Beginning with this reading, last week, which refers to Christ’s words, “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you d0 not have life in you.” we see how the faithful Roman Catholics of every age are humble and obedient, no matter how ridiculous they seem:
John 6:52-59
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
(Those who prefer the “easy road” take the “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood remains in Me and I in him.” symbolically. “Christ did not really mean what He said.”, they insist. “He was only speaking symbolically.” That is their choice. Is it God’s? Do those who do not have sufficient faith to take the passage literally condemn themselves to an eternity among the goats? We must fully believe and obey to be saved.)
Then, a following reading on a related subject:
Gospel John 10:1-10
Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
(Do those described by this passage: “whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.” apply to those who choose not to take the “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.” literally and use their watered-down definition to encourage similar unbelief?) Are those who will not believe fully, and who establish cash flows from those who similarly do not take the passage literally, and who go on to encourage other people not to take the passage literally because if they do, they must become Catholics to be utterly honest, are each one of them being described as “a thief and a robber”? We must fully believe and obey to be saved.Are they stealing souls, as well as money? It would appear that a definite warning is being given to those who do not enter the sheepfold by way of The Sacraments provided by The Roman Catholic Church. It is God’s place to judge. We may note, with a plea for mercy for our own shortcomings, that The Garden is self-weeding.)NOW, we get into heavier lifting. Sunday’s Gospel Reading is one of the shortest of the year:
Gospel John, 10:27-30
Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
(It’s a short reading because it doesn’t need to be longer. It sums up the earlier two readings in the week about “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you” that continues with entering the sheepfold through the front door, not climbing in over the side like a robber, a thief, or some do-it-yourselfer trying to invent his own way to sneak into Heaven. IF we enter the sheepfold properly and obediently, and we “follow” Him, then we receive eternal life. Jesus, Himself is telling us, only if we follow Him can we truly be saved. We must fully believe and obey to be saved.
If we read and sincerely try to understand the above three passages, we will become Roman Catholics. There is no other choice. If we intentionally do not try to understand them, and we intentionally avoid His entrance to the sheepfold, we run the greatest risk of all–proving with our own, immortal soul that The Garden is self-weeding.)
