This Weekend’s Gospel Meditation
Encourage Deeper Understanding of Scripture
Sunday August 11, 2024 – Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
This week we hear Jesus say, “He that believes in me, has eternal life” (John 6:47). These straightforward words, uttered by human lips, sound — how to put this? — insane. Who could possibly say such a thing? Jesus says things that are so high, so demanding, so beyond our capacity to fathom, we hardly know what to do with them and (if you’re like me), they usually go in one ear and out the other. So, let us ask: how can believing in him lead to eternal life?
To believe in something means not just to acknowledge its existence, but also to orient yourself entirely to it. If a football player believes in his team, it means he puts his life totally at the service of that goal. If a student believes in her dream to become a doctor, she gives everything
she has to her studies and preparation for her MCAT test. Belief means to move boldly toward something we love, and trust is possible to attain.
What is the highest possible good at which we can aim? It is God himself, the gift of eternal life without end. Jesus has made this “good” possible in and through his human nature. To believe in him means to have him as our ultimate goal. This week let’s believe the truth of these words and make practical decisions to orient ourselves toward what we see available in him: eternal life.
— Father John Muir
©LPi