How we reject God's help

19th Sunday Ordinary Time, year B | 1 Kings 19:4-8; Jn 6:41-51

I find it difficult to ask for and accept the help of others. For example, I hate asking for directions. Lucky for me, with GPS I no longer need to do this when I drive. There are still situations where I should to ask for directions, like when I am in the grocery store looking for something on the shelves and cannot find it. Still, I hate asking for help. I would rather walk around trying to find the thing for ten minutes than stopping for 30 seconds to ask an attendant. Sometimes, after not finding what I was looking for, I have simply left the store without it instead of getting help. This, I know, is foolish. Assistance is always available. I just need to ask.

Elijah fed by an Angel, Ferdinand Bol [source]

In different ways, we all find ourselves in difficult situations where we need help. Here I am thinking of circumstances far more serious than not being able to find a particular soup in the grocery store! In the first reading we find the prophet Elijah in dire straights. God had sent Elijah on a mission to call Ahab, an evil king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (see 1 Kings 16:29-33), to conversion. In response, Ahab threatened to kill Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-2), forcing Elijah to flee for his life. In the first reading, Elijah is at the point of giving up, having lost all hope that he would live, let alone complete his mission. “Enough!”, Elijah cried out to God, “now, O Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4). Do you now find yourself in a difficult situation? Although our circumstances are perhaps not as severe as Elijah, we all encounter hard times in which we need help and feel like giving up: seemingly impossible challenges in relationships (marriage, friendship, etc.); unemployment; struggles with addiction; or disillusionment with those in positions of (maybe even with the Church).

When we find ourselves in the the midst of such struggles, sometimes we do not accept the help that God offers. “Who would do something so counterproductive like refusing God’s assistance?” you might be asking. The people in the Gospel are one example (John 6:41-51). Jesus is trying to explain to them that he will give them life. He is the bread from heaven that will nourish them on their journey through life, just as the people of Israel were nourished by manna during their years of wandering in the wilderness. Unlike Elijah, who accepted the nourishment God gave him, the people reject Jesus. They complain and make excuses rather than accepting the help he offers. For many of the struggles we encounter in life, like those serious situations mentioned above, we need to ask other people for help (doctors, counsellors, etc.). At the same time, we need God’s help too. God is always there, ready to give important assistance in our difficulties. He can provide peace, hope and a sense of direction. God wants to help. Sometimes we do not give Him the chance.

One way we prevent God from assisting us is by not spending time with Him in silence. Mother Teresa was found of repeating, “in the silence of the heart God speaks”. If we do not find opportunities for silence, then we will have a hard time hearing the voice of God that consoles and directs us. Elijah sought out God in solitude and silence. He cried out to him in the midst of his anguish and God gave him the strength to continue. Finding times to be alone in silence with God is not easy. We live in a noisy, busy world. We have to fight to carve out silence in our lives. Mother Teresa lived a very active life, often in loud and chaotic urban environments. Because she knew she needed God’s help, she sought him out early each morning in a time of silent prayer. We need to be intentional, and perhaps a bit creative, in finding moments to be alone with God. Maybe when we are driving to work we could turn off the radio and let the car become a place of silence. After we wake up in the morning we could perhaps spend the first couple minutes asking God for help in our day. When we have a few extra minutes of time, like when we are waiting for the bus or have some lull in our day, instead of reaching to look at our cell and check social media or the news we could turn our thoughts to God who is always present with us. In the silence of the heart God speaks. If we have no silence in our life, we may miss what God says to us. In this way, we don’t let him help us.

Just as it is self-defeating (and even a bit foolish!) for me to leave a grocery store without an item rather than asking someone for help, we harm ourselves when we don’t let God help us. Living in such a noisy world, this is only too easy do. The good news, however, is that God always wants to assist us when we encounter difficulties. Let us allow him to help us! What is one way that you can find time to be alone with God in silence each day?

