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| Atlas Martyrs Grove Rock, from river bed gift. View Traprain Law 'treasure', Christian items included. |
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:24-35.
A Commentary on Saint John's gospel by Saint Theophylact (PG 123, 1297-1301)
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
Night Office gave us the Reading from:A Commentary on Saint John's gospel by Saint Theophylact (PG 123, 1297-1301)
From
a commentary on Saint John's gospel
by
Saint Theophylact (PG 123, 1297-1301)
Bodily life is sustained by ordinary bread; spiritual
life is sustained by Christ through the sacrament of his body and blood He
gives believers immortality of both body and soul; and satisfies our hunger and
thirst for ever.
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert;
as it is written, "He gave them
bread from heaven to eat." Wishing
to persuade Christ to perform the kind of miracle that would provide them with
bodily nourishment, the people in their insatiable greed called to mind the
manna. What was the reply of our Lord Jesus, the infinite wisdom of God? It was not Moses who gave you bread.
In other words, "Moses did not give you the true bread. On the
contrary, everything that happened in his time was a prefiguration of what is
happening now. Moses represented God, the real
leader of the spiritual Israelites, while that bread typified myself, who have
come down from heaven and who am the true bread which gives genuine nourishment."
Our Lord refers to himself as the true. bread not because the manna was something illusory, but because it was only a type and a shadow, and not the reality it signified.
Our Lord refers to himself as the true. bread not because the manna was something illusory, but because it was only a type and a shadow, and not the reality it signified.
This
bread, being the Son of the living Father, is life by its very nature, and
accordingly gives life to all Just as earthly bread sustains the fragile
substance of the flesh and prevents it from falling into decay, so Christ
quickens the soul through the power of the Spirit, and also preserves even the
body for immortality. Through Christ resurrection from the dead and bodily
immortality have been gratuitously bestowed upon the human race.
Jesus said to the people: “I am the
bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in
me shall never thirst." He did not say "the bread of bodily nourishment," but
"the bread of life." For when everything had been reduced to a
condition of spiritual death,
the Lord gave us life
through himself, who is bread because, as we believe, the
leaven in the dough of our humanity was baked through and through by the fire
of his divinity. He is the bread not of this ordinary life, but of a very
different kind of life which death will never cut short
Whoever
believes in this bread will never hunger, will never be famished for want of
hearing the word of God; nor will such a person be parched by spiritual thirst
through lack of the waters of baptism and the consecration imparted by the
Spirit The unbaptized, deprived of the refreshment afforded by the sacred
water, suffer thirst and great aridity. The baptized, on the other hand, being
possessed of the Spirit, enjoy its continual consolation
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| Memorial Grove - Names of Atlas Martyrs inscribed on stone seat, rock and walk pavements, Catmint flower border, place of prayer. |
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Al-Bushra walks the streets of the
world seeking truth and justice for all.
Since 1997 Al-Bushra has helped
people explore the heritage, history, traditions, theology, and current
events of the people in the Middle East. Al-Bushra continues to provide information
about the stands take by the Vatican, heads of Christian communities, and
leaders of religious and human rights movements regarding issues in the Holy
Land.
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Manhu
This "manhu" is also called "bread from heaven" "God rained manna upon them for food; bread from heaven he gave them". Psalm 77, 78:24
St. John 6: 30-59 will mention the manna when he will speak about the bread of life, which is the body of Christ. "What sing can you do, that we may see and believe in you? ... Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world...I am the bread of life ... because I came down from heaven ... The Jews murmured about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," ...Jesus answered and said to them, "Stop murmuring among yourselves ...I am the living of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died ... I am 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 ..."
This "manhu" will be then the symbol of our communion of the body of Christ at mass. In fact Theophylact (c.1050-1109) a theologian and archbishop of Ochrida in Bulgaria and who was using the Slavonic language, said: "Our Lord refers to himself as the true bread not because the manna was something illusory, but because it was only a type and shadow, and not the reality it signified".
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| 7 Trees in Memorial Grove Holm Oaks in rear. Roundels - field over village of Garvald |
You will be tempted to see in the Holy Communion just a kind of practice. You come to mass, then you share with all people the body and blood of Christ, without just thinking of what this communion impact.
In the life of the Israelite this "manhu" was a sign that they are loved, cared and chosen by God. As long as they had this bread they will feel, despite some grumble from time to time, as the people of God. This same "manhu" made from them one body with the God of the Old Testament.
Does the communion make from you the same?
One body with the God of the New Testament, Jesus!
One body with the people that share the same bread of heaven!
One world, one community, one church, one family!
Remember these words of St. Paul: "A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discern ourselves, we would not be under judgment." 1cor. 11: 28-32
