A Message from Fr. Jay
Dear Friends,
The world we live in today is so sophisticated. Such sophistication is obviously seen in institutions, systems, homes and lives. We are influenced by what we see and hear. Commercials play a major role in this business. Most often, it is not what we see or hear in the commercials, yet we watch them. The readings today, in a way, put out two commercials that are real and truthful, one in the first reading and the other in the gospel.
In the first reading, the commercial on wisdom, and in the gospel, on Jesus Himself (Holy Eucharist). Both invite us to come and taste them. In continuation to our reflections on the Holy Eucharist for the past two weeks, this week’s readings take us a step further.
I had a visiting priest from India last week and this is his first time in the United States. I took him to Disney and Universal Studios (this is my 26th time to Epcot-Disney! As always, I am the uber as well as tour guide for all Indian priest friends visiting Florida and I have many of them! While we walked around Universal Studios, he was tempted to try a snack…. a huge size turkey leg! With some hesitation in my mind about how others would look at us, I bought two of them- one for each of us. As we were walking with these huge ‘snacks’ in our hands and biting it, you could see the reactions from passersby. The snack was not quite done- I had to bite, chew, and gnaw hard. We felt somewhat embarrassed (but, we didn’t want to waste the food!)
“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”. Eating, as mentioned here, is not simply intake of food. It is biting, chewing, and gnawing, which in original Greek is called ‘trogo’. It means, that one needs to taste and experience Jesus with entirety and in wholeness.
Gaining wisdom will make us understand the mystery of the Holy Eucharist that Jesus speaks in the words in the gospel now, and institutes it later, before His passion and death. His flesh is not simply human flesh. It is the combination of His own words that originated from his mouth and the bread – which is the work of human hands. That’s why, when the priest prepares the gifts in the liturgy of the Eucharist, during the offertory, he says this prayer, “blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you; the fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.”
The second reading speaks about how one could gain the life of wisdom. By understanding the will of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, praising the Lord with gratitude and adding greater glory of the name of the Lord are the ways of expressing the life of wisdom.
Are we ready to buy the commercial that came from Jesus Himself?
God Bless,
Fr. Jay Raju
I Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6
II Reading: Ephesians 5: 15-20
Gospel: John 6: 51-58
