Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

119B Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Catechism Links
CCC 1402-1405: the Eucharist, pledge of future glory
CCC 2828-2837: the Eucharist is our daily bread
CCC 1336: scandal

CCC Cross References:
Ps 34:3 716
Eph 5:16 72; Eph 5:17 2826; Eph 5:19 1156, 2641; Eph 5:20 2633, 2742
Jn 6 1338; Jn 6:51 728, 1355, 1406, 2837; Jn 6:53-56 2837; Jn 6:53 1384; Jn 6:54 994, 1001, 1406, 1509, 1524; Jn 6:56 787, 1391, 1406; Jn 6:57 1391; Jn 6:58 1509

Back to Deacon’s Bench ‘09
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Back to SOW II '15
Back to SOW II '18

Reading 1
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.”


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R. (9a) 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.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

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.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

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.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.


Reading II
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.”

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

First reading Proverbs 9:1-6

Wisdom has built herself a house,
she has erected her seven pillars,
she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine,
she has laid her table.
She has dispatched her maidservants
and proclaimed from the city’s heights:
‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’
To the fool she says,
‘Come and eat my bread,
drink the wine I have prepared!
Leave your folly and you will live,
walk in the ways of perception.’

Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 33(34):2-3,10-15

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Revere the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Come, children, and hear me
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life
and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Then keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside from evil and do good;
seek and strive after peace.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Second reading Ephesians 5:15-20

Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but you redeem it. And do not be thoughtless but recognize what is the will of the Lord. Do not drug yourselves with wine, this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit. Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel John 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jews:
‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’
Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: Proverbs 9:1-6

Wisdom's invitation to her banquet
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[1] Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven pillars.
[2] She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine,
she has also set her table.
[3] She has sent out her maids to call
from the highest places in the town,
[4] "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!"
To him who is without sense she says,
[5] "Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
[6] Leave simpleness, and live,
and walk in the way of insight."

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Commentary:

9:1-6. The introduction to the book of Proverbs ends with an invitation from Wisdom to attend a banquet she is holding at her house. This meal is a symbol for the teachings of the wise men; those who listen to them assimilate those teachings, which become part of them (cf. Sir 24:26-29; Ezek 3).

This nourishment prefigures the true Bread of Life (cf. Jn 4:14; 6:35) that God will give mankind -- the Body of the Incarnate Word, of Wisdom made man. An ancient Christian writer puts these words on Jesus' lips: "To those who are lacking in the good works of faith as well as to those who desire to lead a more perfect life, he says: 'Come, eat of my body, which is the bread that will nourish and strengthen you; drink my blood, which is the wine of heavenly teaching that brings you delight and makes you holy; I have mixed my blood with my divinity for your salvation'" (Procopius of Gaza, "In librum Proverbiorum", 9).

The "seven pillars" of Wisdom's house (v. 1 ) may be a reference to its perfection (seven was a symbol for perfection), but it is more likely to refer to the seven collections of proverbs that go to make up this book -- those of Solomon (10:1-22: 16). the wise men (22:17-24:22), another collection of words of the wise (24:23-34); Solomon again (25:1-29:27); Agur (30:1-14); the Numerical Proverbs (30:15-33) and the words of Lemuel (31:1-9). The fact that there are seven means that the wisdom taught in the book is perfect (it includes, we know, wisdom of Israel, and wisdom from the countries round about).

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From: Ephesians 5:15-20

Walking in the Light (Continuation)
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[15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, [16] making the most of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. [18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, [20] always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus to God the Father.

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Commentary:

15-17. The new life one receives in Baptism is characterized by a wisdom which contrasts with the foolishness of those who are bent on turning their backs on God (cf. 1 Cor 1:18). This wisdom, this sanity, stems from ones' knowledge of the will of God and full identification with his plans. When a person's life is coherent with his faith, true wisdom is the result; and this immediately leads him to "make the most of the time" ("redeeming the time", in the famous words of the King James version). In fact, we have to make up for lost time. "Redeeming the time", St Augustine explains, "means sacrificing, when the need arises, present interests in favor of eternal ones, thereby purchasing eternity with the coin of time" ("Sermon 16", 2).

The word "kairos", translated as "time", has a more specific meaning in Greek. In refers to the content of the point in time in which we find ourselves, the situation which it creates, and the opportunities which that very moment offers as regards the ultimate purpose of this life. Hence, "making the most of the time" is saying much more than "not wasting a minute": it means "using every situation and every moment" to give glory to God. For, "time is a treasure that melts away," St. Escriva reminds us. "It escapes from us, slipping through our fingers like water through the mountain rocks. Tomorrow will soon be another yesterday. Our lives are so very short. Yesterday has gone and today is passing by. But what a great deal can be done for the love of God in this short space of time!" ("Friends of God", 52).

This is a particularly pressing matter, "because the days are evil", as the Apostle puts it. St Peter makes the same point: "Be sober, be watchful, Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world" (1 Pet 5:8-9).

18. This verse is an invitation to temperance. In a pagan environment, o easily to be found then and now, one often meets people who think that happiness and joy can be attained simply though material things. Nothing could be further from the truth. St Paul identifies the source of true happiness--docility to the action of the Holy Spirit in one's soul. This docility gives a peace and a joy which the world is incapable of providing.

Temperance is "the virtue which holds our passion and desires in check, especially the sensual ones, and which bring us to moderation in using temporal goods" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 917). This virtue expresses man's lordship over everything that God has made, and its practice is essential if one is to see life from the correct, supernatural, perspective. "Any food excessive to the body's need eventually stimulates impurity. A soul in this position, sated with food, cannot wear the bridle of temperance. So, it is not just wine that intoxicates the mind. Any kind of excessive eating renders it dull and easily influenced and completely undermines its purity and integrity" (Cassian, "Institutions", 5, 6).

Temperance is a sign of the genuineness of the Christian life of the "children of light", and it is something that attracts and wins over all naturally noble people. "Temperance makes the soul sober, modest, understanding. It fosters a natural sense of reserve which everyone finds attractive because it denotes intelligent self-control. Temperance implies not narrowness but greatness of soul" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 84).

19. From the very beginning of the Church, Christian liturgy has expressed its appreciation to God through psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles. Because man is made up of body and soul, proper worship of God needs to have a certain external expression. "God has disposed that 'while recognizing God in visible form we may through him be drawn to the love of things invisible' (Christmas preface). Moreover it is natural that the outpourings of the soul should be expressed by the senses" (Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 8). In the Church's liturgical ceremonies, canticles are a form of celebration of the greatness of God, and an expression of gratitude for blessings received. For their part, "in the psalms there is an opportunity for the people to bless and praise God; the psalms express the admiration that people feel and what the people want to say; in them the Church speaks, the faith is professed in a melodious way, and authority finds a ready acceptance; there too is heard the joyful call of freedom, the cry of pleasure and the sound of happiness" (St Ambrose, "Enarratio in Psalmos" 1, 9).

Dignified recital and chant of liturgical prayers makes for active participation of the faithful in liturgical ceremonies, allowing everyone to share what St Augustine tells us was his experience: "I wept at the beauty of your hymns and canticles, and was powerfully moved by the sweet sound of your Church's singing. Those sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart--so that my feeling of devotion overflowed, and the tears poured from my eyes, and I was happy in them" ("Confessions", 9, 6).

Liturgical prayer in this way becomes a source of genuine fervor and piety, while at the same time promoting solidarity with other members of the Church, not only those who praise God while still on their earthly pilgrimage, but also those who unceasingly glorify him in heaven. "What a wonderful thing it is to imitate on earth the choir of angels!", St Basil explains; "preparing oneself for prayer at the first hour of the day and glorifying the Creator with hymns and praise. And later, when the sun is at its height, full of splendor and light, doing one's work to the accompaniment of prayer on all sides, seasoning one's actions, so to speak, with the salt of ejaculatory prayers" ("Epistle", II, 3).

20. We need to be continually thanking God, "for everything works for good with those who love (God)" (Rom 8:28) or, in another version, "everything helps to secure the good of those who love God" (Knox). Everything that happens in life falls within the providence of God. He permits us to experience sorrows and joys, successes and failures. Therefore, for a Christian who acts in line with his faith, everything is success, even things which in human terms he may find negative and painful; for, if he views disagreeable things in a supernatural way and approaches them with love for Christ's cross, they bring him joy and peace and merit. That is why we should always be grateful to God: "Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because he gives you this and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven't what you need or because you have [...]. Thank him for everything, because everything is good" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 268).

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From: John 6:51-58

The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to the Jews,) [51] "I am the living bread which came down from Heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh." [52] The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" [53] So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you; [54] he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55] For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. [56] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me will live because of Me. [58] This is the bread which came from Heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

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Commentary:

49-51. The manna during the Exodus was a figure of this bread--Christ Himself --which nourishes Christians on their pilgrimage through this world. Communion is the wonderful banquet at which Christ gives Himself to us: "the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh". These words promise the manifestation of the Eucharist at the Last Supper: "This is My body which is for you" (1 Corinthians 11:24). The words "for the life of the world" and "for you" refer to the redemptive value of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In some sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were a figure of the sacrifice of Christ, part of the animal offered up was later used for food, signifying participation in the sacred rite (cf. Exodus 11:3-4). So, by receiving Holy Communion, we are sharing in the sacrifice of Christ: which is why the Church sings in the Liturgy of the Hours on the Feast of Corpus Christi: "O sacred feast in which we partake of Christ: His sufferings are remembered, our minds are filled with His grace and we receive a pledge of the glory that is to be ours" ("Magnificat Antiphon", Evening Prayer II).

52. Christ's hearers understand perfectly well that He means exactly what He says; but they cannot believe that what He says could be true; if they had understood Him in a metaphorical, figurative or symbolic sense there would be no reason for them to be surprised and nothing to cause an argument. Later, Jesus reaffirms what He has said--confirming what they have understood Him to say (cf. verses 54-56).

53. Once again Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary to receive Him in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in divine life and develop the life of grace received in Baptism. No parent is content to bring children into the world: they have to be nourished and looked after to enable them to reach maturity."We receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us an increase of grace and the gift of eternal life" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 289).

