Reflections on the readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 8, 2021): 1KGS 19:4-8; PS 34:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9; EPH 4:30 – 5:2; JN 6:41-51
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
For the sake of our own souls and in order to build up the Church of Christ we must reject all hatred, rage, and meanness. These attitudes lead to the death of our spirits.
The readings today encourage us to better appreciate all God gives us and all He expects of us. In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul tells us to bear in mind the importance of the Christian community and our responsibility to one another. We are all part of the Body of Christ through our Baptism. Through this sacrament we turn away from the way of the world, the selfishness that puts personal desires before those of the Holy Spirit. If life as a follower of Christ is really what we want, we need to act like it. For the sake of our own souls and in order to build up the Church of Christ we must reject all hatred, rage, and meanness. These attitudes lead to the death of our spirits. Rather we need to model ourselves on Jesus our Savior. “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed Himself over for us as a sacrificial offering” (Ephesians 4:32, 5:1-2).
If we believe we are the precious children of Almighty God then we must base our daily life on that of His Son. Before He died for us, Jesus revealed a truthful, generous, respectful heart. He recognized each person as an individual blessed with reason and free will and, therefore, capable of agreeing to be His loyal disciples. He also knew that some would make a different decision. He wants us to trust Him to guide us on earth and lead us to heaven. But Christ, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, leaves it up to us to live as children of the light. Or not. Every morning we wake up, we have another opportunity to embrace His sacred word, to appreciate the sacrifice of His Body and Blood on the Cross – and in the Eucharist. Because we are not alone, because we are members of a community in our Lord, the good or harm we do affects our brothers and sisters as well as ourselves. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit.