Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 116

Reading I

1 Kgs 19:4-8

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. 
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD! 
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. 
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water. 
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” 
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
    his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
    the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
       Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
       and delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
       and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
       and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps
       around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
       blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Reading II

Eph 4:30—5:2

Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. 
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice. 
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

Alleluia

Jn 6:51

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ”
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? 
Do we not know his father and mother? 
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?” 
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves. 
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day. 
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father. 
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life. 
I am the bread of life. 
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die. 
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

This week, in the Gospel Reading, Jesus continues to go deeper into His instruction through The Bread of Life discourses by revealing His divinity and that He was sent by the Father. It is through Him that we approach the Father. He also gives us a glimpse into His divinity by proclaiming the words of the prophets, “They shall be taught by God.” There were many that were challenged by this concept. There were those who could not accept what Jesus was saying because they remembered where He came from: the son of a carpenter from Nazareth. This caused much disbelief:  what was seen physically could not overcome the spiritual dimension which was being put forth; even though this spirituality had been enforced by Jesus’ wisdom and the miracles He performed. These were not enough to overcome the human limitations and lack of faith that the people had. We too suffer from this condition which leads us to a natural rebellion against God. This becomes an impediment to our progress and understanding of Him.

We cannot rely on miracles alone. We cannot rely on the words of other people. Even Sacred Scripture and worship can only get us so far. At some point we have to rely on our relationship with Jesus Christ and get to know Him. It is all about how deep our relationship is with Him and how much effort we are willing to put into that relationship. The more we put in then the better the results will ultimately be. We can either live our lives in a state of doubt and anxiety or we can pursue God which will cause the negative feelings to be replaced with confidence. The bad things will always be there to threaten us but if our relationship with God is strong then these things will be easily dismissed in favor of the better  route.

Where we are lacking God will fill in the holes. We are all works in progress and are in need of repair. Even when we feel that we are whole and cannot get any better constant maintenance is required to maintain what we have gained. We see this in the case of Elijah. What he could not do himself God was there to provide for him. Here was one of the greatest of prophets who found himself in crisis; overwhelmed by that which opposed him. In his moment of desperation God was there to nourish him and give him what he needed to complete his journey. He was fed physically and spiritually. God does not set us up for failure. He wants us to succeed in everything that we do. We will always be groomed for victory if we accept what is being offered to us.

When we have negative feelings and doubts no good can come from it. It is critical to push them out and let The Love of God take their place. If we hang on to them we have actually chose them above God. This obviously creates a barrier between us and God. We become weaker as a result. We all know how it feels when we feel the love of God and we know what the absence of God feels like. So why choose the latter instead of the former? This is where The Apostle Paul’s advice comes in. He tells us not to “Grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”  A list of negative thoughts and actions are then given; followed by advice that we be kind, compassionate, and forgiving just as Christ was forgiving to us. These positive things have the capability to feed us and transform us into new creations. From these will flow love and we will feel that love; all the while feeling loved. When things are done correctly they are done with love. This is part of the way we are fed by God.

It is through Jesus Christ that The Father is realized. We cannot separate Jesus from the Father nor ignore the Love of God which is The Holy Spirit. God calls us to love Him and then we are drawn naturally to Jesus Christ from where The Love of God is realized. Our relationship with God is developed throughout our lifetime and is perfected when we join with Him completely. Jesus nourishes us throughout this process and gives us everything we need to continue on this journey. When we feel battered and broken we can then ask for more of His help. There is no limit on what He will give to us. All we have to do is ask.

The Bread of Life is Jesus Christ. He demonstrated that all of our needs, wants, and desires can be filled through Him. When we factor Him into all of our thoughts and actions we cannot go wrong. In fact, when the focus is on Jesus, we are set upon the right path. Even sin and death cannot oppose us when we keep Him in that position of power with His will above ours. Yes, we will be tempted to veer off the narrow yet safe path to venture off into the thickets and thorns that line the roadway but He is always there urging us to let go of the wheel and allow Him to drive again. It is in our best interest to allow Him into the driver’s seat. It is in our best interest to allow Him to cook in the kitchen and to feed us the banquet that He so readily wants to prepare for us. Why would we ever want to settle for that which we create and can be prepared in a microwave? What Jesus has for us is so much better than we can ever do or prepare ourselves. There is no need to act like God. We have a Father already who wishes to fulfill that roll.

 

Deacon Tom

 

 

 

 

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 113

 

Reading I

Ex 16:2-4, 12-15

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

The Israelites said to them,

“Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt,

as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!

But you had to lead us into this desert

to make the whole community die of famine!”

 

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.

Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;

thus will I test them,

to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

 

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.

Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,

and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,

so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”

 

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.

In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,

and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert

were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.

On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?”

for they did not know what it was.

But Moses told them,

“This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”

 

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

R. (24b)  The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

What we have heard and know,

    and what our fathers have declared to us,

we will declare to the generation to come

    the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength

    and the wonders that he wrought.

