August 15-16, 2009
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Proverbs 9:1-6 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58
Okay…let’s admit it….aren’t we sometimes secretly (embarrassingly) pleased when we get someone’s answering machine or voice mail and can leave a message….and don’t have to make small talk and actually speak with the person? Ritual is easy, we perform a prescribed action or routine or verbal exercise…and we are finished…and can go our merry ways. The Jewish culture of Jesus’ day was filled with assorted and extensive ritual….as is our RC culture in today’s world. Ritual has its place, it is nice to know that we just have to follow our routines and the morning coffee will get perked, a shower completed, our make-up applied, etc. However, as we have been hearing for these past weeks, Jesus is intent on upsetting the routine and the ritual…..instead of seeking assurance through the following of prescribed formulas…he replaces them with HIS flesh and blood. ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you….my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink….’ While ritual affords a comforting quality….it is the relationship with the PERSON OF JESUS that actually offers EVERYTHING that we wish ritual would do. Yep….no voice mail messages left for Jesus, no dealing with him from a distance….he calls us to take a deep breath and draw close to HIM. Like any relationship, one with Jesus can be confusing and uncertain. A Jesus relationship requires mental gymnastics, listening, talking, sharing, revealing. Most genuine relationships involve emotions: tenderness, anger, annoyance, confusion, love, ecstasy, doubt….and so does a Jesus relationship. A Jesus relationship is not about simply performing a ritual or formulaic memorized prayer but wrestling with a living, growing, expanding encounter. Leaving a message on a voice mail or answering machine is neat, tidy and easy…it requires nothing more than us doing all the talking….and then hanging up. Not so with a relationship with Jesus….but in growing a relationship with HIM….we find the food that nourishes us in ways we never could have imagined!!!
Thank you for joining with us as August reaches the mid-way point. Please keep our Youth Leaders in your prayers as they prepare for their Youth Leadership Camp from August 18-21. The Bulletin has news of other happenings and events on the horizon, please accept a copy on your way home. Also….as a new School Year draws close…don’t forget to stock up on SCRIP for your assorted supplies and gifts for departing college bound youth. Also…have you enrolled your Vons or Ralph’s AFFINITY CARDS (those things that get you a discount when you check-out) so that our Scrip program will automatically benefit from ALL of your purchases whenever you swipe your Affinity Card? It is relatively easy to sign up from the comfort of your home computer….info is available on the Concierge Shelves. In these languishing days of Summer, remember, you are loved. FKB
