going to say: oh, yeah, yeah, it's just a… it’s just, we're supposed to think it's Jesus, but it isn't really, because that's not really what he said in the Gospel… then I think most Catholics would agree - No, heck with it!
[00:13:19] That's not the point! The point is that Jesus said he would give us his flesh as food for eternal life and we have to take him at his word. We have to believe what he said, and it takes wisdom and understanding to accept that message. So let's go now to our First Reading for this coming Sunday, which is from the Book of Proverbs 9: 1-6.
[00:13:50] “Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.”
[00:14:04] “She has sent out her maids to call from the highest places in the town,”
[00:14:09] “’Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ To him who is without sense, she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave simpleness, and live, and walk in the way of insight.’”
[00:14:27] Now, let's talk a little bit about the Book of Proverbs. The Hebrew word for Proverbs means memorable sayings. Which is a better example, or explanation, of what this collection of sayings in the book… how they should be viewed.
[00:14:44] We often think of a proverb as a simple, folksy piece of advice. No, no, no. What Proverbs is offering us are memorable sayings - things that we should find a way to take to heart, because these sayings lead us to think more clearly about our human existence.
[00:15:04] Now, the book is traditionally attributed to Solomon (King Solomon) of the Israelites. But some sayings are actually attributed to scribes who lived in the time of King Hezekiah, which was 250 years before Solomon's reign. So saying that it's the Proverbs of Solomon is not tremendously accurate… he may certainly have contributed to it… but he's not the only one that contributed to it. So I think we have to keep that in mind. And these are memorable sayings, or proverbs, that have been compiled over hundreds of years of Jewish history. So let's go back to the beginning of this. “Wisdom has built her house.” Now, the important thing that we get out of this first phrase is - wisdom is always personified as female… always personified as female. So in the Old Testament, in biblical times, ladies, when we think we're shunted off to the side and made more… made unimportant. No, no, no. It's us - we - become the personification of wisdom. Wisdom is female, and “wisdom has built her house.” That's a very domestic image. And what is a house? A house is a place of comfort… a house is a place where you can be intimate with other people… you can be close… it's a place of security… it's a place of safety… and it's a place where you can share meals together. So it's a very domestic image there. And then it goes on to say, “she has set up her seven pillars.” Again, whenever the scriptures mention a number, you can bet that it is important and remember, seven is a number of completeness… seven days of the week (six days of creation, and on the seventh day, God rested)… so seven is an important number; it is a number of completeness. So that means her dwelling contains everything that a person would need. Okay, so she has set up her house, “built her house” and “set up her seven pillars.”
[00:17:18] “She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.” So she is being a good hostess. She is laying out everything that her guests will need to be comfortable… to be well fed… well hydrated and comfortable… she has providing plenty of food, plenty of drink… a well set table. This is a woman who is elegant, who is modest, and yet dignified. She is everything that we - as humans - try to aspire to be.
[00:18:03] She then sends “out her maids” - her assistants - “to call from the highest places in town.” In other words, she's extending this invitation to everyone. And what is the invitation? “Whoever is simple” - and by simple she doesn't mean unlettered or foolish… what she means is naïve.
[00:18:25] She means not someone who cannot learn, but someone who maybe hasn't learned yet. So she's offering this - what she has… her knowledge - she is offering to everyone. “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” Come and join me! I have opened my home… I have set my table… I have provided you food and drink… Come and partake of my… what I am offering you. And remember I said in a previous episode, in the Old Testament, God's wisdom and knowledge was often seen as being sustenance - being food and drink - so this is what she's offering to him who is without sense… who is naïve… who has not yet learned. She says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed” - eating what appears to be bread, drinking what appears to be wine - this is very, very Eucharistic language. And you can see why, when they created the Lectionary for this weekend, this is why this passage is paired with the Gospel. And then what is her final invitation? “Leave simpleness” - leave behind your former way of life – “and live, and walk in the way of insight.” Now, the ancient tradition of hospitality was crucial in an honor/shame society, which the Jewish Society was in biblical times.
[00:20:05] Anything good that you did brought honor to yourself and to your family. And if you did evil, that brought shame to yourself and to your family. So hospitality was a big part of bringing honor to yourself and to your family. So the tradition of hospitality was extremely important. And sharing a meal is a sign of… first of all, abundance; it's a sign of hospitality… but it's also a sign of friendship, of intimacy, of relationship. So those two things go very, very well together. Hospitality-abundance, friendship and intimacy. This is very, very Eucharistic. This is what Christ does for us in Holy Communion. He comes and dwells within us.
[00:20:58] So important - those ideas - and they go so well together, so beautifully together.
