Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The First Book of Kings, chapter nineteen, verses four thru eight;
Psalm Thirty-four, verses two thru nine;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter four, verse thirty thru chapter five, verse two;
The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verses forty-one thru fifty-one.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus offers himself as food for the soul. There is a great truth revealed in the bread of life discourse. It is the law of the gift. This personal, incarnating God wants to be eaten and drunk, to be radically and fully for the other.Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Why were the gods of the ancient world so popular? Because they were projections of ourselves—vain, arrogant, resentful, violent. This means that they put little moral pressure on us. They were frightening but not morally demanding.
But this God who shows that he is totally love and who wants us in relation to him, to eat and drink him in, is the God who wants us to be like him. As he is food and drink for the world, so we must be food and drink for the world. As he gave himself away utterly, so we must give ourselves away utterly, without clinging to the goods, honors, or values of the world—all those things that aggrandize the ego.
The personal God, the incarnate God, the God of the gift. How compelling. How deeply challenging. How will you decide?
Video reflection by Father Claude Burns: Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.
Video reflection by Jeff Cavins (Ascension): Encountering the Word.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
Mass Journal: Week Thirty-three
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
I believe there is a direct relationship between happiness & holiness. This was my first serious observation of the Christian life as a teenager. I must also confess it was the reason I first began to explore Catholicism seriously. As simple as it may sound, I was aware of my yearning for happiness. I had tried to satisfy this yearning in other ways & had been left wanting. I had witnessed a peace & purpose in the loves of a handful of people I knew who were striving to live their faith, & I knew they had something I was yearning for. God calls each of us to holiness. He invites us to be truly ourselves. This call to holiness is in response to our deep desire for happiness. We cry out to God, saying, Show us how to find the happiness our hearts are hungry for, & God replies, Walk with Me, be all I created you to be, become the-best-version-of-yourself. It is a natural & logical conclusion that we will never find happiness if we are not ourselves.†
Otherwise, 12 August would be the festival of Saint Jænberht, Bishop & Abbot (died 792, of Canterbury; also spelt Jambert): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious, V.H.M. (1572-1641, A.K.A. Jeanne-Françoise Frémiot), foundress of the Visitation Sisters, formally the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Order-link V.H.M. & Wikipedia-link V.H.M.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Innocent XI, Pope (1611-1689, the "Savior of Hungary;" A.K.A. Benedetto Odescalchi), two hundred fortieth (CCXL) Bishop of Rome: Blessed-link ūnus, Blessed-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Karl Leisner, Priest & Martyr (1915-1945), martyred by the regime of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, which he outlived: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Bl. Karl died of tuberculosis in August 1945; he is accounted a martyr because of the brutality & medical experiments to which he was subjected in the Dachau Concentration Camp's Priest Barracks (Wikipedia-link Priesterblock).
Papal Quote o' This Day
"What we believe is important, but even more important is the One in whom we believe."Little Flower Quote o' This Day
—Pope Benedict XVI (born 1927, reigned 2005-2013)
"Your lot is indeed a beautiful one, since Our Lord has chosen it for you, & has first touched with His own Lips the cup which He holds out to yours."Saint Quote o' This Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"Let us restore in ourselves the right awareness of sin, which is not frightening. The awareness of good will grows in opposition to the awareness of evil. The sense of responsibility will grow, rising from the inner moral judgment & widening to the sense of our duties—personal, social, & religious."
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)
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