{"id":572,"date":"2012-08-07T14:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T18:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=572"},"modified":"2012-08-09T10:03:33","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T14:03:33","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementsc-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=572","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">    var _gaq = _gaq || [];   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']);   _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);    (function() {     var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;     ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';     var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);   })();  <\/script>  <\/heat>Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Jn. 6: 41 \u2013 51 The Bread of Life Discourse [Continuing] <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Background<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Fr. Ray Brown&#8217;s masterful Anchor Bible study of <em>The Gospel According to John<\/em> points out that there are two themes in the Bread of Life Discourse; one &#8211; the revelation of God in Jesus and the other is the Eucharist as the Bread of Life. Obviously the focus of this passage is on the Eucharist as the Bread of Life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">But we have a problem in hearing Jesus&#8217; message; a problem that is due to a simple fact. We already have a set of ideas that communicates to each of us, differently, what the Eucharist means. And the meaning of the Eucharist for Catholics is a layered history that, unfortunately, is often times a history of the last few hundred years at best rather than the two thousand years of its actual history. \u00a0But to every problem there is a solution.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">The best way I know of entering into the meaning of John&#8217;s Jesus is to engage in a group discussion. In that context, the different meanings the we have from the reading come to light. Then questions can be asked, search for the actual words of the text requested [well required], and, it is during that process the meaning comes out. Otherwise, it is very likely that the passage will mean what it has always meant, reinforcing where we are rather than challenging us to move beyond ourself to a fuller self that God is calling us to become.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">As you read, remember that for John \u201cthe Jews\u201d is a technical term and doesn&#8217;t mean all the Jew then nor through out history. It is a term that John uses to identify those who both reject Jesus as the Messiah and are a seen as a threat to the young community&#8217;s identity and existence. \u00a0For John who is writing to his community near the end of the first century, the rift between church and synagogue was real, personal, felt. Rising to the Level of our Times means to know that, make distinctions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">The disbelief expressed in this passage mirrors the disbelief that in the Synoptic accounts tells us occurred in Nazareth among Jesus&#8217; own village community. They &#8220;knew&#8221; him which made it very difficult to \u201chear\u201d him. We, actually, are much more likely to be like the disbelievers in this passage, not in that we disbelieve but that our belief makes it very hard to &#8220;hear&#8221; anything other than what confirms our belief. \u00a0For the people of Nazareth it was very hard to &#8220;hear&#8221; a Jesus different from the one they thought they already &#8220;knew.&#8221; \u00a0Something like this is going on with us today with regard to the Eucharist, let me explain.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Over the past 50 years or so, the meaning of the Eucharist has changed. \u00a0Those changes emerged out of studies that predated the Vatican II by more than 50 years. \u00a0The church recognized that we had grown out of touch with our much longer tradition of 2000 years. \u00a0In response our church made a number of significant changes in our celebrations of the Eucharist. \u00a0Just to mention a few changes our church made [by the way they didn&#8217;t ask us, they just made the changes.] So the church<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Turned the altar around<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Moved the tabernacle off the main altar<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Removed the communion rail, invited us to receive in our hands<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Celebrates the liturgy in our own language.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Invited the creation of a whole new genre of music<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Required homilies to replace sermons [Very rarely has this actually happened.]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">These were not, are not, incidental changes, minor things. They occurred, as I mentioned, because the meaning of the Eucharist for the global church had lost touch with its origins; origins measured by our two thousand year tradition not our two hundred year one. Now there is an effort to restore some of that prior meaning [pre-Vatican II]. So does the Eucharist mean what we grew up thinking it meant, does it mean what the changes in Vat. II were pointing to, does it mean what the latest set of changes infer. One simple example, did Jesus drink from a cup or a chalice? What difference does it make? Well, if makes no difference, why change to chalice? Something is going on, even if we don&#8217;t think so. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">This brief slice of Catholic life as it is today is much closer to the kinds of things that John&#8217;s community was dealing with. He was struggling to lift his community out of the tradition that had formed his forefathers into a tradition that was being formed by the followers of Jesus. We are one of the first generation of Catholics to even know this, let alone do anything about it. And few indeed are those who know \u2026 Rise to the Level of our Time !!!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"font-size: medium; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Our Characters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There is a subtle shift in characters from the previous passage to this one. Once again I will list the characters in our passage and ask the question, what role are they playing in the episode? \u00a0As I say regularly, to understand the role of the characters is to begin with paying attention to what they say and do and what they don&#8217;t say and do but we would expect them to say and do under these circumstances. \u00a0For example, we can&#8217;t really appreciate the murmuring that is reported if we can&#8217;t identify in our own life concretely when we murmured. \u00a0If you have not murmured, you don&#8217;t have a clue to what is going on. \u00a0To the characters:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">The crowd is now identified with \u201cthe Jews\u201d &#8211; see above, please.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Jesus [in John&#8217;s Gospel]<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">is now thought of as the son of Joseph. They know his father and his mother. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">But Jesus says that it is the Father who has sent him; it&#8217;s only if you listen and learn from the Father, can you come to him. He is the only one who has seen the Father. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">He is the bread of life; the living bread come down from heaven. To eat this bread is not to die but to live forever. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">He is the one who will give his flesh for the life of the world.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Disciples are not even mentioned in this passage<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A prophet is quoted. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Jesus reminds them that their ancestors who ate the manna in the desert, nonetheless, have died. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Before we read though, let&#8217;s quiet ourselves, remember whatever we can from our previous readings, and, most importantly, pay attention to what happens inside of us as we read.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>The Reading<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,<br \/>\n&#8220;I am the bread that came down from heaven,&#8221;<br \/>\nand they said,<br \/>\n&#8220;Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?<br \/>\nDo we not know his father and mother?<br \/>\nThen how can he say,<br \/>\n&#8216;I have come down from heaven?'&#8221;<br \/>\nJesus answered and said to them,<br \/>\n&#8220;Stop murmuring among yourselves.<br \/>\nNo one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,<br \/>\nand I will raise him on the last day.<br \/>\nIt is written in the prophets:<br \/>\n<em>They shall all be taught by God.<\/em><br \/>\nEveryone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.<br \/>\nNot that anyone has seen the Father<br \/>\nexcept the one who is from God;<br \/>\nhe has seen the Father.<br \/>\nAmen, amen, I say to you,<br \/>\nwhoever believes has eternal life.<br \/>\nI am the bread of life.<br \/>\nYour ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;<br \/>\nthis is the bread that comes down from heaven<br \/>\nso that one may eat it and not die.<br \/>\nI am the living bread that came down from heaven;<br \/>\nwhoever eats this bread will live forever;<br \/>\nand the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Your responses, questions, and \/ or comments are welcomed. You can add them by clicking on the comment link at the end of this post.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jn. 6: 41 \u2013 51 The Bread of Life Discourse [Continuing] Background Fr. Ray Brown&#8217;s masterful Anchor Bible study of The Gospel According to John points out that there are two themes in the Bread of Life Discourse; one &#8211; &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=572\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,10,5],"tags":[16,15,7,18,19],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change-in-the-catholic-church","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-catholic-liturgical-changes","tag-historical-method","tag-modern-scripture-scholarship","tag-religion-and-culture","tag-scripture-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}