HOMILY FOR THE 19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B 1 Kings 19:4-8/ Psalm 34/ Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51 THEME: Stop murmuring

Christ is the living bread essential to us as a pilgrim people called to an “impossible” love on earth, and eternal life with God: this is the essential message of today’s readings. Both the bread God gives Elijah (First Reading) and the manna he gives the Israelites (Gospel) prefigure the Eucharist. It enables them to complete their journey, to where God has called them; yet neither has the virtue and the power of the living bread, Jesus, who feeds us with his word and with his own flesh. Strengthened by this bread, we become able to follow his way of love, and the seed of eternal life is sown in us (Second Reading and Gospel). The first reading of today forms part of the large section of the First Book of Kings (Chapter 17, 18 & 19). Elijah had raised to life the son of the widow of Zarephath; he has won victory over the prophets of Baal; he had predicted drought in the land and the like. All these events show God’s hand powerfully at work in his life. Yet, today, he flees from Jezebel who wanted to kill him because he had killed the prophets of baal. Elijah was so frustrated that he told God: “… he asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors’ (1Kings 19:4). This is surely human nature. In our moments of adversity, we easily forget about the successes God has enabled us to attain. The pilgrimage of Christian life can be arduous. There are times when life – or maybe just the coming week! – can appear too arduous a journey. God speaks to us then, as to Elijah; like Elijah, we often do not get the message. He has to repeat it, arouse us again and again from our discouragements and lack of trust. We need to learn not to let the minutes and hours of our life leak away through the cracks of our inaction and faint-heartedness. This necessary pilgrimage is “the time of grace and mercy which God offers [man] so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). Compared with the eternal life God promises us, the span of our lives is a mere speck, a tiny instant; whatever the effort required to reach the “mountain of God”, where all is right, forever, it is eminently worthwhile. By referring to the “murmuring” of the people – their critical small-mindedness and complaining – Jesus quite deliberately harks back to the people of the exodus, who had also “murmured” against God in the desert (Exodus 16:2). This is a pervasive and extremely negative human trait in which the echoes of mankind’s first sin, with its distrust of God’s benevolence (Genesis 3:5), still reverberate all too clearly. It fails to take into account: that God is our Father; that everything he allows is a precious gift of his love to us; that everything is not just possible but “easy” for him; and that we cannot possibly grasp more than a very faint inkling of his intentions and his plans. On both occasions in the desert, God “shows up” how inadequate purely human thinking, unenlightened by faith, really is. The strength of Christians is found in the Eucharist. And yet it is true that by ourselves, like Elijah, we would be unable to reach the goal. The goal proposed to us as Christians – how we should live in this life, what will be in the next – is so lofty that not even what God worked in Old Testament times is enough. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died”. To walk through this life in such a way as to be worthy of being called to eternal life – that is, to live lives effectively inspired by love (Matthew 25:16) from which the opposite has been expelled (Second Reading) – we need “the bread that comes down from heaven (Jesus), for a man to eat and never die”. “ Elijah had had enough. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was n0t just tempted to give up; he practically did so. Is it any wonder then that similar temptations can assail us too? Ours are perhaps less dramatic, but for that very reason, all the more insidious. The Christian way, the “way of love”, is long, and at close range can often seem as barren as the desert that stretched out endlessly before the prophet. We tire of trying to love people who just do not seem very lovable! Sure, it sounds like a beautiful program, but whatever about the saints (and, well, nations and statesmen and Church leaders, whom we readily criticize if they do not follow it), it is not for us. But the Christian message is that it is indeed possible. St Paul reveals the secret for achieving it. Of course, if we do not follow his advice, we should not be surprised we cannot manage it. No one, not even Elijah, can do it on his own. What is the key? Look to Christ. His love is made tangibly present in the Eucharist. Eating his body and drinking his blood we will be fortified to walk the long road. And like Elijah it will enable us to reach the mountain of God. We have the problem that it is too easy for us to receive the body of Christ in Communion. We do not take it seriously. Imagine how we would think about Communion if it were possible to receive it only in one place on earth –say, Jerusalem – and only once in our lifetime. Perhaps we would all have a year-long retreat, with fasting on bread and water, to prepare for it. It would be the high point of our lives. But it is no less marvelous because we can receive Communion every day if we please. It should still be the high point of our lives: we just get to repeat it. The Holy Father’s purpose in writing his recent encyclical on the Eucharist is precisely to revive in us the kind of awed amazement and wonder that should overcome us when confronted with this extraordinary mystery. This is not an emotional response but amazement rooted in faith. It arises if our actions with regard the Eucharist are expressive of such faith: receiving communion frequently and well, dropping into the parish on our way home to pay the Lord a visit, attending adoration or other Eucharistic devotions, reflecting seriously and with wonder on the mystery. In conclusion, the fruit of Holy Communion is overwhelming for “What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit, preserves increases and renews the life of grace received at baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum. CCC 1392). Lessons • Life is a pilgrimage. This necessary pilgrimage is “the time of grace and mercy which God offers [man] so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). • Stop murmuring. This is a pervasive and extremely negative human trait in which the echoes of mankind’s first sin, with its distrust of God’s benevolence (Genesis 3:5), still reverberate all too clearly. It fails to take into account: that God is our Father; that everything he allows is a precious gift of his love to us; that everything is not just possible but “easy” for him; and that we cannot possibly grasp more than a very faint inkling of his intentions and his plans. On both occasions in the desert, God “shows up” how inadequate purely human thinking, unenlightened by faith, really is. • The strength of Christians is found in the Eucharist. Elijah had had enough. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was n0t just tempted to give up; he practically did so. Is it any wonder then that similar temptations can assail us too

