11 August 2024 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends, it is good to be back after such a long time away. And celebrating this Eucharist today is also an opportune time for me to be grateful for the many blessings that God has blessed me with throughout this whole journey.

As I reflect on these text or scripture, it made me recall a few incidences perhaps in my own life that made me come to this realisation of how central is the Eucharist in my life, in our faith journey and in the church. Because very often whenever we are caught up with situations, challenges, obstacles in life, we turn or we run towards the source of all grace, which is God himself. And God himself expresses Himself in the Eucharist so that He can be present in our lives.

In the First Reading of today, we are reminded of Prophet Elijah, a prophet who always seemed to be strong, courageous, bold to face whatever challenges that he is confronted with. We see Elijah now running away from his situation, running away from danger, perhaps because of fear, perhaps because of being disillusioned, perhaps because he was not sure what to do.

And I am not sure how many of us can resonate with that story of Elijah.

For me, in this short 6 months, by preparing and studying, it made me rely on God more because sometimes whatever you study does not go in and you need to rely on God’s strength to continue to open your minds to greater things or greater insights from the readings that you do.

And as you look at the story of Elijah today, he is threatened by Jezebel who introduced a cult of Baal in Israel. And because she introduced this cult of Baal, she was distancing herself or Israel from God. But Elijah went to perform miracles, perform works that goes against what was taught by the prophets of Baal.

And we know that the whole story where Elijah, together with all the prophets of Baal, came together to allow this offering to be consumed by fire. The prophets of Baal tried and tried and tried, prayed to their Gods but it was not consumed by fire. But when Elijah prayed together after putting water, after putting so many things, at the invitation of his voice, God allowed that offering to be consumed by fire.

And sometimes, dear friends, we can recognise God’s presence in our lives. We can recognise God’s miracles in our lives. But whenever we are confronted with the situations that is before us, we are unable to open our mind to see that God has indeed been there with us in the past and we need to grow in that certain hope that God will be present in the situations of our lives, here and now.

But perhaps we may feel that God is distant. But God is there, God is among us in every situations of life even though we may not recognise it. In that way, we have tasted the beauty of God, like the Responsorial Psalm says today, we have tasted the beauty of God and recognised His presence.

But when we are confronted with another situation, we often are disillusioned. We are often forgetful of where God has been by not putting our faith and trust in Him.

As we move to the Gospel as well, we come to this deeper realisation of this discourse that comes in continuation of the miracle of the loaves, where the small little boy offered 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed the multitude. And even after they seeing the multiplication of the loaves, after feeding the multitudes, they were still not able to see who Jesus was.

And today, I would like to ask you, my friends. As we approach the table of the Lord today, as we approach God in the table of the Eucharist, are we able to recognise Him present there (altar), and in our lives?

Because the Lord comes into our lives, because he is the bread come down from heaven, and He wants to give us this eternal life that has been promised.

And perhaps we complain, we are perhaps like the Jews of the Gospel. We have seen but we are unable to make that assent of faith in order to recognise God is present in our midst, God is present in the Eucharist.

And today’s Reading, dear friends, invite us to re-enkindle that love for God once again. Each one of you have come and experienced the love of God in many, many different ways. And the Eucharist is the ultimate sacrifice of God’s love for us.

Are we able to embrace the truth of faith that God is present?

Because sometimes even though we may say that we believe in the Eucharist, we believe in the real presence of God in the Eucharist, the way we live our lives are very far from our belief. And sometimes obstacles and challenges in life make us go down on our knees, to open our eyes to this grandeur of God’s love for us.

So today, let us pray. Let us pray for God to re-enkindle our hearts, re-enkindle our spirit so that we are able to taste the beauty of God.

Perhaps I ask you this question. I wanted you to raise your hands but I thought maybe let us reflect. Let us reflect and see how God has been gracious to us, how we have tasted God’s beauty and God’s love in our lives. And in doing so, if we are able to grow in that commitment of love and faith, let us surrender to the truth of the Eucharist and believe that He is present in every situations of life.

Because when we receive the Eucharist today, let that love re-enkindle our hearts to love Him even more, to trust Him even more and to allow God to be present in every single thing that we do. and one of the thing that I just perhaps share with you this story. In this story is one that I read when I went to one of the catacombs in Rome.

During the time of persecution, Christians had to go underground. Christians had to hide in order to celebrate the Eucharist. And even in times of persecution, even when they were told not to gather, not to celebrate, Christians came together every Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist. And when they were caught, they were asked:
Why did they celebrate the Eucharist even though they knew of the consequences of their action?

But the early church said:
We cannot live without the Eucharist. That is our life, that is what impels us and gives us strength and gives us life.

The early Christians were persecuted and they found meaning and truth of God’s love in the Eucharist.

Let us ask, dear friends, as we celebrate the Eucharist today, allow God to re-enkindle our hearts, to embrace that God is truly present and that God chooses to come into our lives and dwell in us.

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