20240818 LIVING A LIFE OF WISDOM BY BEING AN EUCHARIST FOR OTHERS
18 August 2024, Sunday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Proverbs 9:1-6 |
Wisdom builds her house and invites all to eat her bread there
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 despatched 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 filled not with wine, but with the Spirit
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 recognise 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 Acclamation | Jn1:14,12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn6:56 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:51-58 |
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘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.’
LIVING A LIFE OF WISDOM BY BEING AN EUCHARIST FOR OTHERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Prov 9:1-6; Ps 34:2-3,10-15; Eph 5:15-20; Jn 6:51-58]
St Paul, writing to the Ephesians, said, “Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people.” Indeed, we are called to live our lives intelligently and wisely. But what does it mean to live a life of wisdom? People in the world claim that they know how to live their lives. They believe that happiness in life is to be free to do whatever they want, unrestrained by the rules of tradition, customs, religions and even the laws of the country. Happiness is also spelt out in terms of adventure, pleasure, enjoyment and entertainment. For those who have tasted the pleasures of life, they want to seek something more, such as power, glory, honour and wealth. Regardless, happiness for them consists in satisfying the cravings of the flesh; and pandering to the ego of the person.
But is this truly a life of wisdom? Can one find real happiness even if all these are satisfied? St Paul said, “This may be a wicked age, but your lives should 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.” Mere enjoyment, pleasure and ambition will dissipate our energy instead of giving us peace. Happiness for St Paul is to recognize the will of God for us. It is in seeking His will that we find true happiness because our will is attuned to the will of God. This is where we find lasting peace and happiness.
Where can true wisdom be found except in God alone? The first reading from the Book of Wisdom invites us to the Table of the Lord. “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.'” These words from the Book of Wisdom alludes to the flesh and blood that our Lord came to give us for our salvation. Jesus said, “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.”
The Eucharist for us, therefore, is the great wisdom of God, an infinite gift to humanity. Jesus bequeathed the Eucharist to the Church so that He could continue to give us His life through His Word and through the Sacrament. He said, “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 forever.” To partake of the Eucharist is to hear His Word as proclaimed to us in the scriptures, and to celebrate our fellowship with Him in worship and in receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is through the Word of God that we are instructed in the truth and the right way to live. As the book of Wisdom 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.”
But the Eucharist is not just an instruction but the way in which we draw life from the Lord. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me.” Following Jesus, we are called to draw life from Him. But what is this life that we are called to draw? It is His utter self-giving to us, not just by dying on the cross for our salvation but that He would deign to make Himself present to us in the Eucharist through the consecration performed by His priests.
So, through the Eucharist we are reminded that happiness consists in giving our lives for others. We are called to be bread broken for others. The wisdom of life is to offer ourselves for the service of our brothers and sisters. This is the only life that is worthy of living. Of course, there is no harm enjoying the gifts of creation, the beauty of nature, the joy of eating and drinking, arts and music. But these alone cannot sustain our human spirit. We are created in God’s image and likeness, which means that we are created for love and to love. Unless we love, life has no meaning. The greater the capacity to love, the greater the joy we receive. Those who love less will be less happy. Those who love a few people will have a lesser joy. Those who love more will find life tremendously meaningful and worth living. When people have no will to live on in life, it is because they do not live for others, or think they are of no use to others, especially the elderly; more so if they are homebound.
Second, whilst our life is to live for others, it is ultimately to live for God. St Paul exhorts the Christians, “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.” This is why, loving and caring for others presuppose that we are always in union with God through worship, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, the summit of Christian worship. This is so, not only because we draw strength and inspiration from the Lord but also because we want to be conscious that whatever we do or say, we give glory to God and lead others to Him; not to ourselves. Only when we serve without self-interests can we find godly joy. Otherwise, one can give to the Church or render services but, as the Lord said, “they have had their worldly reward!”
In this way, we truly make ourselves the sacrament of Jesus for others. Receiving the Eucharist must transform the way we think of ourselves. We no longer think of ourselves as merely individuals but as the Body of Christ. We are no longer living for ourselves but for the community. Receiving the Body of Christ transforms us into His body. We become one with each other and we live for each other. This is the way of the Holy Trinity; the way the three persons relate with each other. So, too, when we are inclusive in our love, we bring people to encounter God’s love in and through us.
Finally, living for others is not something we choose to do, but rather, we discern His will as to how He wants us to serve Him and His people. St Paul says, “do not be thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord.” Living a life of wisdom, therefore, would mean that we think through our vocation in life. How are we called to be bread broken for others? What is the Lord calling us to do? Unless we live out our vocation, we are not living a life of wisdom. Many in the world are successful at making money, establishing their career, but their lives are empty because they find something is lacking in their life, or that their talents are not put to use in a way that is truly expressive of their zeal and passion in their life. It is important, therefore, to consider how we want to use our life for others. Having a good career is not the same as living a life of wisdom. Living our vocation and giving our heart and soul to what we believe is what God wants us to do, will give us a life of wisdom.
Regardless how we live our lives, the bottom line is clear. There is no other way to find life than to give our life for others as Christ did. This is why Jesus told His disciples, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” (Mt 16:25f) This is the hard truth. This is true wisdom. But this is also why many cannot find life. The Lord warns His disciples, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Mt 7:13f) Alas, how true are the words of St Paul, “Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.” (1 Cor 2:14f)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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