HOMILY FOR THE 19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B 1 Kings 19:4-8/ Psalm 34/ Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51 THEME: Stop murmuring

Christ is the living bread essential to us as a pilgrim people called to an “impossible” love on earth, and eternal life with God: this is the essential message of today’s readings. Both the bread God gives Elijah (First Reading) and the manna he gives the Israelites (Gospel) prefigure the Eucharist. It enables them to complete their journey, to where God has called them; yet neither has the virtue and the power of the living bread, Jesus, who feeds us with his word and with his own flesh. Strengthened by this bread, we become able to follow his way of love, and the seed of eternal life is sown in us (Second Reading and Gospel). The first reading of today forms part of the large section of the First Book of Kings (Chapter 17, 18 & 19). Elijah had raised to life the son of the widow of Zarephath; he has won victory over the prophets of Baal; he had predicted drought in the land and the like. All these events show God’s hand powerfully at work in his life. Yet, today, he flees from Jezebel who wanted to kill him because he had killed the prophets of baal. Elijah was so frustrated that he told God: “… he asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors’ (1Kings 19:4). This is surely human nature. In our moments of adversity, we easily forget about the successes God has enabled us to attain. The pilgrimage of Christian life can be arduous. There are times when life – or maybe just the coming week! – can appear too arduous a journey. God speaks to us then, as to Elijah; like Elijah, we often do not get the message. He has to repeat it, arouse us again and again from our discouragements and lack of trust. We need to learn not to let the minutes and hours of our life leak away through the cracks of our inaction and faint-heartedness. This necessary pilgrimage is “the time of grace and mercy which God offers [man] so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). Compared with the eternal life God promises us, the span of our lives is a mere speck, a tiny instant; whatever the effort required to reach the “mountain of God”, where all is right, forever, it is eminently worthwhile. By referring to the “murmuring” of the people – their critical small-mindedness and complaining – Jesus quite deliberately harks back to the people of the exodus, who had also “murmured” against God in the desert (Exodus 16:2). This is a pervasive and extremely negative human trait in which the echoes of mankind’s first sin, with its distrust of God’s benevolence (Genesis 3:5), still reverberate all too clearly. It fails to take into account: that God is our Father; that everything he allows is a precious gift of his love to us; that everything is not just possible but “easy” for him; and that we cannot possibly grasp more than a very faint inkling of his intentions and his plans. On both occasions in the desert, God “shows up” how inadequate purely human thinking, unenlightened by faith, really is. The strength of Christians is found in the Eucharist. And yet it is true that by ourselves, like Elijah, we would be unable to reach the goal. The goal proposed to us as Christians – how we should live in this life, what will be in the next – is so lofty that not even what God worked in Old Testament times is enough. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died”. To walk through this life in such a way as to be worthy of being called to eternal life – that is, to live lives effectively inspired by love (Matthew 25:16) from which the opposite has been expelled (Second Reading) – we need “the bread that comes down from heaven (Jesus), for a man to eat and never die”. “ Elijah had had enough. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was n0t just tempted to give up; he practically did so. Is it any wonder then that similar temptations can assail us too? Ours are perhaps less dramatic, but for that very reason, all the more insidious. The Christian way, the “way of love”, is long, and at close range can often seem as barren as the desert that stretched out endlessly before the prophet. We tire of trying to love people who just do not seem very lovable! Sure, it sounds like a beautiful program, but whatever about the saints (and, well, nations and statesmen and Church leaders, whom we readily criticize if they do not follow it), it is not for us. But the Christian message is that it is indeed possible. St Paul reveals the secret for achieving it. Of course, if we do not follow his advice, we should not be surprised we cannot manage it. No one, not even Elijah, can do it on his own. What is the key? Look to Christ. His love is made tangibly present in the Eucharist. Eating his body and drinking his blood we will be fortified to walk the long road. And like Elijah it will enable us to reach the mountain of God. We have the problem that it is too easy for us to receive the body of Christ in Communion. We do not take it seriously. Imagine how we would think about Communion if it were possible to receive it only in one place on earth –say, Jerusalem – and only once in our lifetime. Perhaps we would all have a year-long retreat, with fasting on bread and water, to prepare for it. It would be the high point of our lives. But it is no less marvelous because we can receive Communion every day if we please. It should still be the high point of our lives: we just get to repeat it. The Holy Father’s purpose in writing his recent encyclical on the Eucharist is precisely to revive in us the kind of awed amazement and wonder that should overcome us when confronted with this extraordinary mystery. This is not an emotional response but amazement rooted in faith. It arises if our actions with regard the Eucharist are expressive of such faith: receiving communion frequently and well, dropping into the parish on our way home to pay the Lord a visit, attending adoration or other Eucharistic devotions, reflecting seriously and with wonder on the mystery. In conclusion, the fruit of Holy Communion is overwhelming for “What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit, preserves increases and renews the life of grace received at baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum. CCC 1392). Lessons • Life is a pilgrimage. This necessary pilgrimage is “the time of grace and mercy which God offers [man] so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). • Stop murmuring. This is a pervasive and extremely negative human trait in which the echoes of mankind’s first sin, with its distrust of God’s benevolence (Genesis 3:5), still reverberate all too clearly. It fails to take into account: that God is our Father; that everything he allows is a precious gift of his love to us; that everything is not just possible but “easy” for him; and that we cannot possibly grasp more than a very faint inkling of his intentions and his plans. On both occasions in the desert, God “shows up” how inadequate purely human thinking, unenlightened by faith, really is. • The strength of Christians is found in the Eucharist. Elijah had had enough. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was n0t just tempted to give up; he practically did so. Is it any wonder then that similar temptations can assail us too

