"Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord" ~ by Ronnie Archer
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the first reading of this Sunday, Elijah finds himself in the emptiness of the desert, after one day's journey. Exhausted, he asks God to end his life. An angel of the Lord touched him and told him to get up and eat. He did as told, but wanted to go back to sleep; the angel came back a second time, touched him, ordering him to get up and eat again. He listened and obeyed, and was strengthened for forty more days of the journey.
The second reading of Ephesians warns us not to "grieve the Holy Spirit of God. All bitterness, fury, and anger must be removed from us, along with all malice." We are warned to love and forgive each other as God has forgiven and loved us in Christ.
In today's Gospel, we hear how the Jews grumbled about Jesus because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They did not believe that Jesus came down from heaven, they felt that He was claiming to be more than an average person among them. They just did not know that HE was the Living Bread of life. They could not see it in a spiritual manner.
How do we approach the Eucharist? Do we look at it and really believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist? Do we sometimes find ourselves in the dryness and experiencing the emptiness of the "desert?" Don't we sometimes find ourselves feeling like we are at the end of our journey, without enough strength to keep going, and we feel "this is enough?"
It is very likely that most of us have felt that way at some point in our life. That is when we should keep our ears open to the Word of God. Often we try to solve our own problems ourselves, when we should be crying out to the Lord.
Jesus teaches us, and assures us that "He is the living bread from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; the bread that He will give is His flesh for the life of the world." He came to bring us abundant life, the bread that will sustain us for life, nourishing us forever.
Listen to Jesus Christ, be true followers of Jesus Christ... live in love, be forgiving to one another, as Christ was. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit; each time we give love and forgiveness, the Holy Spirit comes.
We all are on a journey... what will we pick up... Jesus Christ or the material things of life?
In the first reading of this Sunday, Elijah finds himself in the emptiness of the desert, after one day's journey. Exhausted, he asks God to end his life. An angel of the Lord touched him and told him to get up and eat. He did as told, but wanted to go back to sleep; the angel came back a second time, touched him, ordering him to get up and eat again. He listened and obeyed, and was strengthened for forty more days of the journey.The second reading of Ephesians warns us not to "grieve the Holy Spirit of God. All bitterness, fury, and anger must be removed from us, along with all malice." We are warned to love and forgive each other as God has forgiven and loved us in Christ.
In today's Gospel, we hear how the Jews grumbled about Jesus because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They did not believe that Jesus came down from heaven, they felt that He was claiming to be more than an average person among them. They just did not know that HE was the Living Bread of life. They could not see it in a spiritual manner.
How do we approach the Eucharist? Do we look at it and really believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist? Do we sometimes find ourselves in the dryness and experiencing the emptiness of the "desert?" Don't we sometimes find ourselves feeling like we are at the end of our journey, without enough strength to keep going, and we feel "this is enough?"
It is very likely that most of us have felt that way at some point in our life. That is when we should keep our ears open to the Word of God. Often we try to solve our own problems ourselves, when we should be crying out to the Lord.
Jesus teaches us, and assures us that "He is the living bread from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; the bread that He will give is His flesh for the life of the world." He came to bring us abundant life, the bread that will sustain us for life, nourishing us forever.
Listen to Jesus Christ, be true followers of Jesus Christ... live in love, be forgiving to one another, as Christ was. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit; each time we give love and forgiveness, the Holy Spirit comes.
We all are on a journey... what will we pick up... Jesus Christ or the material things of life?
Labels: ordinary time, sundayreflection
posted by mary ann @ Monday, August 10, 2009
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