Reflection for Sunday – August 11, 2024

Brigit HurleySunday Readings Homilies

Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4: 30-5:2; John 6: 41-51 
Preacher: Brigit Hurley

About 20 years ago I was sitting in a church basement on a Saturday morning, enjoying a presentation on Catholic social teaching given by Jack Jezreel. Jack founded the JustFaith program, (justfaith.org/) which has inspired much Catholic social justice activism in the Rochester area and throughout the country.

Jack said something that prompted a shift in my faith that has stayed with me to this day. He was speaking about Jesus’ promises of eternal life for those who believe in him. Jack explained that a more accurate translation of the words “eternal life” is this: “a life so rich and full of meaning that it intersects with the life of God, which never ends.” It’s not describing life after death. It doesn’t promise unending hellfire for those who don’t believe.

I’ve since read similar references to this meaning of eternal life as Jesus spoke of it. It’s certainly not what I learned in Catholic grammar school, and it’s not what we commonly hear from Christian preachers to this day.

Even the disciples had trouble understanding. Jesus was asking them to reject all they had been taught about how to be a good Jew. When you read the verses immediately preceding and following the Gospel reading, you can almost feel Jesus’ frustration as he tries to impress upon the crowd what he is offering them if they believed in him—the food that endures for eternal life, my flesh for the life of the world, true bread from heaven. His messages of inclusion, forgiveness, and valuing the weak and marginalized upended societal norms then just as they do now. Even some disciples rejected it— “As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” (John 6:66)

How do we 21st century followers of Jesus build “a life so rich and full of meaning that it intersects with the life of God?” Joan Chittister wrote, “The more we sink into God, the more we immerse ourselves in goodness, the more we become the beauty around us—the more we transform evil into good, the more we love, the less we hate— the more we have of the heaven that is here, the closer we are to heaven forever. Heaven is not a place. Heaven is a process of growing fully into the fullness of Being.”

For me, what makes sense is to do what I can to create possibilities for everyone to live abundantly—to create their own rich and meaningful lives. We live in a country and a community where wealth inequality is shocking, but we’ve become accustomed to it. In Rochester, deep poverty and extreme wealth exist in zip codes adjacent to each other.

What to do? One simple solution is to support unconditional cash transfer programs, through tax dollars or donations. Guaranteed Basic Income pilot programs have now been implemented around the world and in over 100 U.S. cities, including Rochester. When poor families are given monthly income with no strings attached, parents buy healthier food, find secure housing, send kids to summer camp and dance lessons, and pursue training so they can get a better job with benefits. Most impactful, though, is the effect on parent and child stress levels and mental health. Parents who aren’t constantly worried about providing for basic needs raise happier, healthier kids.

May we all find a way to create rich, meaningful lives secure in God’s promise of heavenly sustenance!

Brigit Hurley
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