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From: Proverbs 9:1-6

Wisdom’s invitation to her banquet

[1] Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven pillars.
[2] She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine,
she has also set her table.
[3] She has sent out her maids to call
from the highest places in the town,
[4] “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who is without sense she says,
[5] “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
[6] Leave simpleness, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”

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Commentary:

9:1-6. The introduction to the book of Proverbs ends with an invitation from Wis-
dom to attend a banquet she is holding at her house. This meal is a symbol for
the teachings of the wise men; those who listen to them assimilate those tea-
chings, which become part of them (cf. Sir 24:26-29; Ezek 3).

This nourishment prefigures the true Bread of Life (cf. Jn 4:14; 6:35) that God
will give mankind — the Body of the Incarnate Word, of Wisdom made man. An
ancient Christian writer puts these words on Jesus’ lips: “To those who are lac-
king in the good works of faith as well as to those who desire to lead a more
perfect life, he says: ‘Come, eat of my body, which is the bread that will nourish
and strengthen you; drink my blood, which is the wine of heavenly teaching that
brings you delight and makes you holy; I have mixed my blood with my divinity
for your salvation’” (Procopius of Gaza, “In librum Proverbiorum”, 9).

The “seven pillars” of Wisdom’s house (v. 1 ) may be a reference to its perfection
(seven was a symbol for perfection), but it is more likely to refer to the seven col-
lections of proverbs that go to make up this book — those of Solomon (10:1-22:
16). the wise men (22:17-24:22), another collection of words of the wise (24:23-
34); Solomon again (25:1-29:27); Agur (30:1-14); the Numerical Proverbs (30:15-
33) and the words of Lemuel (31:1-9). The fact that there are seven means that
the wisdom taught in the book is perfect (it includes, we know, wisdom of Israel,
and wisdom from the countries round about).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Ephesians 5:15-20

Walking in the Light (Continuation)

[15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, [16]
making the most of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not
be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. [18] And do not get drunk
with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
to the Lord with all your heart, [20] always and for everything giving thanks in the
name of our Lord Jesus to God the Father.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

15-17. The new life one receives in Baptism is characterized by a wisdom which
contrasts with the foolishness of those who are bent on turning their backs on
God (cf. 1 Cor 1:18). This wisdom, this sanity, stems from ones’ knowledge of
the will of God and full identification with his plans. When a person’s life is cohe-
rent with his faith, true wisdom is the result; and this immediately leads him to
“make the most of the time” (”redeeming the time”, in the famous words of the
King James version). In fact, we have to make up for lost time. “Redeeming the
time”, St Augustine explains, “means sacrificing, when the need arises, present
interests in favor of eternal ones, thereby purchasing eternity with the coin of
time” (”Sermon 16”, 2).

The word “kairos”, translated as “time”, has a more specific meaning in Greek.
In refers to the content of the point in time in which we find ourselves, the situa-
tion which it creates, and the opportunities which that very moment offers as re-
gards the ultimate purpose of this life. Hence, “making the most of the time” is
saying much more than “not wasting a minute”: it means “using every situation
and every moment” to give glory to God. For, “time is a treasure that melts away,”
St. Escriva reminds us. “It escapes from us, slipping through our fingers like wa-
ter through the mountain rocks. Tomorrow will soon be another yesterday. Our
lives are so very short. Yesterday has gone and today is passing by. But what a
great deal can be done for the love of God in this short space of time!” (”Friends
of God”, 52).

This is a particularly pressing matter, “because the days are evil”, as the Apostle
puts it. St Peter makes the same point: “Be sober, be watchful, Your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him,
firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your
brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Pet 5:8-9).

18. This verse is an invitation to temperance. In a pagan environment, o easily to
be found then and now, one often meets people who think that happiness and joy
can be attained simply though material things. Nothing could be further from the
truth. St Paul identifies the source of true happiness—docility to the action of the
Holy Spirit in one’s soul. This docility gives a peace and a joy which the world is
incapable of providing.

