We will be sharing a post on the Eucharist later today. In the mean time, we'd like to share a few videos from previous Joe Catholic workshops on the subject of Corpus Christi (Eucharist).
Corpus Christi, Part 1
Corpus Christi, Part 2
You are What You Eat!
“As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man.” (Proverbs 27:17). The Joe Catholic blog is intended to provide Catholics and non-Catholics with resources to assist them in answering God's call to holiness. Our goal is to help people learn their faith, so they can live their faith and share their faith.
Showing posts with label john 6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john 6. Show all posts
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Navarre Bible Commentary:
Saturday, 3rd Week in Easter
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| Source: PureAnimeGallery |
John 6:60–69
60 Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Cited in the Catechism: In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium." He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraphs 438, 440, 473, 728, 1336 and 2766.
Commentary
The disciples’ reaction (6:60–71)
6:60–62. Many of his listeners find the eucharistic mystery completely incomprehensible. Jesus Christ requires his disciples to accept his words because it is he who has spoken them. That is what the supernatural act of faith involves—that act “whereby, inspired and assisted by the grace of God, we believe that the things which he has revealed are true; not because of the intrinsic truth of the things, viewed by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, and who can neither be deceived nor deceive” (Vatican I, Dei Filius, chap. 3).
As on other occasions, Jesus speaks about future events to help his disciples believe: “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe” (Jn 14:29).
6:63. Jesus says that we cannot accept this mystery if we think of it in too human a way, in other words, by just seeking to indulge our senses or having too earthbound a view of things. Only someone who listens to his words and receives them as God’s revelation, which is “spirit and life”, is in a position to accept them.
6:66. The promise of the Eucharist, which caused arguments (v. 52) among Christ’s hearers at Capernaum and scandalized some of them (v. 61), led many people to give up following him. Jesus had outlined a wonderful and salvific truth, but those disciples closed themselves to divine grace; they were not ready to accept anything which went beyond their very limited horizons. The mystery of the Eucharist does call for a special act of faith. St John Chrysostom therefore advised Christians: “Let us in everything believe God, and gainsay him in nothing, though what is said be contrary to our thoughts and senses. […] Let us act likewise in respect to the [eucharistic] mysteries, not looking at the things set before us, but keeping in mind his words. For his word cannot deceive” (St John Chrysostom, Hom. on St Matthew, 82).
6:67–71. This passage is similar to that at Capernaum where Peter again, in the name of the Twelve, takes the initiative in expressing his faith in Jesus as Messiah (cf. Mt 16:13–20; Mk 8:27–30). Other people present may have been unbelieving, but the apostles are not scandalized by our Lord’s words: they say that they have already a deep-rooted confidence in him; they do not want to leave him. What St Peter says (v. 68) is not just a statement of human solidarity but an expression of genuine supernatural faith—as yet imperfect—which is the result of the influence of divine grace on his soul (cf. Mt 16:17).
Although the Twelve stay with him at this point, Judas will later betray the Master. Jesus’ foreknowledge of this future infidelity throws a shadow over his joy at the loyalty of the Twelve. We Christians should be humble enough to realize that we are capable of betraying our Lord if we give up using the means he has left us to cleave to him. St Peter’s words (v. 68) are a beautiful aspiration we can use whenever we feel tempted.
6:68. Simon Peter expresses the feelings of the apostles who, through staying loyal to Jesus, are getting to know him much better and becoming more closely involved with him: “Seek Jesus; endeavouring to acquire a deep personal faith that will inform and direct your whole life. But, above all, let it be your commitment and your programme to love Jesus, with a sincere, authentic and personal love. He must be your friend and your support along the path of life. He alone has words of eternal life” (John Paul II, Address to students in Guadalajara, 30 January 1979).
6:69. “The Holy One of God”: this is what the original text must have said, according to most of the Greek codexes and the most important early translations. “The Holy One” is one of the expressions which designate the Messiah (cf. Mk 1:24; Lk 1:35; 4:34; Acts 2:27; Ps 16:10), or God himself (cf. Is 6:3; 43:15; 1 Pet 1:15; 1 Jn 2:20; etc.). The rendering “the Christ, the Son of God” found in some translations, including the Vulgate, is supported by less important Greek manuscripts, and would seem to be an explanation of the messianic significance of the original phrase.
