This coming Sunday is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We are in the midst of a sequence of Gospel readings taken from John 6 – the Bread of Life discourse. We come to a critical point in the narrative as Jesus alternatively has addressed two groups: the crowd of people who followed Jesus and his own disciples. Everything began with the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 (plus) people whose response is that they want to take Jesus away and declare him “king.” (v.15) But Jesus knows their hearts and withdraws – but the crowd follows. They are astounded by the miracle of the feeding, but miss the “sign” it was meant to convey. It is good to remember that St. John never refers to “miracles” but only to “signs” as the acts point beyond the result of the act and reveal the One who is the actor, Jesus. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, lectionary cycle B. We have been taking a “summer break” from the Gospel of Mark, our normal gospel reading for cycle B, as we explore Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John – the Bread of Life Discourse. This “summer break” began on the 17th Sunday and will conclude on the 21st Sunday. However, this week’s gospel reading is perhaps the most dense in language, theology, and nuance. Not surprisingly, it is the passage for which there is a very wide, diverging understanding. Continue reading →