Scripture Study for
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Proverbs 9:1–6 / Psalm 34:9a / Ephesians 5:15–20 / John 6:51–58
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Understanding the Word
By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.
Wisdom prepares a lavish banquet. Everything is ready, and servants are sent out to call in the guests. Wisdom always invites, cajoles, persuades; she never commands. She feeds the desire for knowledge and insight; she satisfies the hunger for learning. Wisdom is interested in the simple, the innocent, the childlike, those who are eager to learn. She oversees all of the mysteries of the universe; in her hands are the secrets of life. These are the delicacies with which she spreads her table; this is the fare that she offers her guests. No one can survive without Wisdom. The way of understanding is the way to life. The wisdom theme continues in the second reading. Christians are encouraged to live like the wise, not like the foolish. The wise are those who know how to make the most out of every opportunity. They can recognize the decisive point of the moment, and they can seize it. The ignorance against which the author warns is the inability to draw prudent conclusions in practical situations. Some people just do not seem to be able to learn from experience. As a remedy to this, Christians are urged to seek God’s will for them and to live in accordance with it. The bread of life discourse ends with a eucharistic reinterpretation of the manna tradition. Jesus’ flesh is food and his blood is drink. His flesh and blood are the source of life for those who partake of it. Just as we become one with what we eat and drink, so Jesus and those who feed on him form an intimate union. Those who share in the Eucharist already possess eternal life. For them, the future holds fullness of life that will be enjoyed after the general resurrection on the last day. Jesus, not manna, is the bread that came, not from the sky, but from the very being of God. Those who ate manna died; those who feed on Jesus live forever.