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

He commanded the skies above

    and opened the doors of heaven;

he rained manna upon them for food

    and gave them heavenly bread.

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Man ate the bread of angels,

    food he sent them in abundance.

And he brought them to his holy land,

    to the mountains his right hand had won.

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

 

Reading II

Eph 4:17, 20-24

Brothers and sisters:

I declare and testify in the Lord

that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,

in the futility of their minds;

that is not how you learned Christ,

assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,

as truth is in Jesus,

that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,

corrupted through deceitful desires,

and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

and put on the new self,

created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

 

Alleluia

Mt 4:4b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

One does not live on bread alone,

but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

 

Gospel

Jn 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,

they themselves got into boats

and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

And when they found him across the sea they said to him,

“Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered them and said,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

you are looking for me not because you saw signs

but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Do not work for food that perishes

but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”

So they said to him,

“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

So they said to him,

“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

What can you do?

Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

    He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

So Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;

my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world.”

 

So they said to him,

“Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them,

“I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

It is truly amazing how we can be so easily distracted by physical necessities and the things that we think we have to have so as to be comfortable, complacent, and satisfied. Many times we can find ourselves focused on desires that we convince ourselves are essential to achieve contentment. In reality, most of the time, we are chasing an illusion that is being offered by a society that really doesn’t have our best intentions in mind. Selfishness, greed, and indulgence are usually at the root of these thoughts as well as all things that are grounded in the desires of the flesh. If we take a step back from our daily routine and reflect just a little bit I feel we can see just how many things we chase after to feed our earthly desires that, ultimately, do not serve any purpose but just to satisfy some sort of longing which was developed in the moment. This can be defined as wasted time and meaningless in comparison to the bigger picture. These things can also serve as a catalyst for something deeper and more threatening to our relationship with God.

 

This condition that we most likely suffer from is nothing new. We read in The Book of Exodus today how The Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron because they were hungry. It is worth note that they were not starving and were only six weeks into their journey from captivity in Egypt. Even though they had obtained their freedom and were on a journey towards a new life they readily abandoned what faith they had because they were not completely comfortable with the amenities afforded to them: they actually chose slavery in exchange for being comfortable! This is seen earlier in The Sacred Scriptures when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob in a moment of weakness that also had its roots in earthly desires. This serves as a lesson to us that no one is above the temptations of the flesh: these can wreak havoc upon our best intentions and on our relationship with God.

 

In the Nicene Creed we profess, “I believe in one God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” The invisible is referring to the spiritual realm and all that it contains including the spiritual beings that dwell therein. This belief should offer an understanding that there is something beyond this physical world and that it also holds a higher importance to us than anything in this physical world; for we are also a part of the spiritual realm. Our souls are eternal and will remain while our earthen vessels return to the dust from which they were created. Believing this and understanding this should give us hope and enforce our faith that God indeed has a plan for us; a plan that exceeds all that we could expect from this world.

 

Our faith encourages us to look at everything differently; through the lens of Jesus Christ. If we allow Him to do so, Jesus will shape our minds to understand things the way He wants us to. This will pull back the curtain on that which has been hidden from those who choose earthly desires above that which is God. The Apostle Paul describes this as a “renewal of the mind.” We will then welcome in the emergence of a new self guided by The Holy Spirit and a new life with Jesus Christ. The desires of the flesh will be minimized; reduced to a secondary position while our spirituality will take command of our existence. These things have to be worked on but will eventually become second-nature with a complete surrendering to God.

 

Jesus emphasizes the path that all of us should be taking; telling us to focus on the food that endures forever. It other words we should be most concerned about feeding our spirituality. We are always at risk of focusing on the wrong things; things that are material and have an expiration date. This is usually done at the expense of the spiritual nourishment that we desperately need. One leads to temporary satisfaction while the other leads to eternal joy. The one that is temporary leaves us full for only a moment then we are empty once again; left dissatisfied and grumbling. The Bread of Life keeps nourishing us forever. When we consume it we want more but in a different way than which the flesh demands. The spiritual nourishment makes us hunger in a good way because the more we partake of it the more joyous we become; being lifted ever higher in our experiences and awareness of what is being offered to us.

All of what Jesus is offering us comes directly from God. All that comes from God is good. We will be provided for and our burdens will be taken away from us if we embrace that which is good. That is the biggest difference between walking with Jesus and pursuing that which comes from a defective world. We are guaranteed to overcome everything that ails us through the strength given to us by Jesus. We will receive wisdom, knowledge, understanding, fortitude, piety, good counsel, and a healthy fear of God amongst other things which will then define our very existence; preparing ourselves for eternity while experience insurmountable joy in the present. No longer will we be focused on the wrong things at the wrong time. Instead we will be nourished and strengthened in the right things that will never do us any harm. We will be new creations through, in, and by our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. His intentions will become our reality. God’s reality and our reality will be the same.