HOMILY FOR THE 19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B 1 Kings 19:4-8/ Psalm 34/ Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51 THEME: Stop murmuring

Christ is the living bread essential to us as a pilgrim people called to an “impossible” love on earth, and eternal life with God: this is the essential message of today’s readings. Both the bread God gives Elijah (First Reading) and the manna he gives the Israelites (Gospel) prefigure the Eucharist. It enables them to complete their journey, to where God has called them; yet neither has the virtue and the power of the living bread, Jesus, who feeds us with his word and with his own flesh. Strengthened by this bread, we become able to follow his way of love, and the seed of eternal life is sown in us (Second Reading and Gospel). The first reading of today forms part of the large section of the First Book of Kings (Chapter 17, 18 & 19). Elijah had raised to life the son of the widow of Zarephath; he has won victory over the prophets of Baal; he had predicted drought in the land and the like. All these events show God’s hand powerfully at work in his life. Yet, today, he flees from Jezebel who wanted to kill him because he had killed the prophets of baal. Elijah was so frustrated that he told God: “… he asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors’ (1Kings 19:4). This is surely human nature. In our moments of adversity, we easily forget about the successes God has enabled us to attain. The pilgrimage of Christian life can be arduous. There are times when life – or maybe just the coming week! – can appear too arduous a journey. God speaks to us then, as to Elijah; like Elijah, we often do not get the message. He has to repeat it, arouse us again and again from our discouragements and lack of trust. We need to learn not to let the minutes and hours of our life leak away through the cracks of our inaction and faint-heartedness. This necessary pilgrimage is “the time of grace and mercy which God offers [man] so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). Compared with the eternal life God promises us, the span of our lives is a mere speck, a tiny instant; whatever the effort required to reach the “mountain of God”, where all is right, forever, it is eminently worthwhile. By referring to the “murmuring” of the people – their critical small-mindedness and complaining – Jesus quite deliberately harks back to the people of the exodus, who had also “murmured” against God in the desert (Exodus 16:2). This is a pervasive and extremely negative human trait in which the echoes of mankind’s first sin, with its distrust of God’s benevolence (Genesis 3:5), still reverberate all too clearly. It fails to take into account: that God is our Father; that everything he allows is a precious gift of his love to us; that everything is not just possible but “easy” for him; and that we cannot possibly grasp more than a very faint inkling of his intentions and his plans. On both occasions in the desert, God “shows up” how inadequate purely human thinking, unenlightened by faith, really is. The strength of Christians is found in the Eucharist. And yet it is true that by ourselves, like Elijah, we would be unable to reach the goal. The goal proposed to us as Christians – how we should live in this life, what will be in the next – is so lofty that not even what God worked in Old Testament times is enough. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died”. To walk through this life in such a way as to be worthy of being called to eternal life – that is, to live lives effectively inspired by love (Matthew 25:16) from which the opposite has been expelled (Second Reading) – we need “the bread that comes down from heaven (Jesus), for a man to eat and never die”. “ Elijah had had enough. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was n0t just tempted to give up; he practically did so. Is it any wonder then that similar temptations can assail us too? Ours are perhaps less dramatic, but for that very reason, all the more insidious. The Christian way, the “way of love”, is long, and at close range can often seem as barren as the desert that stretched out endlessly before the prophet. We tire of trying to love people who just do not seem very lovable! Sure, it sounds like a beautiful program, but whatever about the saints (and, well, nations and statesmen and Church leaders, whom we readily criticize if they do not follow it), it is not for us. But the Christian message is that it is indeed possible. St Paul reveals the secret for achieving it. Of course, if we do not follow his advice, we should not be surprised we cannot manage it. No one, not even Elijah, can do it on his own. What is the key? Look to Christ. His love is made tangibly present in the Eucharist. Eating his body and drinking his blood we will be fortified to walk the long road. And like Elijah it will enable us to reach the mountain of God. We have the problem that it is too easy for us to receive the body of Christ in Communion. We do not take it seriously. Imagine how we would think about Communion if it were possible to receive it only in one place on earth –say, Jerusalem – and only once in our lifetime. Perhaps we would all have a year-long retreat, with fasting on bread and water, to prepare for it. It would be the high point of our lives. But it is no less marvelous because we can receive Communion every day if we please. It should still be the high point of our lives: we just get to repeat it. The Holy Father’s purpose in writing his recent encyclical on the Eucharist is precisely to revive in us the kind of awed amazement and wonder that should overcome us when confronted with this extraordinary mystery. This is not an emotional response but amazement rooted in faith. It arises if our actions with regard the Eucharist are expressive of such faith: receiving communion frequently and well, dropping into the parish on our way home to pay the Lord a visit, attending adoration or other Eucharistic devotions, reflecting seriously and with wonder on the mystery. In conclusion, the fruit of Holy Communion is overwhelming for “What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit, preserves increases and renews the life of grace received at baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum. CCC 1392). Lessons • Life is a pilgrimage. This necessary pilgrimage is “the time of grace and mercy which God offers [man] so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). • Stop murmuring. This is a pervasive and extremely negative human trait in which the echoes of mankind’s first sin, with its distrust of God’s benevolence (Genesis 3:5), still reverberate all too clearly. It fails to take into account: that God is our Father; that everything he allows is a precious gift of his love to us; that everything is not just possible but “easy” for him; and that we cannot possibly grasp more than a very faint inkling of his intentions and his plans. On both occasions in the desert, God “shows up” how inadequate purely human thinking, unenlightened by faith, really is. • The strength of Christians is found in the Eucharist. Elijah had had enough. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets was n0t just tempted to give up; he practically did so. Is it any wonder then that similar temptations can assail us too