Misunderstanding Signs

Year B, 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time | John 6:24-35

Think of an engagement ring. What is better, the ring, or what that ring symbolizes? Certainly, the physical ring is good, but we would all probably agree that what the ring symbolizes is better. The most important thing is that an engagement ring is sign of the love and commitment of the couple. That said, it is easy focus on the good thing rather than on the better thing. In today’s Gospel (John 6:24-35), we find Jesus correcting people for focusing on the externals of a sign - the good thing - rather than what the sign represents - the better thing. It is as though they want the engagement ring and not what the ring symbolizes!

Jesus Teaches the People by the Sea, J. Tissot [public domain, Wikimedia Commons]

The concept of “sign” is of fundamental importance in the Gospel of John. A sign is some miraculous action of Jesus that reveals a heavenly truth Jesus has come to transmit. While the miraculous action is something good, the divine truth is something better(1). The importance of signs is evident in the very structure of the Gospel as it can be divided into two parts: the Book of Signs (1:19 to 12:50) and the Book of Glory (13:1 to 20:31). In the Book of Signs, we find seven miraculous actions of Jesus. In the Book of Glory, we find the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, an event which, in its totality, is often viewed as the eight sign in the Gospel. In the Book of Signs, each sign follows a familiar pattern. The sixth chapter of John, from which today’s Gospel is taken, describes one such sign and follows the characteristic pattern neatly. First, Jesus works a miraculous action. This is the external, visible, aspect of the sign. It is something good. We heard about this last Sunday when Jesus multiplied loaves and fish and fed a multitude (John 6:1-15). Next, the people for whom Jesus worked the sign fail to understand its significance. They focus on the physical aspect of what Jesus has done only. This misunderstanding then gives Jesus the opportunity to enter into dialogue with the people and explain the significance of the sign that he has worked. Invariably, he tries to convince the people that what the sign represents is something better than the miraculous action he has worked.

In today’s Gospel, we find that the people have misunderstood the sign that Jesus performed and search after what is good while ignoring what is better. Going back to our previous analogy, the people want the engagement ring and not what the ring symbolizes. After Jesus feeds the people and departs, they go in search of him. When he is ultimately found in Capernaum, Jesus chastises the people for their lack of understanding. They followed him because they want more bread. They fail to grasp the divine truth the sign represents. We should not be too hard on the people in the Gospel. The physical bread that people want is something good. Since for many of us bread is a simple and easily available food, it is easy to lose sight of this fact.  An experience a few years ago helped me understand the importance of bread at the time of Jesus. At the time, I was spending a couple of months studying modern Hebrew in Jerusalem in a class of mostly Arab students, both Christian and Muslim. At the end of the program, we had a party and everyone brought in some food. One of my classmates, a young Muslim woman, brought flatbread that was freshly baked. It was warm and delicious! After we tried some of the bread, she proudly showed pictures of how the bread was made. Her mother had woken up at about 4 am to prepare and cook the bread over a charcoal fire. The class was struck by the act of the kindness the student’s mother had done for us. Her gift helps me understand the the action of the people in the Gospel. Bread took some work to make, even when the basic ingredients were on hand. If someone were to provide you with an abundance of bread, you would realize that they cared for you. It is only natural that they would come back to Jesus for more bread!

The bread!

Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the people, while a good thing, symbolizes a divine truth that is more important. In the Gospel, Jesus seizes upon the misunderstanding of the people and tries to convince them that the sign of the multiplication of the loaves represents something better: Jesus himself is the bread of life. Later in this chapter, Jesus will explain to the people two ways in which he is the bread of life. First, Jesus is the bread of life because his teaching nourishes and gives life like bread (6:35-50). Second, Jesus is the bread of life in the Eucharist, which is the very gift of himself (6:51-58). In today’s Gospel, Jesus tries to convince the people the people to come to him not because he can give them physical bread whenever they want, but because he is the bread of life. Going back to our analogy, this great truth is what the engagement ring symbolizes. It is the better thing.

