Toward a New Person
in Christ Jesus
On the next several Sundays, we will hear Jesus’ speaking
of Himself, as the “Bread of Life”. Whatever ways in which we understand the meaning of
the words “Bread” and “Life”, Jesus is saying clearly that He is our source and
sustenance for a life of integrity. However, important to remember here, Jesus
is speaking about Himself in the variety of ways in which He comes to us. He comes in Community, in Word, in Sacrament,
and in many other ways known only to Him.
(Important to remember that the Eucharistic spin on the Sermon is there,
but primarily in its closing words.)
Whatever way to understand Jesus’ Words might mean, St
Paul’s language in the second reading from Ephesians can be helpful. In Christ Jesus, “you
must lay aside your former way of life and the old self which deteriorate
through illusion and desire and acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking.”
It is important to recall that the New Testament has only
been around for 2000 years, a mere minute “drop in the bucket” of time of a 4
billion earth. Sadly, we frequently
tended to think dualistically in the sense that we had the truth and good luck
to other peoples and cultures. However, as St John XXIII said last century, “We know more now”. The meaning of the
Gospel of the Commonwealth (better than “Kingdom!) of God still exist in
evolving forms in our modern world. We have some idea of what Jesus’ agenda was
(and still is) but we need to clarify its meaning in our evolving age. Honest people know that we are not living in
a Golden Age of Christian Faith. We still have a long way to go.
Since the fourth century since the days of Constantine’s
Edict of Milan and St Augustine’s City
of God, Catholics lived in a clouded environment. They tended to think
dualistically, one was a Christian or not.
Through the evolving theory of the divine rights of kings, empires and
kings claim to be delegates of God who ordained the created order and these
kings and their empires were God-given. One had to behave and act accordingly
to what God wants. Try to practice, for example, St Augustine’s “just war
thinking” in the Middle Ages. One wouldn’t last very long as an individual.
The
principle of “individuation” evolved
in modern times reflecting the mentality that one is an individual who lives
within community and who is responsible for the moral conduct of one’s life
within community. Obviously, this concept would not have worked for most people
in constricted and controlled situations in earlier times. Even
today, the right to dissent in an unjust situation is frequently tolerated over
there, not here. For example, in Vatican
II, the bishops proclaimed the right to religious freedom, viz., following
one’s conscience. Many theologians in post Vatican II days found that the right
to religious freedom didn’t really exist with our own institution. Ask Hans
Kung, Charles Curran, Elizabeth Johnson, Margaret Farley about their experience
of religious freedom within the institution that proclaimed as a human right.
As
St Paul says in the second reading today, “We
must no longer live as nonbelievers do – their minds empty. That is not what
you learned when you learned Christ”
However, the problem is that because we have been baptized, we think that we
have learned Christ. Learning Christ is a lifelong ongoing process, which will
not be completed until we breathe our last in this life.
A
sad by-product of the Catholic school system in the USA is that we incorrectly got
the impression that you had all the religious education you needed when you
were confirmed. You thought that you understood Christ and His place in your
life (when you are 14 years old!!!). A sad corollary of that is that the idea
of ongoing religious education for adults was neglected or trivialized. As one
lady said years ago, “I know what I need to know. Thanx for the offer.”
Recently, a lady said to a priest before the start of the Mass, “Don’t go too
long, Father. I have important things to do.” Basically, what she wanted was a
quick (8 minute, at most) sermon. Ongoing
religious education for a congregation of mixed ages. Give us a break!
Today,
Jesus speaks of Himself as the Bread of Life. Several years ago, when Rome took Vatican II
seriously, Suzanne Toolan, an American sister, wrote “I Am the Bread of Life”
which is in every USA Catholic’s repertoire. We will be hearing it probably
several times at Mass in the next five weeks because we will hear Jesus’ Sermon
on the Bread of Life. Focus on a particular
line or verse within the hymn and mediate what it means existentially in your
own life. How is Jesus your “Bread of Life”? Try to remember that one eats three times a day,
seven days a week. Jesus is not just a weekly drive thru for a refill, but rather, please God, an
ongoing feast in which we continue to learn what Jesus means when He refers to
Himself as the Bread of Life. We are
still trying in Christ Jesus to lay aside your
former way of life and the old self which deteriorate through illusion and
desire and acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking.” We are still in process! 080215ADjfq