 

Deacon Tom

 

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 110

Reading I

2 Kgs 4:42-44

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,
twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,
and fresh grain in the ear. 
Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” 
But his servant objected,
“How can I set this before a hundred people?” 
Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat.” 
“For thus says the LORD,
‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’” 
And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
    and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
    and speak of your might.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
    and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
    and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is just in all his ways
    and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
    to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Reading II

Eph 4:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

Alleluia

Lk 7:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has risen in our midst.
God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. 
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples. 
The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 
When Jesus raised his eyes
and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip,
“Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” 
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do. 
Philip answered him,
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little.” 
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?” 
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” 
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. 
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.” 
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments 
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat. 
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” 
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

Our faith in God should be the guiding principle in all of our affairs in we are to experience this life as God intended us to do. We cannot let doubt or disbelief creep in. If it does then our relationship with God will be compromised. Because we are human we do have this tendency to think about the worst case scenario and to perceive things are worse than they really are. Once we engage these negative thoughts they quickly multiply and force out good thoughts; challenging our faith and causing us extreme anxiety. God does not want us to feel this way. He wants us to be at ease. He wants us to have full trust in Him and wants us to rely on Him completely. It is Satan who wants us to distrust God and to be fearful of all outcomes in all situations that we face.

 

 

In our imperfection we tend to separate our spiritual relationship with God from our physical life. Either consciously or unconsciously we doubt that God can influence our physical life here on this earth. At times we pray for strength and a positive outcome regarding specific situations yet we still worry; filled with doubt that what we are facing will be rectified through Divine Providence. We immediately feel abandoned; falling back on our own will to face a seemingly impossible situation alone. Staying close to God means we are closer to the perfect than we allow us to believe. This is a weakness that should be continuously addressed if we are to continue to strengthen our relationship with God.

 

The Scripture Reading today tells of a man who came who Elisha with an offering. Because he was bringing an offering it was obvious that he knew who Elisha was. He was a great prophet and the heir of Elijah. To bring an offering means there was some sort of faith that this man had. He knew of Elijah, the defeat of the Prophets of Baal, and the miracles that Elisha himself did. Yet when Elisha told him to give the bread to the people to eat the man immediately doubted; thinking it impossible to feed 100 people from the 22 loaves. This serves as a lesson to us that we should always have complete trust and faith in God. When we do only good things will abound. God has complete confidence in us. Shouldn’t we have full confidence in Him? He created us. He loves us. Why wouldn’t God take care of us if we allow Him to do so? It is a good exercise to make ourselves answer that simple question. If we come up with a justification for having these doubts then that becomes an obvious area of our relationship with God that we have to work on.

 

This world is dysfunctional. There are a lot of bad things that happen that are hard to comprehend. Many of these events happen to those who are apparently not at fault. Bad things do happen to good people. This leads to many people having trouble trusting God. Some people even end up hating God as a result. Whatever is wrong is not God’s fault. We welcomed evil into this world. We chose to turn away from God and rely on our decisions and defective judgment. As a result a product which was perfect became imperfect. When this happened and continues to happen we then look at the end result and blame God instead of taking responsibility ourselves.

 

The fault lies with everyone. Even those who profess to follow Jesus Christ ignore the words of the apostle Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians. In it he stresses one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. He talks about the unity of peace with tolerance and patience. He was against divisions, hatred, and animosity. After over 2000 years we cannot even get this right. This chapter should be read and followed by all Christians; especially those who engage in division and are reluctant to follow what is specifically written by arguably the greatest evangelist of the Christian Faith. We cannot pretend our faith is strong and our relationship with God when we cannot even follow the faith we profess correctly and with abandon. We are hesitating too much and many refuse to make the adjustments necessary to make ourselves better men and women.

 

The miracles that Jesus performed had an impact but the impact was always in danger of fading away. Reinforcement through instruction and prayer was necessary to build a solid foundation that was to be continuously built upon. If we do not provide constant maintenance to our condition then it will eventually fall apart. A lot of what He said and did was meant to be reflected on and referred back to when those who heard Him doubted or were challenged. When Jesus questioned his disciples regarding where they could buy enough food for all the people to eat they immediately relied on a physical solution and then mentioned the limitations that were apparent to the challenge before them. Never did they place their trust in a spiritual solution to overcome the physical problem even though they were witnesses to the power of Jesus and the miracles He had already performed. He knew how they would answer before they answered and He then presented the solution which was firmly rooted in faith and God. This is where all of our solutions should come from.

 

The Multiplication of the Loaves and the miracle of The Breaking of the Bread opened the eyes of thousands. This serves as a precursor to the Eucharist and an indication that The Word of God is all the nourishment we need. Jesus has given this gift to the world to the believers and unbelievers alike. Turning to Jesus means that our eyes will be opened and we will be fed physically, mentally, and spiritually. This promise was fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled today if we allow Him to do the work necessary. We cannot let our relationship with God be limited by the barriers that we ourselves erect. We need to be focused on tearing down barriers and running to God. He is waiting for us with open arms.

 

Deacon Tom