Sunday, August 19th 2018

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
119

FIRST READING
PRV 9:1-6

Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
"Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding."

PSALM
PS 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Response: Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

SECOND READING
EPH 5:15-20

Brothers and sisters:
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,
but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

GOSPEL
JN 6:51-58

Jesus said to the crowds:
"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."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Daily Reflection

19th August 2018

Justice Sunday

“How can this man give us His flesh and blood to eat?” said the Jews, in today’s Gospel. But Jesus goes on, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him”. ‘Flesh and blood’ is a Hebrew idiom for ‘the whole person’. What Jesus was implying therefore was all those who consume His beliefs, teachings, ideology, (i.e. all who live by the values of the Gospel) would inherit eternal life.

Today’s first reading from Wisdom reminds us that God invites all to partake of His banquet, but some foolishly opt for worldly indulgences, little realising that they bring temporary satisfaction!

In the second reading, Paul cautions the people of Ephesus against temporary pleasures that come from ‘dissipating their lives in drinking and making merry’.

Today, as we celebrate Justice Sunday, the Church reminds us that God invites all to share equally in life’s banquet. When we make distinctions and discriminate on the basis of our prejudices, selfish ambitions or lack of love, we not only disrespect the other, but also God!