The Gospel challenges us to come to Mass for the right reasons. This is because at every Mass, we receive Jesus the bread of life both in his teachings we hear in the readings and in the Eucharist. This is the better thing. Like the people in the Gospel that only want physical bread from Jesus, we can come to Mass for the lesser reasons and motivations, looking for something other than the bread of life. We can come because we feel obligated or because we like seeing certain people or simply out of a sense of habit. Although many of our reasons for coming to Mass are good and even though it is preferable to come to Mass for ambiguous motivations than not at all, if we come for the the better reason, namely, to receive Jesus the bread of life, we will probably get more out of Mass. Purifying our motivations for coming to Mass has the added benefit that it helps us put external and secondary things in their proper perspective. There is no Mass at any Church in the world that is done perfectly and according to everyone’s taste. We will always find something that makes the experience of the Mass less than optimal. Maybe the Church is too hot or someone beside us is singing out of tune or perhaps the music, liturgical style and preaching is not to our liking. When we get distracted by these considerations, it can be helpful to remind ourselves why we come to Mass. We are here to receive Jesus the bread of life in his word and in the Eucharist. It might be helpful to do some simple things to reenforce in ourselves a proper motivation for coming to Mass. For example, we could take a look at the readings of Mass before coming. We could try to pay especially close attention to the words and actions of the Mass or participate more in the singing and responses. Or, maybe we could say a simple prayer before Mass starts: “Jesus, I have come here for you”.

Just as the people in the Gospel are corrected by Jesus for focusing on the good, but external aspects of a sign (bread) rather than the better, divine truth it represented (Jesus is the bread of life), the Gospel today challenges us to ensure we come to Mass for the right reasons. Going back to our analogy, today is a chance to evaluate whether we we are focused on the engagement ring or what it represents. We would do well to ask ourselves two simply questions. Why are you here at Mass now now? What can you do to make sure the reason you come is to receive Jesus the bread of life in the word and sacrament?

Footnote:

1) For further discussion, see Brown, Raymond. An Introduction to the Gospel of John (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 80-81.

Jesus is the GOAT

Year B, 17th Sunday Ordinary Time | 2 Kings 4:42-44, John 6:1-15

Although I don’t follow much sports news or discussion, there is a term from this world that I find interesting: “goat”. Goat, spelt just like the animal, is an acronym that stands for the “greatest of all time”. In different sports, fans and commentators argue that a particular athlete is the “goat”. In basketball, some content that LeBron James is the goat. Who should be deemed the greatest of all time in a given sport is hotly debated. What is constant in these debates, however, is that whenever an athlete of extraordinary ability arises, people try to assess his or her talents by comparing the athlete to past stars. For example, LeBron James is compared to Michael Jordan. Some argue that the former is the goat, while other hold it is the latter. Early Christians followed a similar strategy. In trying to explain the life and mission of Jesus, they often compared and contrasted him to famous religious figures of the past.

Inside the Church of the Multiplication (Tabgha, Israel), which marks the place of the miracle described in the Gospel. Note the mosaic of the loaves and fish in front of the altar.

In the Gospels, Jesus is regularly likened to great historical leaders of Israel. In an attempt to describe his extraordinary life and mission, authors often compared Jesus to individuals with whom their audience were familiar. This method of comparison is often described as “typology”1. A kind of typology happens in sports. Remarkable athletes are compared to historic greats we can call “types”. This is only natural as current exceptional athletes share similar talents and skills with past stars. The same process happens in other fields. For example, we might say that because of her powers of deduction and reason, a certain journalist is like a new Sherlock Holmes (the type). Likewise, for the Gospel writers, comparing Jesus to other individuals must have come naturally since Jesus behaved in a way similar to religious figures from Israel’s past. At the same time, Gospel writers inserted certain clues or markers that made the comparison of Jesus with past religious figures more explicit. Unless we are familiar with the Old Testament, many of these typological cues pass by us unnoticed. Typological comparisons are quite common in the Gospels and help us better understand who Jesus is.

