The Nexus

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Lectionary Readings for the 21st Sunday of the Year, Year B
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life.”
Though Jesus was misunderstood by many of His
people, to the apostles and His other followers,
He had the words of eternal life.  It was easy
for the apostles and followers to understand
Him, since they accepted Him as their Healer,
their Teacher and their Shepherd.  One reason
why the other Jews did not understand Jesus was
because they did not relate to Him as their
Healer, their Teacher and their Shepherd.
Those who had sick brought them to Jesus and
Jesus healed them.  Those, like the Pharisee
Nicodemus, who wanted to learn more, went to
Jesus and Jesus taught him about being born
again.  And the people who were like sheep
without a shepherd followed Him to the point
that Jesus had to multiply loaves of bread
and fish to feed these multitude.

In this Sunday’s gospel we see how the
people stated, “This sort of talk is hard
to endure! How can anyone take it seriously?”
After Jesus spoke in response to this
protest, some of his disciples broke
away and would not remain in his company
any longer.  He went to Simon Peter
and sought Peter’s response.  Peter
responded by saying, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life. We have come to believe;
we are convinced that you are God’s
holy one.”

Let us examine ourselves.  When our
Church is faced with so many crises
and challenges, that many members
leave the Catholic faith, what would
our response to Jesus be when He
asks us: “Do you want to leave me
too?”  What would our answer be?
To help ourselves understand how
we must respond, then perhaps we
can examine how much Jesus has been
our Healer, our Teacher and our
Shepherd.  If we see how much He
has done for us by sending His
healing graces upon our family,
by teaching us the way to live
for God, and by shepherding us
always to the Truth and Life,
then our answer shall be one of
faithful following and obedience
to Him and His Church.

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Lectionary Readings for the 20th Sunday of the Year, Year B
“The man who feeds on this bread shall live forever.”
The Jews at the time of Jesus and His preaching, did
not understand what Jesus really meant. This lack of
understanding on their part stemmed from many reasons:
one is that they knew the earthly origins of Jesus;
two, Jesus spoke in parables and in speech that referred
to spiritual realities; and three, their concept of
a Messiah did not agree with the person of Jesus.
These and many more reasons contributed to the lack
of understanding on their part.

However, despite a basic lack of understanding on
who Jesus meant for them and their life, the apostles
and many other followers had a basic belief in
Jesus of Nazareth. They believed in Jesus because
there was an openness in their attitude towards
Him.  Unlike the Pharisees and scribes who were
conditioned by religious laws and formal education,
the followers of Jesus have a more open mind -
with no presumptions, nor conditioned minds to
block acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah and
the Bread of Life.

Jesus as the Bread of Life is what we receive
in the Eucharist. For many of us Catholics who
witnessed the many changes in which the celebration
of the sacrament has gone through, it would be a
challenge to accept the new proceedings that are
constantly being changed or added in the rite.
We often say, “but this is not how it was done
before.”  Our preconditioned minds find it difficult
to accept these new introductions. However, if
we seek more time in prayer, and be open to the
promptings of the Holy Spirit, we will attain
an openness and a receptivity to the way the
Eucharist is slowly adapting to the signs of
the times.

In Scripture, there is a passage that says
“Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever”.
This scripture passage can teach us to seek
an understanding of Jesus throughout our whole
lifetime, and also to make Him as a secure
and steadfast foundation of our life. If we
hold on to Christ, and believe in His Word,
and to receive Him often in the Sacrament,
then despite all obstacles, all trials and
difficulties, we will be able to overcome
all that and be victorious in Christ. Christ
indeed will be the bread of life that shall
save us from death and lead us to eternal
life.  The more often we seek Him and
receive in in Word and Sacrament, the
more we shall grow in His stature and image
- allowing us to share His Spirit of
service in the daily encounters we have
in our family life and work.

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Lectionary Readings for the 19th Sunday of the Year, Year B
“This is the bread that comes down from heaven…”
Keeping with the Eucharistic themes of the
Sundays passed, this Sunday’s gospel makes a
particular point: Jesus is our Bread of Life
who comes down to us from heaven. 

At first, those who heard the claim of Jesus
that He is the Bread from Heaven did not
believe Him - especially those who knew Him as
being the son of Joseph and Mary.  This is
understandable from their point of view since
they saw Him from His earthly origins.  However,
Jesus preaches from the point of view of a Kingdom
which is not of this world.  And so, His
language is one that is “of above”: speaking
of eternal life and His flesh as the Bread
that gives life for the world.

In our time, we are lucky that we believe
in Jesus as our daily Bread - a nourishment
that sustains us in our Christian journey.
We take time every Sunday to offer our
selves and all of the produce of our
works to God.  Jesus, in turn, gifts
Himself to us as the Bread that shall
bring us Life - that we may be strong in
our service to Him and our brothers
and sisters.  And we can celebrate the
Eucharist in a general atmosphere of
peace.  So many of our brothers and
sisters cannot celebrate the Eucharist
as much as we do, because of their
situations of conflict and war.

We are thus called to be grateful
to the Lord for gifting as with Himself
in the form of Bread.  As we receive
Him, even though we are not worthy
to receive Him, He heals us of our
sins and purifies us from all that
has defiled our souls.  Let us pray
that we may not take for granted
this gift of the Eucharist -
especially if we are in a situation
where we are generally at peace
with one another, and we can receive
the Prince of Peace, who strengthens
us in our efforts towards peace.
Let us pray for countries and lands
where the Peace of Christ needs to
be present more and more.  Let us
pray that this gift of the Eucharist
may reach as many countries as it
can, and give the Life of Peace that
can only come from Christ.

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Lectionary Readings for the 18th Sunday of the Year, Year B
“I myself am the bread of life.”
Last Sunday’s gospel is a gospel which is often
referred to when dealing with Eucharistic themes.
This Sunday’s gospel is also related to that.
It basically tells us how Jesus made it plain
to the crowds that He is the “Bread of Life”.

Bread is one of the basic and staple foods of
many cultures in the world.  In Western countries
and those cultures where wheat is grown to
produce bread, it is the food that usually
is present in every meal.  It is a daily
source of nourishment.

Bible scholars teach us that Jesus always
uses the daily experience of people in order
to not only get their attention but also
to encounter them where they are.  And so,
since food is a daily concern of the people,
and for Jewish culture, bread is the daily
fare, then when the people went hungry
and needed nourishment, Jesus provided the
bread and food.  As the people got their
fill, Jesus then took the occasion to talk
about the “Bread from heaven” which will
completely remove all hunger and thirst.
And this bread from heaven is Himself.

For us who work for the bread we eat,
we often find occasions when what we
do does not meet what we need.  There
are indeed times when we could not buy
things we need for food, medicines, and
the payment of bills for the family
and household.  In times like these,
what do we do?  Let us examine ourselves
and see how much we really believe
in Jesus as the “Bread of Life.” It
is by nurturing our faith in Jesus
as our Daily Bread that we will be
able to overcome all worries, all
all anxieties, all hardships, all
difficulties - and be assured that
as we do our best to work for the
good of the family and others, Jesus
will provide us with all that we
need.  Let us always remember and
put in our minds and hearts what
Jesus said in this Sunday’s gospel:

“I Myself am the Bread of Life.
No one who comes to Me shall
ever be hungry, no one who believes
in Me shall thirst again.”