GO FIGURE

Acts 8:26-40; Ps 66 Let all the earth cry out to God with Joy; John 6 44-51

"It is written they shall all be taught by God."

These are the words of Jesus taken from the prophet Isaiah 54:13 as Jesus instructs the disciples about the bread of life.  This passage from John's gospel is entitled the Bread of Life Discourse.

What is most interesting about this passage is that many will take the passage of Isaiah and claim that they God instructs them on their own and therefore they do not need a church to help with instruction.  They can interpret the scriptures by themselves with the help of the Holy Spirit with out recourse to anyone else.

This is not what the passage means.  It doesn't mean we are renegades on our own, but rather God himself will send forth those who will be empowered with authority to instruct in his name.

We see that int he first reading where the Ethiopian Eunuch is unable to understand the prophet Isaiah unless Philip( who is a member of the church) assists him in understanding the passage and eventually leading him to be baptized.

Understanding and knowledge of Christ and the revelation God has revealed does not happen in isolation.  We are not lone rangers.  Rather it occurs in an environment of faithfulness.

How do we help others understand?  Who helps us understand?  Who do we go to understand our faith?  Do we seek out people who know or just anyone who claims to know?

SO often i encounter people who are Catholic and yet they distrust the Catholic church in leading them to a fuller understanding of What God has revealed and yet they trust those who are not only not Catholic but often against the Catholic faith itself?

Go figure.

It is time we trusted those who God put here to guide us in the way of truth, faith and morals.