HOMILY FOR NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B. 08.08.2021
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DO YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING UP?
There are moments in life we experience sadness and nothing around pleases
us. Moments we experience hopelessness and unnecessarily stay with anger
which persists over a long period of time. It is a moment of depression when
things seem not to be working out well as planned. It’s a moment we see no
reason for living and the thought of suicide comes up. Today’s liturgy helps
us reflect on such moments in our lives, as in the case of Elijah and the
liturgy proffers solution to us, which is inherent in Jesus Christ, the
bread of life. All we need is believe in Him.
In the first reading, we have the event that took place on the journey of
Elijah from Beersheba to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. From this
reading, we notice how some of the biblical heroes like Elijah and Moses,
felt and expressed their weaknesses the way we do. These great men of God
were not different from us. It was the same Elijah, the mighty man in
prayer, mighty enough to make the rain and the dew stop for three and a half
years, and mighty enough to make it start again at his prayer. The same
Elijah who also witnessed God in the home of the widow, in a year of famine
and in the fire. The same Elijah who was courageous against Ahab in his
palace all of a sudden became afraid of the threat of Jezebel that he had to
flee to the wilderness. He made this journey to the Mountain where God
revealed Himself to Moses and made a covenant with the Israelites (Ex. 19). These two figures are significantly present in the transfiguration of Christ
(Divine revelation). Like Moses, Elijah also felt his weakness on his way to
the Mountain and could not endure it anymore. He asked that he should die,
saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life; for I am not better than my
fathers.”
Sometimes we feel and act like Elijah, tired of our journeys, we get tired
of the constant fights against evil, we get sad when things do not work out
well for us. We get frustrated when we pray and it seems God no longer
listens to us. We sometimes find ourselves in moments “When the well runs
dry” and no zeal to forge ahead. In such moments, all that comes to mind is
to give up and some will say, “Enough is enough!”
In situations of this kind, the reading draws our attention to Divine
Providence.
Through the Angel, God made provision for Elijah, who said to him, “Arise and eat… so he arose, and ate and drank and walked in the strength
of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.” Truly, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
The Gospel presents a continuation of the catechesis of Jesus Christ the
bread which came down from heaven. When the Pharisees heard this teaching of
Christ, they murmured against him: why will he say he came down from heaven.
They looked for means to discredit Christ and his works but He proved to
them that He is the bread of life that has come down from heaven. He said to
them, “He who believes has eternal life.” Not even Elijah nor Moses or any of the prophets or holy men in the
Scriptures used a statement like this: “Believe in me and have eternal
life.”
He went further to say, “…and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my
flesh.” What a hard teaching!
Christ speaking in metaphor referred to His soon-coming work of
redemption on the cross when he gave his life as a sacrifice pleasing to
God the Father and as a substitute for guilty sinners.
Therefore, all a sinner needs to have eternal life is to believe in Christ.
This is enough because when we believe in Him, we act in accordance with His
commandments. On various occasions at the breaking of bread and at the last
supper, he said to His disciples, “This is my body which will be given up for you, do this in memory of
me” (Lk 22:19).
As the Angel called Elijah to arise and eat, Christ also calls us in
today’s liturgy to arise and eat his body, and drink his blood, which we
have in the form of bread and wine. In accordance with the second reading,
this is the food that will enable us arise from our slumber, bitterness,
anger, malice and all sorts of evil. This table of banquet invites us to
imitate Christ and to walk in love as He has loved us and gave his life
as fragrant offering and sacrifice to God for us.
It invites us to forgive one another and never commune with grudges.
Dear friends in Christ, whenever we feel tired, sad and want to give up,
let us turn to Christ in the Eucharist who sustains and gives us the
strength we need for our journey to arrive and encounter the true God at
Horeb. If you do not partake of this food that sustains us on our journey
today as a result of unpreparedness or sin, will you continue to swim in it
or you will rise from your frailty, take the Eucharistic bread that comes
down from heaven and eat?
Happy Sunday!
Fr. Ken Dogbo, OSJ
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