HOMILY FOR THE 18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Psalm 78; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35 THEME: Let Christ be your priority

The central message that links the first reading and the gospel is the food that God provides for his people. In the desert Israel received manna, a food which could give strength to a perishable body. Now God feeds his people with the bread of life, with his word: Jesus of Nazareth. The second reading shows the kind of transformation this bread can work. Those who assimilate it will become new people. The Father is the one who provides man with the food he needs for his life (First Reading, Psalm, and Gospel). But like pagans, we live with empty minds (Second Reading) and are so taken up with filling our stomachs and the needs of this life that we fail to grasp the real meaning of his gifts or the incomparable worth of the bread of life who is Jesus himself (Gospel). Receiving this gift we become a new creation, with “a fresh, spiritual way of thinking” (Second Reading). In the first reading of today, the people of Israel showed ingratitude to God by murmuring against Moses because they were hungry in the following words: “if only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3). Ingratitude has filled their hearts so much so that they had just forgotten how God had delivered them from the power of the Egyptians through the Red Sea. They preferred slavery to freedom. In our moments of adversity, let us be mindful of what we say and do. Let us learn to show gratitude at all times because this is what pleases God. They tested the patience of God but God proved faithful to them once more for the Lord spoke to Moses: “ At twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 16:12). Anything that God does in our lives is meant for His glory. As if that was not enough, when they saw the manna, they ask with impunity “What is it” (V.14). When we fail to see God’s hand at work in every circumstance of our lives, we will surely be ungrateful to him. People want God today because of the benefits he is able to give them. But God wants us for a lasting relationship. This is what the gospel reading of today draws our attention to. Last week, Jesus feeds the multitude to draw our attention to the fact that he provides our needs at all times even when we fail to recognise it. Today, they follow him and Jesus tells them: “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that the Father has set his seal” (John 6:26-27). I thought the signs that Jesus performed should rather lead them to faith in him. I am sure that this generation will have won Jesus’ admiration because we are prone to signs and wonders. Why are you here today? What is your motivation for coming to Church today? People want Jesus today because of the benefits he is able to give them. But Jesus wants to establish a lasting relationship with you. Jesus invites them to believe in his person as someone sent by God. It is only this that can guarantee them salvation. He invites them to transcend this material world and its goods and think seriously about what brings them salvation when he told them that he is the bread that has come down from heaven. It was as if they did not still understand Jesus. All they could ask for was that “…Sir, give us this bread always” (v.34). Jesus then dropped the bombshell namely his first “I AM” saying “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (v.35). This statement became the basis for Jesus’ rejection by his own people. Many will begin deserting him. But Jesus never stops making such statements. Today is no exception. Not even modernity or post- modernity has changed this statement of Jesus because it is the truth. Like the people of old, there is a void in our hearts and lives that only God can fill. In grace our Lord fed the hungry people but in truth, he gave them the Word of God. They wanted the food but they did not want the truth and in the end, most of them abandoned him and refused to walk with him. He lost his crowd with one sermon namely the Eucharist. For God so loved the world that, not content with giving us his only Son through the Incarnation, he continues giving him to us each day in the Eucharist. The Eucharist comes from the Father. The Eucharist also leads us to the Father (the Eucharistic liturgy, reflecting this, is all “turned towards” the Father). In fact, what the Eucharist is, is not a kind of “static” presence of Christ, but the living and perfect self-offering of Christ to his Father, carried out by giving himself to us and for us. What a marvelous synthesis of the faith! Here is the heart of Christian dogma and ethics all in one. Christ saves man by offering himself to his Father, out of love for the Father and for us. The great commandment of love of God and man – practiced here in the most extreme way by Christ- is instantly justified and made imperative by the fact that we are necessarily configured with this saving event (its “pattern” is imprinted in our being as Christians). Pope John Paul II has stated firmly in his latest encyclical that all who take part in the Eucharist must “be committed to changing their lives and making them in a certain way completely ‘Eucharistic’”: which means “a transfigured existence and a commitment to transforming the world in accordance with the Gospel According to St Paul in the second reading, if Christ is really active in our lives (and who among us wants to claim he is not?), our very way of thinking will have been turned upside down; that is, it will have been put right, because sin has perverted the order of our values. Our priorities (when we vote, when we wonder if we should have more children or not, when we choose our entertainment, when we go shopping, when we are tempted to cut corners at work, take advantage of a customer, or skip our homework, and when we make any of the countless minor decisions of every day) will not be “what is in it for me”, “what will this do for my bank account”, “is it pleasurable” or “can I get away with it”, but rather, “how can this help me reach my real goal, eternal life”, “is this what God wants”, “does it bring me closer to God”, “will this help others”, “will it be a better witness of Christian life”. In conclusion, let us draw some quick Lessons: • People want Jesus today because of the benefits he is able to give them. But Jesus wants to establish a lasting relationship with us. • To come to Christ means to yield to him. • Like the people of old, there is a void in our hearts and lives that only God can fill. • That salvation involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The Father gives sons and daughters to Jesus but they must come to him namely believe in him. He assured them that nobody who came to him would ever be lost but would be raise at the last day. Even death cannot rob us of salvation

