19th Sunday Ordinary Time
1 Kings 19:4-8
Ephesians 4:30, 5:2
John 6:41-51

1. Text/Context

• If we dissect the words of Jesus like “No one can come to me unless the father who sent me will draw him” and “Everyone who listens to the Father comes to me”
• Literally it appears that we have to be called by God the Father first before we can go to Jesus or before we may believe in Jesus
• It appears that the Father has to decide first as to who will be counted among us to become the followers of Jesus
• This is a difficult passage from John  our evangelist today and I want you to listen very carefully so that you will not be confused
• It simply means that all of us are called to follow Jesus. The Father is calling everyone to follow Jesus
• Or it simply means that the Father offers to every one of us his gift of salvation. That is the first part
• And the second part concerns us. If God offers his salvation to all, we are also given the freedom to say yes or no
• So the faith, the inspiration to follow Jesus the bread of life comes from the Father because he calls everyone to salvation
• This is expressed in theology as predestination. Meaning, all of us are already destined to live eternally in heaven before we are even born. We will all be back to the bosom of the Father after we are done with our mission here on earth
• And throughout the centuries predestination has undergone many process of purification because of its confusing character in its understanding and interpretation
• Because it would appear that there will be no more human effort or human response because God has already destined everybody for something. Everyone has his own destiny
• Of course the more healthy and sound theology about this is that our predestination is heaven and not hell
• Predestination is to be understood side by side with the universal saving offer of redemption and human freedom
• We are all predestined for heaven because God offers universal salvation. There is no problem with God because he offers salvation to everyone for free
• And now the second part is now the method and the manner we respond to such offer of salvation because God respects our freedom
• All of us are given the gift of free will and we are free to choose the side of God or the side of the evil one
• Therefore we are now given the choice to choose eternal salvation or eternal damnation for our predestination
• Because God will never force us to follow his call because he respects human freedom
• We can just imagine how sacred and how powerful is this gift of free will from God is
• God himself cannot dictate us what to do but he inspires us what are the good things to do
• And even Satan, the devil himself cannot dictate us what to do. And don’t you know that the devil who is so clever and cunning he cannot even read our mind of what we think because we have a free will
• But just the same, he also inspires what are the bad things to do
• In the end, it is us whom God will respect what choice have we ever made for our lives. That is why Jesus said no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day
• So predestination is not something that is already permanent and fixed or something that cannot be changed anymore because the intervention comes from human freedom whether we say yes or no because of our free will

1. Human Situation

• And so from that we can now apply these things into our lives as Christians especially in making moral decisions
• Say for example, the daughter gets pregnant without a husband. Her boyfriend left her, but the daughter decides to continue with her pregnancy
• But her parents are so ashamed of the situation because they have a precious social reputation to protect and so the daughter is forced by the parents to commit abortion
• The greater degree of culpability of the sin committed lies on the parents and not on the daughter
• The greater degree of culpability of the sin committed also lies on the man who escapes his responsibility
• We are given the freedom to decide freely but if somebody forces you to decide for yourself then there is less culpability on the sin because there is an external force and there is no freedom involved
• So you see this is something very beautiful. The freedom of the person is of utmost importance
• That is why we have to be very careful especially in making decisions. Weigh both sides of the question before making a decision and pray for the enlightenment of the Spirit
• Even if we are not very intelligent or we do not have any experience or any education the voice of God will teach everyone directly to his or her own heart
• That is why it is also mentioned in the gospel that They shall all be taught by God
• So many great saints in the church wala gani makaeskwela but as a human being created with the image and likeness of God, the laws of God are already written in our hearts

1. Challenge

• So today we are reminded that God respects human freedom and such freedom cannot be taken away from us and it must never be taken away from us
• But it doesn’t mean that we are all left out in the cold because we do not know what to do
• God will always inspire us to do something good, in our workplace, in our positions of authority, in the family and community setting wherever we are
• In the 1^st Book of Kings in the 1^st reading it is God who gave the prophet Elijah the physical and the moral strength to continue with his journey away from his persecutors
• He is complaining, he is grumbling because he is already very tired and he wants to die!
• But God is not mad at him, instead the angel accompanied him so he will be strong. He still has a mission to do
• In the 2^nd reading in Ephesians we are reminded not to offend the Spirit by removing bitterness, anger and fury but instead do what is good by forgiving one another
• If we choose to do the ugly part in our respective areas of responsibilities, then, we must be ready for the consequences
• We exercise our freedom of choice according to what is pleasing before the eyes of God and not the other way around
• And if we continue to receive the bread of life here in this Eucharist, God will continue to nourish us in our spiritual life until the end of the world
• The choice of freedom that we make is now geared towards the destination that God has prepared for us the life of eternity in heaven