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.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Navarre Bible Commentary:
Thursday, 3rd Week in Easter
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| Source: Slideshare |
John 6:44–51
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 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.”
Cited in the Catechism: In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium." He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraphs 151, 259, 591, 728, 1001, 1355, 1406, 1428 and 2837.
Commentary
6:44–45. Seeking Jesus until one finds him is a free gift which no one can obtain through his own efforts, although everyone should try to be well disposed to receiving it. The Magisterium of the Church has recalled this teaching in Vatican II: “Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth” (Dei Verbum, 5).
When Jesus says “They shall all be taught by God”, he is evoking Isaiah 54:13 and Jeremiah 31:33ff, where the prophets refer to the future Covenant which God will establish with his people when the Messiah comes, the Covenant which will be sealed forever with the blood of the Messiah and which God will write on their hearts (cf. Is 53:10–12; Jer 31:31–34).
The last sentence of v. 45 refers to God’s revelation through the prophets and especially through Jesus Christ.
6:46. Men can know God the Father only through Jesus Christ, because only he has seen the Father, whom he has come to reveal to us. In his prologue St John has already said: “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (Jn 1:18). Later on Jesus will say to Philip at the Last Supper: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9), for Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one goes to the Father except through him (cf. Jn 14:6).
In other words, in Christ God’s revelation to men reaches its climax: “For he sent his Son, the eternal Word who enlightens all men, to dwell among men and to tell them about the inner life of God (cf. Jn 1:1–18). Hence, Jesus Christ, sent as ‘a man among men’, ‘utters the words of God’ (Jn 3:34), and accomplishes the saving work which the Father gave him to do (cf. Jn 5:36; 17:4). To see Jesus is to see his Father (cf. Jn 14:9)” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 4).
Jesus is the Bread of Life in the Eucharist (6:48–59)
6:48. With this solemn declaration, which he repeats because of his audience’s doubts (cf. Jn 6:35, 41), Jesus begins the second part of his discourse, in which he explicitly reveals the great mystery of the Blessed Eucharist. Christ’s words have such a tremendous realism about them that they cannot be interpreted in a figurative way: if Christ were not really present under the species of bread and wine, this discourse would make absolutely no sense. But if his real presence in the Eucharist is accepted on faith, then his meaning is quite clear and we can see how infinite and tender his love for us is.
This is so great a mystery that it has always acted as a touchstone for Christian faith: it is proclaimed as “the mystery of our faith” immediately after the Consecration of the Mass. Some of our Lord’s hearers were scandalized by what he said on this occasion (cf. vv. 60–66). Down through history people have tried to dilute the obvious meaning of our Lord’s words. In our own day the church Magisterium has explained this teaching in these words: “When transubstantiation has taken place, there is no doubt that the appearance of the bread and the appearance of the wine take on a new expressiveness and a new purpose since they are no longer common bread and common drink, but rather the sign of something sacred and the sign of spiritual food. But they take on a new expressiveness and a new purpose for the very reason that they contain a new ‘reality’ which we are right to call ontological. For beneath these appearances there is no longer what was there before but something quite different […] since on the conversion of the bread and wine’s substance, or nature, into the body and blood of Christ, nothing is left of the bread and the wine but the appearances alone. Beneath these appearances Christ is present whole and entire, bodily present too, in his physical ‘reality’, although not in the manner in which bodies are present in place.
“For this reason the Fathers have had to issue frequent warnings to the faithful, when they consider this august sacrament, not to be satisfied with the senses which announce the properties of bread and wine. They should rather assent to the words of Christ: these are of such power that they change, transform, ‘transelement’ the bread and the wine into his body and blood. The reason for this, as the same Fathers say more than once, is that the power which performs this action is the same power of almighty God that created the whole universe out of nothing at the beginning of time” (Paul VI, Mysterium fidei).
Concerning the Blessed Eucharist cf. also the notes on Mt 26:26–29; Mk 14:22, 24, 25; and Lk 22:16–20.
6:49–51. 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 Cor 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. Ex 11:3–4). So, by receiving Holy Communion, we are sharing in the sacrifice of Christ: which is why the Church sings in the Divine Office 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).
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.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Navarre Bible Commentar:
Wednesday, 3rd Week in Easter
John 6:35–40
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day..
Cited in the Catechism: In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium." He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraphs 161, 606, 989, 1001, 2824.