Temperance is “the virtue which holds our passion and desires in check, espe-
cially the sensual ones, and which bring us to moderation in using temporal
goods” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 917). This virtue expresses man’s lordship over
everything that God has made, and its practice is essential if one is to see life
from the correct, supernatural, perspective. “Any food excessive to the body’s
need eventually stimulates impurity. A soul in this position, sated with food,
cannot wear the bridle of temperance. So, it is not just wine that intoxicates the
mind. Any kind of excessive eating renders it dull and easily influenced and com-
pletely undermines its purity and integrity” (Cassian, “Institutions”, 5, 6).

Temperance is a sign of the genuineness of the Christian life of the “children of
light”, and it is something that attracts and wins over all naturally noble people.
“Temperance makes the soul sober, modest, understanding. It fosters a natural
sense of reserve which everyone finds attractive because it denotes intelligent
self-control. Temperance implies not narrowness but greatness of soul” (St. J.
Escriva, “Friends of God”, 84).

19. From the very beginning of the Church, Christian liturgy has expressed its ap-
preciation to God through psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles. Because man
is made up of body and soul, proper worship of God needs to have a certain ex-
ternal expression. “God has disposed that ‘while recognizing God in visible form
we may through him be drawn to the love of things invisible’ (Christmas preface).
Moreover it is natural that the outpourings of the soul should be expressed by the
senses” (Pius XII, “Mediator Dei”, 8). In the Church’s liturgical ceremonies, can-
ticles are a form of celebration of the greatness of God, and an expression of gra-
titude for blessings received. For their part, “in the psalms there is an opportunity
for the people to bless and praise God; the psalms express the admiration that
people feel and what the people want to say; in them the Church speaks, the
faith is professed in a melodious way, and authority finds a ready acceptance;
there too is heard the joyful call of freedom, the cry of pleasure and the sound
of happiness” (St Ambrose, “Enarratio in Psalmos” 1, 9).

Dignified recital and chant of liturgical prayers makes for active participation of
the faithful in liturgical ceremonies, allowing everyone to share what St Augustine
tells us was his experience: “I wept at the beauty of your hymns and canticles,
and was powerfully moved by the sweet sound of your Church’s singing. Those
sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart—so that my
feeling of devotion overflowed, and the tears poured from my eyes, and I was
happy in them” (”Confessions”, 9, 6).

Liturgical prayer in this way becomes a source of genuine fervor and piety, while
at the same time promoting solidarity with other members of the Church, not on-
ly those who praise God while still on their earthly pilgrimage, but also those who
unceasingly glorify him in heaven. “What a wonderful thing it is to imitate on earth
the choir of angels!”, St Basil explains; “preparing oneself for prayer at the first
hour of the day and glorifying the Creator with hymns and praise. And later, when
the sun is at its height, full of splendor and light, doing one’s work to the accom-
paniment of prayer on all sides, seasoning one’s actions, so to speak, with the
salt of ejaculatory prayers” (”Epistle”, II, 3).

20. We need to be continually thanking God, “for everything works for good with
those who love (God)” (Rom 8:28) or, in another version, “everything helps to se-
cure the good of those who love God” (Knox). Everything that happens in life falls
within the providence of God. He permits us to experience sorrows and joys,
successes and failures. Therefore, for a Christian who acts in line with his faith,
everything is success, even things which in human terms he may find negative
and painful; for, if he views disagreeable things in a supernatural way and approa-
ches them with love for Christ’s cross, they bring him joy and peace and merit.
That is why we should always be grateful to God: “Get used to lifting your heart
to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because he gives you this
and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven’t what you need
or because you have [...]. Thank him for everything, because everything is good”
(St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 268).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 6:51-58

The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation)