This Sunday’s Gospel, taken from John, in which Jesus performs a miracle and feeds the multitude (John 6:1-15), is an important example of typology. To help the reader better understand the person of Jesus and the significance of his actions, the Gospel draws out comparisons between Jesus and religious figures from Israel’s past. The Church gives us a hint at one such comparison with the choice of the First Reading (2 Kings 4:42-44). In the Gospel, Jesus is likely being compared to Elisha as both multiply barley loaves to feed a crowd. This comparison should provoke the reader to consider other ways in which Jesus is similar to Elisha. As a result, readers who know something about Elisha will get to know Jesus better. For example, both Elisha and Jesus are successors to other great figures (Elisha to Elijah and Jesus to John the Baptist). Both Elisha and Jesus are greater than their successors. Both are itinerant prophets who works miracles and have disciples. Both are single and acknowledged to be righteous. Another figure to whom Jesus is compared to in the Gospel is Moses (next Sunday’s readings make the connection explicit). A few clues point to this comparison. Just as Moses would often ascend a mountain to encounter God, at the start of today’s Gospel, Jesus went up the mountain. After the miracle, the people speculate that Jesus is truly “the prophet, the one who is to come into the world” (Jn 6:14). In this, the crowd is expressing the expectation that God would eventually send into the world a prophet who was like Moses (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15). Jesus' miracle happens at Passover, a feast associated with Moses. Like Moses fed the people with the gift of manna (via God’s intervention), in the Gospel, Jesus feeds the people with bread. This connection is made more explicit later in the chapter (Jn 6:30-32). Further, right after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee, an event which is reminiscent of the miraculous passage of the people of Israel through the Red Sea. The Gospel today clearly suggests to the reader that Jesus is a new Moses. Jesus brings a new law and works a New Exodus from sin and death. Assuming we catch the clues in the Gospel, the typological comparisons of Jesus to Elisha and Moses help us better understand who Jesus is and what he does for us.

For us Christians, the typology in which Jesus is compared to past religious figures is unlike typologies from sports and other fields in important ways. First, Christian typology is not just about making a comparison, like saying that some athlete has skills that are like those of a past star. Rather, it helps us describe the plan of God throughout history. For us, types in the Old Testament like Elisha and Moses, although of immense and lasting value in God’s plan, prefigure or prepare for Jesus. Who these figures were and what they accomplished is fulfilled in the life and mission of Jesus. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it, “typology indicates the dynamic movement toward the fulfillment of the divine plan when ‘God [will] be everything to everyone’” (CCC 130). Second, although Jesus is compared to various past religious figures, the Gospels make is clear Jesus cannot be adequately described by these types. The Gospel of today hints at this reality. Jesus is a prophet like Elisha but he is so much more. While Elisha fed 100 with 20 barley loaves, Jesus fed over 5000 with only 5 loaves. Jesus is a leader like Moses, but he is so much more. After the people recognize Jesus is a prophet, he withdraws because he knew they were going to make him a king. It does not seem that Jesus is rejecting the title of king. Rather, he withdraws because he does not want to be the kind of king that people expect. In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ brand of kingship is only made manifest on Golgotha. Jesus is a king who suffers and dies for his people. His crown is of thorns; his throne is the cross.

Through the use of typology, the Gospels convey the exceptional nature of Jesus. Unlike typological comparisons in sports, however, in which the identity of the “goat” is up for debate, among Christians there was no argument. Through its use of typology, today’s Gospel challenges us to hold the following truths close to our hearts: 1) Although Jesus is like figures from the past (Moses and Elijah), all comparisons come up short. 2) In God’s plan, Jesus fulfills all the types to which he is compared. 3) Jesus is truly the greatest of all time.

Footnote:

1 For a concise summary of the use of typology in the New Testament, see “Typology” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 783-784.