[00:21:04] These meals were also an occasion for listening and for conversing with each other… for not just receiving wisdom but - as we learn, as we grow in our relationship with God and with others - we have more to offer… we have more to bring to the conversation… we have more to offer other people. So this all just goes together so well, and it fits together with what Jesus tells us in John's Gospel, in our Gospel reading, that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. This is the bread and wine of which we are to partake. And finally to dine at the banquet here - that is laid out and offered by Lady Wisdom - is to grow in maturity and refinement (other qualities - less easily definable, but certainly present) as well as knowledge and understanding. So the whole idea here is that we are to become better people. Remember I said - at the beginning - that the sayings in the Book of Proverbs help us think more clearly about what it truly means to be a human being and to live as a human being in community with each other. And I think this reading goes a long way towards capturing that essence of human existence and what we are supposed to do… what we are supposed to be. The Psalm this week is Psalm 34.
[00:22:49] Remember I said last week we will go… we will use Psalm 34 three weeks in a row; this is the second week of that Psalm, and the refrain is the same as last week. The refrain is, “O taste and see that the LORD is good.” The verses are a little different, so let me read through them. “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”
[00:23:25] “I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
[00:23:31] “Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all of his troubles.”
[00:23:45] Again, this is a wisdom Psalm. You can clearly see why this Psalm is paired with our Readings.
[00:23:52] We are offered wisdom in Proverbs in the First Reading. The Gospel links that Reading - especially with the bread and wine that's offered - it links us with what we receive from Jesus in the Eucharist. And you can see why these are things just work together so well with each other.
[00:24:16] Okay, so let's go on to our Second Reading for this coming weekend, which is, again, from the Book of Ephesians. This is Ephesians 5: 15-20.
[00:24:29] “Brothers and sisters, Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”
[00:24:42] “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery;”
[00:24:55] “but be filled with the Spirit addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”
[00:25:17] So this is our sixth out of seven passages from Ephesians… so next week will be the final time we hear from Ephesians before we move into the Letter of James.
[00:25:30] And last week's language, if you'll remember, spoke very much in Baptismal imagery. So we use that as our starting point for this week's passage. So “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise.”
[00:25:50] In other words, looking back to our First Reading from the Book of Proverbs, we are to partake of wisdom and become wise… we are to be careful how and where we walk… and with whom we associate… make the best of every opportunity that is presented to us to become wise… and why?
[00:26:16] “Because the days are evil.” So we need to be wise and avoid evil. Now, does that mean that the world is evil? No, no, no. We talked about this before.
[00:26:27] When God created everything, he looked at everything he created and said that it was very good.
[00:26:35] So the world itself is good. But sometimes the things we do… sometimes the people we associate with… sometimes our actions can be less than pure. So that's what Saint Paul is talking about here when he says, “because the days are evil.” We can turn away from what we know to be good and proper… from what we know to be wise… from what our knowledge and our intellect tells us is the right thing to do and the right way to go… we can turn away from that and indulge in evil thoughts and evil actions. And if anybody doubts that - you know - look at the news, almost on a daily basis, look at the terrible things that happen… and there are plenty of terrible things out there to remind ourselves that evil is present in the world. So “the days are evil” - that's what Saint Paul is reminding us about. We have to be careful.
[00:27:44] He goes on to say, then, “therefore do not be foolish.” Do not be ignorant. We have been given opportunity after opportunity to indulge in the gifts provided to us by Lady Wisdom… we have been given the scriptures… we have been given the Gospel message… we have been granted the gift of faith. And what is the one work that God asks of us? We heard it a couple of weeks ago… the work he asks of us is to believe.
[00:28:19] So we take everything we know… we read the Gospels… we read the scriptures… we study them… we immerse ourselves in them… and we do not remain in ignorance. We do not remain foolish, but we learn, we become wise.
[00:28:37] “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” And again, the only way we can really know that is by reading the scriptures and listening to what God tells us through them.
[00:28:58] Now, I think it's so ironic that this next line comes in – “And do not get drunk with wine.” Now, that's not to say that wine is bad - in and of itself - it is not. Anything taken to excess - in and of itself - is bad, even water. “Do not get drunk with wine.” In other words, don't overindulge… you can indulge, certainly, but don't overindulge, “for that is debauchery.” That's a bad thing. “But be filled with the Spirit.” Be filled with the Spirit, that - remember I said we were going to start with that Baptismal language from last week - to be filled with the Spirit - when we are baptized… we are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit… we are filled with that Holy Spirit. And that is received - that is the new life that is received - in Baptism.
[00:29:52] And that new life should be characterized - every single day that we live should be characterized - by wisdom, not foolishness. We should use the time God gives us to be holy, to grow in wisdom, and to grow in our knowledge and love of God and of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. So “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in” - I think this is beautiful language here - “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Now, does that mean that secular music is inappropriate? No, of course not! Most music… I have music that I like and music that I don't like… everybody has music that they like and music that they don't like...
