Saints + Scripture: XVIII Sunday in Ordinary Time

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Draw near to Your servants, O Lord,
& answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in You as their Creator & guide,
You may restore what You have created
& keep safe what You have restored.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives & reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever & ever.

'Tis the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

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 (R/. twenty-four[b]), 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: Gospel 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.

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 Greg Friedman, O.F.M. (U.S. Conf. of Catholic Bishops): Sunday Reflection.

Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Sunday Reflection.

Video reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire): Sunday Sermon.

Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.