To make life-giving choices in life, we need to choose to accept Christ, the Bread of Life, as an act of gratitude
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 18, 2024
Life is a series of choices: either setting our own direction(s), or how we react to what others choose for us, or do to us. How Do You Make Good Choices?
This is where Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life starts to make more sense. We usually focus too much, in this Gospel Reading, on the literal meaning of “eat my flesh,” and miss the result/ intention: Christ is inviting us to be His presence on earth: to be generous and not selfish.
It’s through our generosity we find meaning, love, and are able to build peaceful communities. Someone joked that we become what we eat: in recent years, in wealthy countries, we see that can indeed be true: obesity is an increasing problem.
However, when we eat the Bread of Life (Christ), it is our soul that grows larger: the evidence of which is seen in our generosity to share and to forgive: ie. making life-giving choices. If we find our lives are boring and unhappy, check whether we are generous: it is the petrol of life.
Our goals in life are achieved if we: “make good choices … stay true to our morals and values and ensure fears/ doubts aren’t impacting our decisions.” thegoalchaser.com/quotes-about-making-choices/ As Christians, when we eat the Bread of Life, Christ forms our morals and values so our decisions can be LIFE-GIVING: for others, for ourselves; and less driven by fear and doubts.
When we give life to others (sharing/ forgiving), we automatically receive life back from them: but sometimes it’s like an echo and takes some time to come back. Perhaps you don’t believe me, because often the “echo” back to us can take a long time!
But look at it from the negative perspective: when we make choices that are selfish, they also comes back to kill us: sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. eg. when we choose to be a bully at school, eventually we get caught and sometimes expelled. But, usually, we eventually lose our friends, or the “friends” we attract run away when we need them.
Just think about raising teenage children: sometimes they don’t appreciate the tough love of parents for several years. But, eventually, when we see the children doing well and making good decisions in later life, we know the joy of “a job well done” and having had “a life of purpose!” They experience deep gratitude that their lives, and pain, were not wasted.
Appreciating others is very easy to do, usually quick and not costly. But it is life-giving and powerful for the other person: especially fathers to sons, mothers to daughters, boss to worker.
The same for our teachers, but often teachers lose track of their students who rarely come back to say “thanks”. But, let me share with you how one of our Nairobi youth group did just that.
In one of my talks I had encouraged the group to express appreciation and experience the joy it brings: it takes our thoughts away from the negative things in our lives. I had said, go back and appreciate one of your parents, teachers, or other significant person in your life. To appreciate others is a small life-giving choice that has a big impact on the other, and on ourselves.
One young man shared his experience: it was his maths teacher from grade 7/8. He said, when she read the letter and saw his phone number, she called him. She was crying tears of joy and said: “no one has ever come back to say thank you to me.” The youth member said he almost cried with joy in response, but he can’t tell anyone that, or they would laugh at him! Ha, ha.
Often we make ourselves sad and worry, because we do not express gratitude often enough: we are always looking for what more can I get, and complaining about what I don’t yet have! Those thoughts are not life-giving choices and prevent us from being Bread of Life for others.
Benedictine Monk, Br David Steindl Rast, said: gratitude is the basis of all prayer. Now, prayer is a balance of words, silence and action: if we think about gratitude, then we can act on it! It ensures our prayers are received by God and, importantly, we can feel God’s responses.
A gentleman called Phil McGraw said: “Eighty percent of all choices are based on fear. Most people don’t choose what they want; they choose what they think is safe.” Is this true for you? This is often caused by a lack of remembering, with gratitude, what others have done for us.
At the Eucharist, Jesus said: do this in memorial of me. When we remember the sacrifices of Christ, our parents, our teachers and friends, it helps us celebrate the good things in our lives. We can only choose that which is truthful when we have accepted the Bread of Life.
Finally, “We cannot control the behaviour of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.” (Roy T. Bennett). The Bread of Life allows us to make life-giving responses.
Our 3 readings focus on making the right choices: choose Wisdom; choose to live good lives respecting others; and choosing to receive the Bread of Life. What will you choose today? Be the Bread of Life for others: give meaning/ joy to them; and so discover more joy in your life!
By Gerard Conlan, OMI