54. Jesus clearly states that His body and blood are a pledge of eternal life and a guarantee of the resurrection of the body. St. Thomas Aquinas gives this explanation: "The Word gives life to our souls, but the Word made flesh nourishes our bodies. In this Sacrament is contained the Word not only in His divinity but also in His humanity; therefore, it is the cause not only of the glorification of our souls but also of that of our bodies" ("Commentary on St. John, in loc.").

Our Lord uses a stronger word than just "eating" (the original verb could be translated as "chewing") which shows that Communion is a real meal. There is no room for saying that He was speaking only symbolically, which would mean that Communion was only a metaphor and not really eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ.

"All these invitations, promises and threats sprang from the great desire which (Jesus) had of giving us Himself in the holy Sacrament of the altar. But why should Jesus so ardently desire us to receive Him in Holy Communion? It is because love always sighs for, and tends to a union with, the object beloved. True friends wish to be united in such a manner as to become only one. The love of God for us being immense, He destined us to possess Him not only in Heaven, but also here below, by the most intimate union, under the appearance of bread in the Eucharist. It is true we do not see Him; but He beholds us, and is really present; yes, He is present in order that we may possess Him and He conceals Himself, that we may desire Him, and until we reach our true homeland Jesus Christ wishes in this way to be entirely ours, and to be perfectly united to us" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice", Chapter 2).

55. In the same way as bodily food is necessary for life on earth, Holy Communion is necessary for maintaining the life of the soul, which is why the Church exhorts us to receive this Sacrament frequently: "Every day, as is desirable, and in the greatest possible numbers, the faithful must take an active part in the sacrifice of the Mass, avail themselves of the pure, holy refreshment of Holy Communion and make a suitable thanksgiving in return for this great gift of Christ the Lord. Here are the words they should keep in mind: 'Jesus Christ and the Church desire all Christ's faithful to approach the sacred banquet every day. The basis of this desire is that they should be united to God by the sacrament and draw strength from it to restrain lust, to wash away the slight faults of daily occurrence and to take precautions against the more serious sins to which human frailty is liable' ("Decree of the S.C. of the Council", 20 December 1905)" (Paul VI, "Mysterium Fidei").

"The Savior has instituted the most august sacrament of the Eucharist, which truly contains His flesh and His blood, so that he who eats this bread may live forever; whosoever, therefore, makes use of it often with devotion so strengthens the health and the life of his soul, that it is almost impossible for him to be poisoned by any kind of evil affection. We cannot be nourished with this flesh of life, and live with the affections of death. [...]. Christians who are damned will be unable to make any reply when the just Judge shows them how much they are to blame for dying spiritually, since it was so easy for them to maintain themselves in life and in health by eating His Body which He had left them for this purpose. Unhappy souls, He will say, why did you die, seeing that you had at your command the fruit and the food of life?" (St. Francis de Sales, "Introduction to the Devout Life", II, 20, 1).

56. The most important effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union with Jesus Christ. The very word "communion" suggests sharing in the life of our Lord and becoming one with Him; if our union with Jesus is promoted by all the sacraments through the grace which they give us, this happens more intensely in the Eucharist, for in it we receive not only grace but the very Author of grace: "Really sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. 'Because the bread is one, we, though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread' (1 Corinthians 10:17)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 7). Precisely because the Eucharist is the sacrament which best signifies and effects our union with Christ, it is there that the whole Church manifests and effects its unity: Jesus Christ "instituted in His Church the wonderful sacrament of the Eucharist, by which the unity of the Church is both signified and brought about" (Vatican II, "Unitatis Reditegratio", 2).

57. In Christ, the Incarnate Word sent to mankind, "the whole fullness of deity, dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9) through the ineffable union of His human nature and His divine nature in the Person of the Word. By receiving in this sacramentthe body and blood of Christ indissolubly united to His divinity, we share in the divine life of the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. We will never be able to appreciate enough the intimacy with God Himself--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--that we are offered in the eucharistic banquet.

"We can therefore do nothing more agreeable to Jesus Christ than to go to Communion with the dispositions suitable to so great an action, since we are then united to Jesus Christ, according to the desire of this all-loving God. I have said with 'suitable' and not 'worthy' disposition, for who could communicate if it was necessary to be worthy of so great a Savior? No one but a God would be worthy to receive a God. But by this word suitable, or convenient, I mean such a disposition as becomes a miserable creature, who is clothed with the unhappy flesh of Adam. Ordinarily speaking, it is sufficient that we communicate in a state of grace and with an anxious desire of advancing in the love of Jesus Christ" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice", Chapter 2)

58. For the third time (cf. 6:31-32 and 6:49) Jesus compares the true bread of life, His own body, with the manna God used to feed the Israelites every day during their forty years in the wilderness--thereby, inviting us to nourish our soul frequently with the food of His body.

"'Going to Communion every day for so many years! Anybody else would be a saint by now, you told me, and I...I'm always the same!' Son, I replied, keep up your daily Communion, and think: what would I be if I had not gone'" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 534).

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.