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15 THEME:

St Mark´s Gospel, in its brevity, does not provide sufficient material for all the Sundays of Year B. For the next five Sundays, the Church puts before us, on the table of the word of God, Jesus´ promise and explanation of the Eucharist from chapter 6 of St John´s Gospel. God´s people, through the divine pedagogy in salvation history – the manna in the desert, the miracles of Elijah and Elisha (First Reading) – gradually learn to look trustingly to him for the nourishment they need (Psalm). In the Old Testament, there was always enough food – and even some to spare, in the case of Elisha – but the Gospel goes beyond this. With all its similarities and continuity with the past, it is part of a new dispensation in which a superabundant food is given, not by invoking God like Moses or Elisha, but by the word of the One who is God-among-us, and in which grace builds on nature to offer us something completely new and unheard of: unity with and in God, the Eucharistic and the Mystical Body of Christ (Second Reading and Gospel). John´s reference to the feast of the Passover is not casual; his chronology always has theological import. What is about to happen is the introduction of the new Passover meal, with effects that far surpass the original Passover. It is motivated by Jesus´ abiding compassion for "the crowd" (cf. last Sunday) – a crowd seeking a remedy for its sicknesses and its hunger. A world of barren and desert-like pragmatism ("Not even two hundred days´ wages could buy enough…") might deem it impossible. But "nothing is impossible for God", and he already knows what he will do. Always, but with even fiercer insistence since the Incarnation, God works his wonders through the things he has created, and with the obviously insufficient but humble good will of those created in his own image and likeness. All the young lad in the scene has is five loaves and a couple of fish; doubtless he might have thought that he needed them for himself and his family, but he willingly surrenders them, and Jesus does the rest. This is the pattern of God´s dealings with us; when we offer what little we have, he transforms it into something infinitely greater. When Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes, at first there is nothing extraordinary to remark. The people sit down, and are served by the Lord and each of his apostles. This is the way it will always be: the Eucharist is quite ordinary in appearance, and at the Eucharistic banquet the people are seated at the table while Christ and his ministers ("those who serve") wait on them. He provides not only "as much as they wanted" for everyone, but much too much. God gives in superabundance, most of all when he gives us his own Son. The apostles, charged with collecting the twelve baskets of remnants, must see that God´s generous gift of himself is equally available to the subsequent generations of Christians. This is the only miracle narrated by all four gospels. (To deny its miraculous nature, as some commentators do – generally, of course, with sufficient equivocation to afford ´plausible deniability´ – is gratuitous, and invariably founded on unscientific naturalistic preconceptions that essentially deny the possibility of the supernatural; in which case, the entire gospel is "nothing but pretty thoughts for superficial fools"). Both here and in the Synoptics, the structure of the central point of the action ("he took the bread… gave thanks…distributed it") underlines its Eucharistic signification for the early Christian communities. It is simultaneously an expression of Jesus´ concern for the temporal needs of the people. We always find him genuinely moved by the suffering of the "least ones", and in this miracle as well as in the many cures he constantly worked for the people, he shows that this too is part of his mission. However, he energetically rejects being identified as a Messiah who has come to bring his people salvation in and of this world. He fled back to the mountain alone because this was precisely what had entered their heads at this point; and the following day in Capernaum he will reproach them for seeking bread for their stomachs rather than for their souls (next Sunday´s Gospel reading). Aware that the liturgy will center on the Eucharist throughout the next several weeks, catechesis on it might begin either with an overview, by looking at the meaning of the different names we give it, CCC 1328-32; however, more obviously complementary to today´s homily is the Catechism´s treatment of "the signs of bread and wine" and "the institution of the Eucharist" (1333-40). God´s way of doing things, that incorporates material creation and our human contributions into his plans, is operative even –perhaps we should say, especially – for what is most sacred, the Eucharist. The bread and wine we offer him are fruits both of the earth and of the work of human hands (Offertory prayers). Like the boy with the loaves and fishes, and like the apostles, the priest, in order to be at Jesus´ side as a minister of the Eucharist, has given up what he certainly needed for himself: his life – as have all those among the people who have understood what the Eucharist demands of them. To be a priest and become, as it were, Jesus´ hands to distribute the bread of the Eucharist and of the word is certainly a marvelous, unmerited grace, but the ministerial priesthood is primarily and essentially service, not a distinction or something for oneself. Not to be called to be a ´waiter´ – as is the case for the great majority – is not some kind of divine snub; when the Lord looks at us with love and sees in us his Spouse, the Church, he makes her sit down while he serves her. The Eucharist, on the other hand, requires of each of us that we become servants, to offer the gift of ourselves to others as Christ has given himself to us. In this way our being fed by the Eucharistic body of Christ leads us to feed his mystical body in the person of those whose hunger is physical as well as spiritual. The mission of the Church is primarily spiritual, following Christ, but it would be a sign that the Eucharist had not nourished us if it did not make us share in his love for the least of his brothers and sisters (cf. CCC 1397).

