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UN-QUIET WORD FOR TODAY, August 1st, 2021EighTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day
When we come together today, as we do each Sunday, we receive the Lord—the Bread of Life—in the Eucharist. He satisfies our hunger, be it material or spiritual. When we receive the Lord, in the Eucharist and into our hearts, he brings fullness, mission, God’s grace, and the prom- ise of everlasting life into our poor, imperfect, and needy human lives. He enables us to “put away the old self” and “put on the new self.” Joined together with our brothers and sisters in faith, let us celebrate the generosity of our Lord.
Reflection
• It is easy to scoff at the Israelites grumbling to Moses about the hardship they faced in the desert. How ridiculous to say they’d rather be enslaved again! How ungrateful they are to God and to Moses for leading them out of slavery in the first place! But anyone who has truly known what it’s like to be hungry day after day with no end in sight can appreciate their cries. When someone has an acute physical need that is not met, reason and reasonableness are lost. Think back to how you felt when you were significantly ill or injured. Pain and chronic agony take over. Nothing else can even be contemplated. This is how it became for this formerly enslaved people wandering in the desert without food or water. Every minute of every day their thoughts were consumed by their misery.
• When uncertain of what to believe, it is natural to look for signs. We look for some insight into the truth. In his Gospel, John referred to Jesus’ miracles as signs. The crowd in today’s Gospel passage saw his sign of the loaves and fish and now ask for a sign “that we may see and believe” (John 6:30). We may ask ourselves what signs we need to see in order to believe. Perhaps we would be better off asking ourselves what signs we can provide so that others may believe. How can we multiply what we have in order to nourish more people than we can imagine? How can we give life to the world? How can we point the way to the truth by what we do?
• We have a huge advantage over both the crowd in the desert and the one in Capernaum. We know the ending. The Israelites make it to the Promised Land. The Bread of Life is the food of our redemption. Today when we are faced with an uncertain future and problems that appear to be unsolvable, let us take comfort in knowing that God continues to watch over us, forever satisfying our hunger and thirst.
Question of the Week
How can I be a sign to others of the nourishment I’ve found in the bread of life?
-from the pages of Pastoral Patterns
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readings of the mass
SELECT HERE for the Audio recording of the Readings of Sunday, August 1st, 2021, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, August 1st, 2021, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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We hear Jesus today tell the crowds that he is the bread of life, that those who look to him will never hunger or thirst. Before that, we hear the Lord satisfy the hunger of the Chosen People when they were starving in the desert. In between, Saint Paul challenges us to change from our old self and “put on (our) new self” now that we have learned the truth in Jesus. Listening to today’s readings, let us reflect on how God satisfies our hunger.
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reflections
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“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.”
Exodus 16:4Wants vs. Needs
When the Israelites gathered more than their daily portion of manna, the surplus became wormy and rotten. In the same way today, self-reliance, pride and ego leads to hoarding and excessive surplus of goods and money. Living a steward- ship lifestyle helps us discern our “wants” from our “needs”. Living
a grateful and generous lifestyle reminds us that God will provide all that we need and that we have plenty to share.
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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."John 6: 32-35
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What are the benefits of receiving the Eucharist?
Through participation in the Eucharist, we also participate in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, that is, in his dying and rising, which is made present for us in the Eucharistic sacrifice. This participation in the Paschal Mystery of Christ reaches its consumation when we receive his Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Christ's victory and triumph over death is then made present in the lives of those who participate in the Eucharist.
The person who receives the Eucharist is blessed with many graces.- Holy Communion increases our union with Christ. "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." (John 6:56). Communion with the Body of Christ preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism.
- Holy Communion separates us from sin. We receive the Body of Christ "given up for us" to save us from sin. We receive the Blood of Christ "shed for many for the forgiveness of sins". Our love of God is intensified and therefore our disordered attachments are weakoned and even broken. Divine love wipes away venial sins.
- Holy Communion offers us strength, called grace, to preserve us from mortal sin. By deepening our friendship with Christ, this Sacrament makes it more difficult for us to break our union with him by mortal sin.
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- Holy Communion expands the life of the Church. The Church as a communion is bound ever more closely together through the celebration of the Eucharist. In receiving Communion, we are more fully united to the Church.
- Holy Communion commits us to care for the poor. Saint Paul reminded the Corinthians that in sharing the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, they were also called to care for the poorer members of the community. (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
Participation in the celebration of the Eucharist sacrifice is a source and means of grace even apart from the actual reception of Holy Communion. It has been long understood that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion during Mass, it is possible to make a spiritual communion that is also a source of grace. Spritual communion means uniting one's self in prayer with Christ's sacrifice and worshiping him present in his Body and Blood.
-United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
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"What are you looking for?", Christ asked of his disciples.
Are you new or have been away from the Church? Are you Catholic and have not received the Sacraments?
We welcome and invite you to LEARN MORE about the faith that Jesus Christ founded.
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