Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024 Franciscan Gospel Reflection

Franciscan Friar Fr. Paul Gallagher reflects on the Gospel readings for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. For what is it that you hunger?

The content is edited by Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sister Anne Marie Lom and Joe Thiel. The excerpts from the Sunday readings are prepared by Joe Thiel. To read or download the complete pdf with excerpts for your prayer, please click here Franciscan Gospel Reflection August 11 2024. Excerpts are from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. 

John 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Background:

The Gospel text from last Sunday concluded with Jesus making the assertion that “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35) In the verses between last week’s text and the Gospel for this week, Jesus also makes a number of bold assertions, the last of which is “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” (John 6:40)

The text for this week opens with the Jews murmuring against Jesus because he has made the claim that “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They have taken issue with Jesus’ statement that he has “come from heaven.” Some of them knew his father and mother. To them, Jesus is claiming that he is more important, having more status than is rightfully his by his birth. In many cultures of the world, to come from humble beginnings and to rise to greatness is admirable. The possibility of a person rising from humble beginnings to be a great success in government, business, entertainment, sports, etc. is held as high cultural value. The opposite is true for the culture in which Jesus lived. One’s family determined one’s personal worth and honor. To strive to rise above one’s birth status was looked down upon and even threatened the social fabric.

In the Gospel text for today, John connects the incident with the Exodus experience of the Jewish people by using the word “murmur.” It is the same word used in Exodus to describe the Jews complaining to God about their lack of food in the desert. God responded to their complaint by providing manna. Jesus’ response to the complaints of those who claim they know his family will either enhance his honor or that of his challengers. He too uses the word “murmur,” he reinforces the connection to Exodus, and he will draw on that Exodus experience to further unfold his teaching.

Jesus’ claims draw on the prophets who stated that it is God who initiated their coming to him. Therefore, if the people have difficulties with Jesus, then it must be that they have a difficulty with God. They are not accepting “the one whom God has sent.” Only those whom God draws will be drawn to Jesus. Jesus has come down from heaven, and he will draw those whom God has sent him to draw to God on the last day. As the text continues, Jesus claims further that he is the only one who has seen the Father, and finally that he is the bread of life. Unlike the Jews in the Exodus who ate the bread that came from the sky and merely avoided starvation, anyone who eats this bread will live forever.

Those who hear this text today might assume that Jesus’ statements about being the “bread of life” are references to Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist. Those that would have heard this interchange between the Jews and Jesus would not have heard these statements in that light. (The Instruction of the Eucharist had not yet taken place.) They would have been familiar with other places in their tradition where the Wisdom of God is presented as food or bread. (Proverbs 9:5, Sirach 15:3) Those present could have understood Jesus’ statement that the living bread God gives is “my flesh for the life of the world” as the human body of the person of Jesus.

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you have questions about God’s presence? Can you have questions and still believe?
2. Have you had questions about faith? What kind of responses have been helpful? What kind of responses have not?
3. How do you experience Jesus as a source of life?
4. Do you know people who have made claims of their experience of God that are difficult for you to believe?
5. Have you had experiences of God in your life that are difficult for others to believe?
6. What do you hear Jesus telling you when he says “I am the living bread come down from heaven?
7. For what is it that you hunger?
8. How does God nourish that hunger? How does God NOT nourish your hunger? Could that be deliberate on God’s part?
9. Can you take some time to talk with God about your desire to be nourished by God, or great faith in God’s desire to nourish you?