From Father’s Desk: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings this week are especially beautiful I think. We should read the entire sixth chapter of John in light of Jesus being the “new Moses”, the great prophet who is even greater than Moses. There is however maybe an even closer connection with this particular miracle to the prophet Elisha. Most people remember Elijah but forget about the prophet Elisha who followed him who did even greater works.

St. John the Baptist was the new Elijah and before this reading today, John gives way to Jesus, the new Elisha. Why does this matter? Elijah and Elisha were just prophets, they weren’t God and most people do not remember too many stories about either. It matters because God the Father ordered all things, including all of history to find its fulfillment in Jesus. Jesus did not just come up out of no where, He lives and acts within a context where he was predicted and all of this historical hope is fulfilled within His own person.

This is crucial for any faithful Christian. We are proclaiming faith in the very person of Christ. Not just in Christ’s works or in His words, it is not just His good example, but rather the very person of Jesus Christ who is truly God and truly man that we believe in. My friends, please please please pray about what this means in your life! If our faith is a real relationship with the living person of Jesus Christ then there is a great claim on our soul! We worship and serve not some bland moral code or ethical idea, but the wonder-worker Jesus, who is truly God and truly man.