(Jesus said to the Jews,) [51] “I am the living bread which came down from Hea-
ven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall
give for the life of the world is My flesh.” [52] The Jews disputed among them-
selves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” [53] So Jesus said
to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink His blood, you have no life in you; [54] he who eats My flesh and drinks My
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55] For My flesh is
food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. [56] He who eats My flesh and drinks
My blood abides in Me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live
because of the Father, so he who eats Me will live because of Me. [58] This is
the bread which came from Heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who
eats this bread will live for ever.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

49-51. The manna during the Exodus was a figure of this bread—Christ Himself —
which nourishes Christians on their pilgrimage through this world. Communion
is the wonderful banquet at which Christ gives Himself to us: “the bread which I
shall give for the life of the world is My flesh”. These words promise the manifes-
tation of the Eucharist at the Last Supper: “This is My body which is for you” (1
Corinthians 11:24). The words “for the life of the world” and “for you” refer to the
redemptive value of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In some sacrifices of the
Old Testament, which were a figure of the sacrifice of Christ, part of the animal
offered up was later used for food, signifying participation in the sacred rite (cf.
Exodus 11:3-4). So, by receiving Holy Communion, we are sharing in the sac-
rifice of Christ: which is why the Church sings in the Liturgy of the Hours on the
Feast of Corpus Christi: “O sacred feast in which we partake of Christ: His suf-
ferings are remembered, our minds are filled with His grace and we receive a
pledge of the glory that is to be ours” (”Magnificat Antiphon”, Evening Prayer II).

52. Christ’s hearers understand perfectly well that He means exactly what He
says; but they cannot believe that what He says could be true; if they had un-
derstood Him in a metaphorical, figurative or symbolic sense there would be no
reason for them to be surprised and nothing to cause an argument. Later, Jesus
reaffirms what He has said—confirming what they have understood Him to say
(cf. verses 54-56).

53. Once again Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary to receive Him
in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in divine life and develop the life of
grace received in Baptism. No parent is content to bring children into the world:
they have to be nourished and looked after to enable them to reach maturity.
“We receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us
an increase of grace and the gift of eternal life” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 289).

54. Jesus clearly states that His body and blood are a pledge of eternal life and
a guarantee of the resurrection of the body. St. Thomas Aquinas gives this expla-
nation: “The Word gives life to our souls, but the Word made flesh nourishes our
bodies. In this Sacrament is contained the Word not only in His divinity but also
in His humanity; therefore, it is the cause not only of the glorification of our souls
but also of that of our bodies” (”Commentary on St. John, in loc.”).

Our Lord uses a stronger word than just “eating” (the original verb could be
translated as “chewing”) which shows that Communion is a real meal. There is
no room for saying that He was speaking only symbolically, which would mean
that Communion was only a metaphor and not really eating and drinking the Bo-
dy and Blood of Christ.

“All these invitations, promises and threats sprang from the great desire which
(Jesus) had of giving us Himself in the holy Sacrament of the altar. But why
should Jesus so ardently desire us to receive Him in Holy Communion? It is be-
cause love always sighs for, and tends to a union with, the object beloved. True
friends wish to be united in such a manner as to become only one. The love of
God for us being immense, He destined us to possess Him not only in Heaven,
but also here below, by the most intimate union, under the appearance of bread
in the Eucharist. It is true we do not see Him; but He beholds us, and is really
present; yes, He is present in order that we may possess Him and He conceals
Himself, that we may desire Him, and until we reach our true homeland Jesus
Christ wishes in this way to be entirely ours, and to be perfectly united to us”
(St. Alphonsus Liguori, “The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice”,
Chapter 2).

55. In the same way as bodily food is necessary for life on earth, Holy Com-
munion is necessary for maintaining the life of the soul, which is why the Church
exhorts us to receive this Sacrament frequently: “Every day, as is desirable, and
in the greatest possible numbers, the faithful must take an active part in the sac-
rifice of the Mass, avail themselves of the pure, holy refreshment of Holy Commu-
nion and make a suitable thanksgiving in return for this great gift of Christ the
Lord. Here are the words they should keep in mind: ‘Jesus Christ and the Church
desire all Christ’s faithful to approach the sacred banquet every day. The basis
of this desire is that they should be united to God by the sacrament and draw
strength from it to restrain lust, to wash away the slight faults of daily occurrence
and to take precautions against the more serious sins to which human frailty is
liable’ (”Decree of the S.C. of the Council”, 20 December 1905)” (Paul VI, “Mys-
terium Fidei”).