Commentary
Jesus is the one who reveals the Father (6:35–47)
6:35. Going to Jesus means believing in him, for it is through faith that we approach our Lord. Jesus uses the metaphor of food and drink to show that he is the one who really meets all man’s noblest aspirations: “How beautiful is our Catholic faith! It provides a solution for all our anxieties, calms our minds and fills our hearts with hope” (St Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 582).
6:37–40. Jesus clearly reveals that he is the one sent by the Father. This is something St John the Baptist proclaimed earlier on (Jn 3:33–36), and Jesus himself stated it in his dialogue with Nicodemus (3:17–21) and announced publicly in Jerusalem (5:20–30). Since Jesus is the one sent by the Father, the bread of life come down from heaven to give life to the world, everyone who believes in him has eternal life, for it is God’s will that everyone should be saved through Jesus Christ. These words of Jesus contain three mysteries: 1) that of faith in Jesus Christ, which means “going to Jesus”, accepting his miracles (signs) and his words; 2) the mystery of the resurrection of believers, something which begins in this life through faith and becomes fully true in heaven; 3) the mystery of predestination, the will of our Father in heaven that all men be saved. These solemn words of our Lord fill the believer with hope.
St Augustine, commenting on vv. 37 and 38, praises the humility of Jesus: Jesus chose not to do his own will but that of the Father who sent him: “Humbly am I come, to teach humility am I come, as the master of humility am I come; he who comes to me is incorporated in me; he who comes to me, becomes humble; he who cleaves to me will be humble, for he does not his will but God’s” (In Ioann. Evang., 25, 15 and 16).
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.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Navarre Bible Commentary:
Tuesday, 3rd Week of Easter
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| Source: Fullertont |
John 6:30–35
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.
Cited in the Catechism: In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium." He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraphs 423 and 1094.
Commentary
6:28–34. This dialogue between Jesus and his hearers is reminiscent of the episode of the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4:11–15). On that occasion Jesus was speaking about water springing up to eternal life; here, he speaks of bread coming down from heaven to give life to the world. There, the woman was asking Jesus if he was greater than Jacob; here the people want to know if he can compare with Moses (cf. Ex 16:13). “The Lord spoke of himself in a way that made him seem superior to Moses, for Moses never dared to say that he would give food which would never perish but would endure to eternal life. Jesus promises much more than Moses. Moses promised a kingdom, and a land flowing with milk and honey, good health and other temporal blessings […], plenty for the belly, but food which perishes; whereas Christ promised food which never perishes but which endures forever” (St Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 25:12).
These people know that the manna—food which the Jews collected every day during their journey through the wilderness (cf. Ex 16:13ff)—symbolized messianic blessings; which was why they asked our Lord for a dramatic sign like the manna. But there was no way they could suspect that the manna was a figure of a great supernatural messianic gift which Christ was bringing to mankind—the Blessed Eucharist. In this dialogue and in the first part of the discourse (vv. 35–47), the main thing Jesus is trying to do is bring them to make an act of faith in him, so that he can then openly reveal to them the mystery of the Blessed Eucharist—that he is the bread “which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world” (v. 33). Also, St Paul explains that the manna and the other marvels which happened in the wilderness were a clear prefiguring of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor 10:3–4). The disbelieving attitude of these Jews prevented them from accepting what Jesus revealed. To accept the mystery of the Eucharist, faith is required, as Paul VI stressed: “In the first place we want to remind you that the Eucharist is a very great mystery; strictly speaking, to use the words of sacred liturgy, it is ‘the mystery of faith’. This is something well known to you but it is essential to the purpose of rejecting any poisonous rationalism. Many martyrs have witnessed to it with their blood. Distinguished Fathers and Doctors of the Church in unbroken succession have taught and professed it. […] We must, therefore, approach this mystery, above all, with humble reverence, not following human arguments, which ought to be hushed, but in steadfast adherence to divine revelation” (Mysterium fidei).
Jesus is the one who reveals the Father (6:35–47)
6:35. Going to Jesus means believing in him, for it is through faith that we approach our Lord. Jesus uses the metaphor of food and drink to show that he is the one who really meets all man’s noblest aspirations: “How beautiful is our Catholic faith! It provides a solution for all our anxieties, calms our minds and fills our hearts with hope” (St Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 582).
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.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome
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