[00:30:37] pick what nourishes you… pick what nourishes your mind… pick what nourishes your soul… whatever that music that you are drawn to, pick that music and pursue that. And the same can be said with any good that is here on this earth… whether it's food, whether it's wine, whether it's music, whether it's literature, whether it is entertainment of some type, the theater, movies, whatever it is that we want to indulge in, in this world, we may indulge in it, but just not to excess. Not to the exclusion of what we should be doing with our lives, which is growing in knowledge and becoming better people, being better people, and “singing and making melody to the Lord.”
[00:31:29] That - right there in that passage - you should hear the echoes of King David singing and dancing before the Ark of the covenant…
[00:31:41] before the Lord… as they're escorting the Ark of the covenant, David danced and sang before the Lord. That comes - we read that - in the Second Book of Samuel.
[00:31:53] That is the joy - that is the expression of joy - that we are invited to share with each other. Now, not everyone should sing.
[00:32:09] There are some people that just really shouldn't sing. And as much as I love him, my husband is most likely one of those people. Now, in all fairness, he has improved tremendously over the past 30, 40 years, but he still sings softly. Some people are more talented at singing. My son Jimmy has a wonderful voice… he is a great musician… he's a good singer… he should sing out loud and proud!
[00:32:43] My older son is an amazing clarinet player… not so much a singer. You know what? That's okay. We all have our gifts, but we should share them with others out of love… out of joy. And that's what this passage is talking about. And really… we are to do that - it's (the scriptures) tell us - with all our heart… with all of our heart, “always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” So we sing to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs - singing and making melody to the Lord - that is praise… and then giving thanks. Praise and thanksgiving - the two absolutely normal, natural, and most honest responses to the gift of faith. Praise and thanksgiving! We praise - you know, I said it in my prayer before we started today: I praise you, Lord, and I thank you - praise and thanksgiving. That should be our response to any invitation from God… to any overture from God… to any gift from God… whether it's for a new day, whether it's for a new child or grandchild, whether it's for a family member, whether it's for the homes that we live in, or a beautiful sunset for the rain that nourishes our crops and our flowers and our fruit. Whatever it may be - for every good gift - our response should be praise and thanksgiving.
[00:34:20] Now, I also want to point out the word Eucharist means thanksgiving. Eucharist itself - which is another term (another word) that we Catholics use for Holy Communion - Eucharist means thanksgiving. So it's not just something we receive, but it's something we offer to God. It's interesting that all the Readings for last week and this week have had some sort of relationship to each other - that's really, actually, quite unusual.
[00:34:54] Most typically (and I said this in my trailer if you watched it, but it bears repeating here because this is unusual during Ordinary Time), the First Reading, the Psalm and the Gospel almost always have some sort of connection. And - last week and this week - that has been really, really very easy to see. But our passages from Ephesians - last week and this week - they're unusual, during Ordinary Time, because they have also had something to offer to that discussion… to that information that was offered in the Gospel… to the information that was then offered to us in our First Reading this week (which was from Proverbs) and then, of course, the Psalm this week was a wisdom psalm. So I just wanted to kind of bring that out and express to you that that's not by any means common. Usually the Catholic Church picks one of the Epistles or Letters from the New Testament… we kind of hop, skip, and jump our way through them… which is why we're going to have seven passages from the Book of Ephesians for seven weeks we're going to have a passage every week - so that is more common. And for them to have something to do with the other Readings is just happenstance, and we just happen to be lucky at this particular time. So I think this is a good time to just - now that we've gone through all the readings - ask ourselves… are we willing and able to accept what Jesus tells us about himself? Or are we tempted to listen to other voices that tell us… hmm, you know, maybe that's not really what he's saying… because clearly, if you read the Gospels - if you read especially John's Gospel (especially the Bread of Life discourse) he is saying very clearly, very succinctly, very directly, that he is divine in his use of the “I AM” statement over and over, and it bears repeating again, “my flesh is food indeed” and “my blood is drink indeed.” So when it's time, do we look at the Eucharist as just a symbol or a sign? Or do we see it for the reality that it is… the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ? Again, if Jesus was willing to give up his divinity, his eternal existence, and become a humble infant… in a backwater town in an unimportant country…
[00:37:42] are we really willing to turn our back on that humility when it's offered to us in the form of bread and wine?
[00:37:50] If you would like to reach me with questions or comments, please send me an email at
[email protected] - and I'm guessing I may hear from a number of people this week… and I invite you to express your opinions... let me know what you're thinking!
[00:38:08] Thank you for listening to my podcast today and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
[00:38:21] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions; Jimmy Flask: producer, audio engineer, and sole proprietor. The content of this show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask. Our music is composed by Jimmy Flask and used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved. Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast will be available upon request. Thank you for listening and God bless.