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Jeremiah 23:1-6/ Psalm 23/Ephesians 2:13-18/ Mark 6:30-34

In the first reading, Jeremiah condemns the political leaders of his time who are leading to ruin the sheep that God has entrusted to their care. He then promises an upright, wise king from the house of David who will truly be a shepherd of his people. The gospel tells us that this shepherd is Jesus of Nazareth. The second reading shows us who the members of the flock are. They are not only Jews, but all people without distinction. Jesus has pulled down all the barriers that divide. The first reading is God’s message of assurance of restoration to his people who were exiled in Babylon. God warns the leaders of his people in the following words “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture…it is you who have scattered my flock and have driven them away… so I will attend to you for your evil deeds says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:1-2). The Lord was angry with the shepherds of Israel because it was their negligence that the sheep (God’s people are suffering loneliness and deprivation. Human hands and hearts are small. The Lord’s hands and heart are immeasurable. When God gives, He gives abundantly- incalculable and overflowing. Having denounced the shepherds, God makes a promise to the house of Israel; a promise in which He himself will be their shepherd to “ … gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them and I will bring them back to their fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply” (Jeremiah 23:3). In the remnant of Israel, God begins something new; He gives hope to seemingly insurmountable situations. Not only did God take up the shepherding role, he promises them shepherds who will “… shepherd them and they shall not fear any longer or be dismayed nor shall any be missing, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:4). This promise from the line of David will see a righteous shepherd who will who will execute righteousness and justice. He will be to them an example both in words and in deeds. His name will be “The Lord is our righteousness.” The promise is fulfilled in Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The gospel reading today is first of all a fulfillment of the promise God made to Israel in the first reading and second, it presents to us a model of the good shepherd as opposed to shepherds in the time of Jeremiah. Very often Jesus and the disciples were so hard pressed by the crowds of people that came to them that they were exhausted and needed a rest. We are not any different and the gospel this Sunday shows us how important it is to get a balance between work and leisure. Psychologically and spiritually we all need occasional breaks and regular periods of quiet and rest. Today's short gospel reading shows us how concerned Jesus was for the disciples, who seem to be physically exhausted after being out on the mission trail. What is our own attitude towards those who work for us? Do we care or think about them only when we need something from them? Saint Mark says that there were so many people making demands on them that they did not even have time to eat, and so Jesus tells them to "come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while" (Mark 6:31). When the crowds follow then and continue to press their claims on the disciples, Jesus himself takes over and allows the disciples to carry on resting. Of course Jesus knew from his own experience how the disciples felt. So many people came to him that he often had to escape and go off by himself to rest, to pray and to get his energy back. Saint Mark does not try to hide the fact that Jesus was liable to fatigue just like anyone else. As far as we are concerned I dare say that most of our normal work and our activities are not exactly identical to the great missionary efforts that the disciples undertook, but whatever we are doing most of the time we can still get tired like them so that we need to take a rest. Some Christians, I think, are tempted to think that if we are going about our spiritual lives the right way God gives us a sort of boundless energy for activity - for helping other people in some way, perhaps, or for some other activity we identify as "God's work". The truth is, this is probably a bit presumptuous. It is wiser to be more humble and to admit to ourselves that occasionally we suffer the same tiredness and lack of energy as everyone else. Jesus didn't make the mistake of thinking he could carry on, indefinitely, without any kind of break, so neither should we. That's the first thing we can say, perhaps, about how this advice of Jesus might apply to us in the circumstances of our own lives. But the other way in which Jesus' attitude is relevant to us today is that it challenges the hostility that exists in our culture to the idea that quiet and stillness and just doing nothing are valuable in themselves and sometimes even necessary. Over the last twenty years or so our society appears to have made a kind of fetish out of constant activity and restlessness. Even a lot of supposed leisure activities and forms of relaxation seem to be very busy and hectic, a matter of achieving "targets “to the extent that some people seem to feel guilty if they are not permanently exhausted. They do not think they have had a good holiday, for example, if they cannot come back and boast to everyone about how shattered they are on account of all the activities they have packed into a week or a fortnight. The reality is that freedom from activity and stimulation gives us time to think things through and reflect about things in a way we cannot do if we are busy all the time. But rather than benefiting from a period of inactivity and stillness when they get it, many people now seem to have acquired intolerance to peace and quiet. If they have got nothing to do, they panic. Almost immediately they become bored and restless. It would be far healthier, physically, mentally and spiritually, if they realised that we all need some free time to recuperate our energies, not just so that we can carry on our work better when we go back to it, but so as to maintain a sense of balance and inner equilibrium. The feeling of being buried under a mountain of "things to do" gradually has a damaging effect on our personality: it causes depression and a gradual festering of anger and aggression. Whereas, if we remember to