“The Savior has instituted the most august sacrament of the Eucharist, which
truly contains His flesh and His blood, so that he who eats this bread may live
forever; whosoever, therefore, makes use of it often with devotion so strengthens
the health and the life of his soul, that it is almost impossible for him to be poi-
soned by any kind of evil affection. We cannot be nourished with this flesh of life,
and live with the affections of death. [...]. Christians who are damned will be un-
able to make any reply when the just Judge shows them how much they are to
blame for dying spiritually, since it was so easy for them to maintain themselves
in life and in health by eating His Body which He had left them for this purpose.
Unhappy souls, He will say, why did you die, seeing that you had at your com-
mand the fruit and the food of life?” (St. Francis de Sales, “Introduction to the
Devout Life”, II, 20, 1).

56. The most important effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union with Je-
sus Christ. The very word “communion” suggests sharing in the life of our Lord
and becoming one with Him; if our union with Jesus is promoted by all the sacra-
ments through the grace which they give us, this happens more intensely in the
Eucharist, for in it we receive not only grace but the very Author of grace: “Really
sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are
taken up into communion with Him and with one another. ‘Because the bread is
one, we, though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread’ (1
Corinthians 10:17)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 7). Precisely because the Eu-
charist is the sacrament which best signifies and effects our union with Christ, it
is there that the whole Church manifests and effects its unity: Jesus Christ “in-
stituted in His Church the wonderful sacrament of the Eucharist, by which the
unity of the Church is both signified and brought about” (Vatican II, “Unitatis Re-
ditegratio”, 2).

57. In Christ, the Incarnate Word sent to mankind, “the whole fullness of deity,
dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9) through the ineffable union of His human nature
and His divine nature in the Person of the Word. By receiving in this sacrament
the body and blood of Christ indissolubly united to His divinity, we share in the
divine life of the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. We will never be able to
appreciate enough the intimacy with God Himself—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—
that we are offered in the eucharistic banquet.

“We can therefore do nothing more agreeable to Jesus Christ than to go to Com-
munion with the dispositions suitable to so great an action, since we are then
united to Jesus Christ, according to the desire of this all-loving God. I have said
with ‘suitable’ and not ‘worthy’ disposition, for who could communicate if it was
necessary to be worthy of so great a Savior? No one but a God would be worthy
to receive a God. But by this word suitable, or convenient, I mean such a dispo-
sition as becomes a miserable creature, who is clothed with the unhappy flesh
of Adam. Ordinarily speaking, it is sufficient that we communicate in a state of
grace and with an anxious desire of advancing in the love of Jesus Christ” (St.
Alphonsus Liguori, “The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice”,
Chapter 2)

58. For the third time (cf. 6:31-32 and 6:49) Jesus compares the true bread of
life, His own body, with the manna God used to feed the Israelites every day du-
ring their forty years in the wilderness—thereby, inviting us to nourish our soul
frequently with the food of His body.

“’Going to Communion every day for so many years! Anybody else would be a
saint by now, you told me, and I...I’m always the same!’ Son, I replied, keep up
your daily Communion, and think: what would I be if I had not gone’” (St. J.
Escriva, “The Way”, 534).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading	Proverbs 9:1-6 ©

Wisdom has built herself a house,

she has erected her seven pillars,

she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine,

she has laid her table.

She has despatched her maidservants

and proclaimed from the city’s heights:

‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’

To the fool she says,

‘Come and eat my bread,

drink the wine I have prepared!

Leave your folly and you will live,

walk in the ways of perception.’

Psalm
Psalm 33:2-3,10-15 ©