Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Exodus, chapter sixteen, verses two, three, four, & twelve thru fifteen;
Psalm Seventy-eight, verses three & four, twenty-three & twenty-four, & twenty-five & fifty-four;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter four, verses seventeen & twenty thru twenty-four;
The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verses twenty-four thru thirty-five.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today’s Gospel comes from the bread of life discourse: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." What God has wanted from the beginning is to sit down with his creatures in a fellowship banquet, sharing life and laughter, giving and receiving and giving back again. This is the loop of grace that I’ve often spoken of. The more we receive the divine life, the more we should give it away and thereby get more of it.Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Throughout the Old Testament, we find images of the holy banquet. On God’s holy mountain, Isaiah says, there will be good meats and pure, choice wines. And throughout his ministry, Jesus hosts meals to which all are invited. God wants to share his life with us.
This comes to full expression in the Eucharist, when Jesus identifies himself so radically with the bread and the wine that they change into his Body and Blood, and then he invites all of us around this table to feast and share life, to give and receive and give again.
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-one
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
In any moment when you surrender to the will of God & choose to be the-best-version-of-yourself, you are holy. Any moment that you grasp as an opportunity to exercise virtue is a holy moment. But as quickly as their holiness can be found, it can be lost, because in any moment that you choose to be less than the-best-version-of-yourself, you have become distracted from living a holy life.†
There is nothing more attractive than holiness. This attractiveness has not just been demonstrated in Jesus, but is constantly demonstrated her & now in our own place & time: whenever someone goes out of his or her way to ease the burden of a stranger; whenever whenever someone is honest; whenever someone lays down his of her life by working hard to support his of her family; whenever someone rejects the premise of modern culture. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul writes, "This is the will of God: that you be saints" (1 Thessalonians, 4:3). God wants you to be holy. Your holiness is the desire of God, the delight of God, & the source of your happiness. To embrace who you were created to be & to become the-best-version-of-yourself is God's dream for you. Therefore, holiness is for everyone, not just for a select few, for monks in monasteries & nuns in convents; it is for you & me.
Otherwise, 5 August would be the festival of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (A.K.A. Our Lady of the Snows): Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duæ, Wikipedia-link Dedication, & Wikipedia-link Basilica.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Nonna of Nanzianzus (circa 305-374): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Wife of St. Gregory of Nazianzus the Elder (1 January) & mother of the Doctor of the Church St. Gregory of Nazianzus [the Younger, 2 January] & Ss. Gorgonia (9 December) & Caesarius (25 February).
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Oswald of Northumbria, Martyr (circa 604-642), king of Northumbria, martyred in battle against the pagan king Penda of Mercia: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Abel of Reims, Bishop & Abbot, O.S.B. (died circa 751), monk & abbot at Lobbes Abbey: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"The happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a Name & a Face: it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist."Little Flower Quote o' the Day
—Pope Benedict XVI (born 1927, reigned 2005-2013)
"Only little children and those who are like them shall be admitted to the Heavenly Banquet."Saint Quote o' the Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"In her Magnificat, which has become the canticle of the Church & of humanity yearning for salvation, Mary has proclaimed human & feminine liberation. She is the most perfect image of freedom & of the liberation of humanity & of the universe."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
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