take a rest when we need it, we save other people from the bad temper and irritation that come to the surface more easily when we are feeling worn-out. In the gospel passage today, Jesus is concerned that the disciples withdraw for a period so as to get some quiet and rest. We should take note of the fact that his first concern is not that they should be spending more time praying or meditating. Jesus promotes leisure and relaxation as desirable in its own right, without reference to any higher "spiritual" justification .But having said that, another reason why rest is necessary is that the more exhausted we are, the more difficult it is to pray or to keep up any kind of devotional practice or regular contact with God. It is a truism of spiritual direction that we need to acquire a certain level of stillness and calm in order to pray properly and nothing interferes with stillness as much as feeling harassed, rushed, and distracted. The temptation, when we are busy and agitated, is to put off praying or turning to God in a state of quiet and relaxation. Experience should tell us that we have to plan deliberately to set aside such moments. If we wait for them to happen spontaneously we' are likely to end up losing the habit of prayer altogether. So there are all kinds of reasons why quiet, rest and leisure are important factors even from a spiritual point of view, and not just because people who work hard need a physical break from time to time. This is the sort of wisdom that Jesus does not takes for granted in the case of the disciples, and it is surely a principle that we also can use to order the priorities in our own lives. And it is that peace that the Apostle Paul stresses in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul says: For Jesus is our peace. He has broken down the wall of hatred and malice, replaced the harsh Mosaic Law and created a new law of love and peace. His message, Paul says, was one of peace both in the world and in our lives, and through him we have access and meet the Father. He is the shepherd prophesied by Jeremiah. He is true shepherd who gathers and not scatters. In sum, there are many lessons to learn from the readings of today readings which are applicable in our present lives: • In our society today we tend to ignore quite often the need for prayer, rest, and calmness in the presence of God. Because of the hectic pace of all of our daily lives, we tend to look to our own agendas, and ignore the agenda that Jesus has for us. We can do nothing by ourselves, even though we often think we can. True Christian ministry and community is rooted in prayer and we need to take the time to listen without response, to open ourselves up to the spirit, so that as refreshed, peaceful people we can place our whole trust in the shepherd and do the work he has planned for us. And this is the Good News of our readings today. • Many of us have failed in our shepherding roles because we have not learned to be with the Good Shepherd. It is only when we have become his companions that we can truly be shepherds. • Jesus had the interest of his disciples at heart that is why he asked them to take a rest. We must learn to show concern for those who have been placed under our care. We must treat them with dignity and give them just wages so that we do not leave them at the mercy of predators.

Homily for the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Amos 7:12-15/ Psalm 85/Ephesians 1:3-14/ Mark 6:7-13 THEME: Evangelisation: our role

Should the person who teaches the Word of God be paid? The readings for today invite us to reflect on what might happen if the bringer of the gospel draws financial advantages from his preaching. The first reading shows us the prophet Amos, who tells us that money is a great danger for freedom of the prophet who announces the Word of God. The gospel lists the instructions of Jesus to his disciples. They must avoid even the smallest suspicion that they may be working for their own economic advantage. The second reading speaks of the gratuity of the love of our Father and is an invitation to share gratuitously with others the gifts we have received. The readings this Sunday invite us to reflect on the mission of the Church, and our ministry received through baptism. The Church is called not only to proclaim the Good News of salvation realized in Jesus Christ and offered to all, but also to boldly confront the evil forces of this world. In the first reading, the prophet Amos is sent by the Lord to Bethel to preach against the evil lifestyle of the priests and leaders, because they misled the people by worshipping a golden calf. In this reading the Lord told Amos, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” He is called upon to speak the word of God as a prophet. People of the time were aware of the role of a prophet as one who speaks for God. Amos, therefore, speaks against the evil forces and values of his time. There is a sharp contrast between the message of Amaziah the false prophet of Bethel who praises the king, and prophet Amos who tells the false priests that it is God who called him from nowhere, and God will protect him. God has asked him to speak God’s word; the word of truth and that he is bound to speak. In brief, Amos is chosen and sent by God, while Amaziah is a hired figure paid and controlled by the king. Paul reminds us in the second reading that to be a Christian is to belong to God. "Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless..." (Ephesians 1:4). Yes, but also to be his instruments; his ministers; engaged in working for the kingdom. If we belong to God in Christ, we cannot serve other masters. We must make a choice and remain faithful. This is also the reason why God created every other person. Becoming a believer does not change the purpose of our creation, it helps us realise it. As today we celebrate with Paul the amazing grace that we enjoy in Christ, let us pray and work that all humankind may come to know Christ and realise the purpose of their creation just as we have done. In the Gospel episode, Jesus commissions and sends the twelve with authority over unclean spirits. He sends them to proclaim a message of repentance. Repentance is sorrow for sins; the recognition that my sins have hurt me, other people and God. Repentance opens up the doors for God's loving mercy and forgiveness. When people listened and repented, the Apostles could then drive out demons and cure illnesses by anointing the sick with oil. When we repent and pray, wonderful things can happen in our lives, families, our parish and our world. This message of repentance is urgent. To underscore the urgency, Jesus “instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick - no food, no sack, no money” no credit card in their wallets, with sandals and without a spare tunic. In other words, they are to be totally dependent on God. It was Pope Paul VI who began to speak about new approaches in evangelization, in his post-synodal exhortation: Evangelization in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975). This was to be an adequate “response to the new challenges that the contemporary world creates for the mission of the Church.” Blessed Pope John Paul II began to explicitly use the term, “New Evangelization” and to advocate it very energetically in his writings, speeches and pilgrimages. Following his footsteps, Pope Benedict continues to do the same in declaring this year October to next year October as the Year of Faith in a document Porta Fidei (Door of Faith). In this document the Pope calls on all Catholics to a New Evangelisation; the need for us to deepen our faith to stand the challenges of this globalised world. The following are true of evangelisation: Evangelization is a communitarian mission Jesus “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs” (Mk 6:7). One important aspect of the three-year earthly ministry of Jesus was that he formed a community of disciples. All the gospels mention the twelve apostles, and the gospel of Luke even talks about a larger community of 72 others (Lk 10:1). This was also at the centre of the missionary journeys of St Paul: he founded communities that lived and witnessed to the message of Kingdom. Jesus sent them out in pairs. There is a challenge in this, however! One becomes accountable to the other. One verifies and confirms the action of the Spirit in another. Similarly, one encourages and supports the other in times of doubt and discouragement. Ministering together in this manner (Koinonia) is in itself a powerful message for primary evangelisation (Kerygma). Therefore, the evangelical purpose of the community is not merely a pragmatic functionality – to do some work. Too often, lay associations are formed, and religious communities are founded, with the lot of good intention, just for the sake of doing some work! The value of a group of people who are motivated by their faith to minister in the Church should not be reduced to mere cheap labour! Here it is important to recall what Mark has already said earlier in the gospel: “and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to proclaim the message…” (Mk 3:14). The communitarian aspect in evangelisation is, first and foremost, spirituality in itself – “to be his companions”! Being sent out is only an overflow of the experience of God in Jesus, which is often mediated in the context of the community! Evangelization is a journey As Jesus sends out the Twelve in pairs on a journey, he gives them a set of instructions. It is interesting to compare this piece of narration across the three synoptic gospels (Mk 6:8-11; Mt 10:9-14; Lk 9:2-5; 10:2-11). There are many details here, and they can be interpreted in different ways. What is unique to the version of Mark is that he insists: “They were to wear sandals…” (verse 9). To me, this is a symbol indicating that evangelisation is a journey. And the journey is going to be long! Yes, often evangelisation might entail physical journeys. But understood symbolically, evangelisation is also a process. In his address to catechists and religion teachers on the occasion of the Jubilee of Catechists, in the year 2000, Cardinal Ratzinger (now-Pope Benedict) spoke about a temptation in evangelisation: “the temptation of impatience, the temptation of immediately finding the great success, in finding large numbers. But this is not God’s way. For the Kingdom of God as well as for evangelization, the instrument and vehicle of the Kingdom of God, the parable of the grain of mustard seed is always valid (see Mark 4:31-32).” Evangelization is an invitation The need for patience in evangelisation is consistent with Jesus’ instructions on how to handle people who refuse to listen to the Gospel. The apostles are to witness to the Good News by their speech (Mk 6:12) and action (Mk 6:13). Eventually, let the listeners exercise their own free will to make a choice towards the Kingdom of God. “And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as evidence to them” (Mk 6:11). The apostles are not responsible for the lack of will among their listeners. The gesture was only to show the people that they were making a wrong choice. But the apostles are to move on (see Acts 13:50-51). There is no need for discouragement. Always individuals’ freedom is to be respected. “He, who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mk 4:9, 23; 7:16). It is said that “Goodness is attractive in itself, only what is bad has to keep imposing itself!” For sure, the goodness of the Gospel needs to be proclaimed and witnessed to, but it does not have to be aggressively imposed. Aggressiveness – physical or psychological – could be a counter-value. It could be an expression of the insecurity of the believers. Evangelisation – proclamation of the love of God – by its very nature cannot take a tone of imposition, threat, and condemnation. On the contrary, it is merely “a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” What message do we take home this Sunday? 1) Just Amos is chosen and sent to confront the idolatry of the people of Israel, you and I are chosen and sent to confront today’s worship of false gods. 2) Just as Jesus sends his apostles to proclaim repentance and to heal the sick, Jesus sends us into our communities to proclaim God’s message of mercy, compassion and healing 3) Material possessions should never become an obstacle to proclaiming the Gospel, because Christ who sends us will provide. In other words as disciples of Christ and minister in various services in the Church, we need to “travel light”; without material or spiritual baggage! Think about it. In conclusion, the opening prayer for today’s Mass speaks volumes to us in the work of evangelisation when it says “O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and strive after all that does it honour…” May our calling to witness to Christ be action-oriented.