Monday - August 07, 2017
"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you - for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart...don't listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love...
- St. Therese of Lisieux
TODAY'S READINGS
August 7, 2017
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 407
Reading 1NM 11:4B-15
The children of Israel lamented,"Would that we had meat for food!
We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt,
and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks,
the onions, and the garlic.
But now we are famished;
we see nothing before us but this manna."
Manna was like coriander seed and had the color of resin.
When they had gone about and gathered it up,
the people would grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar,
then cook it in a pot and make it into loaves,
which tasted like cakes made with oil.
At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell.
When Moses heard the people, family after family,
crying at the entrance of their tents,
so that the LORD became very angry, he was grieved.
"Why do you treat your servant so badly?" Moses asked the LORD.
"Why are you so displeased with me
that you burden me with all this people?
Was it I who conceived all this people?
Or was it I who gave them birth,
that you tell me to carry them at my bosom,
like a foster father carrying an infant,
to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers?
Where can I get meat to give to all this people?
For they are crying to me,
'Give us meat for our food.'
I cannot carry all this people by myself,
for they are too heavy for me.
If this is the way you will deal with me,
then please do me the favor of killing me at once,
so that I need no longer face this distress."
Responsorial PsalmPS 81:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R. (2a) Sing with joy to God our help."My people heard not my voice,
and Israel obeyed me not;
So I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts;
they walked according to their own counsels."
R. Sing with joy to God our help.
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
Quickly would I humble their enemies;
against their foes I would turn my hand."
R. Sing with joy to God our help.
"Those who hated the LORD would seek to flatter me,
but their fate would endure forever,
While Israel I would feed with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them."
R. Sing with joy to God our help.
AlleluiaMT 4:4
R. Alleluia, alleluia.One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,
"This is a deserted place and it is already late;
dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages
and buy food for themselves."
He said to them, "There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves."
But they said to him,
"Five loaves and two fish are all we have here."
Then he said, "Bring them here to me,"
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over–
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children.
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THE BIGGEST MIRACLE OF THE EUCHARIST
In our Gospel reading today, we see the desert-tired Israelites complaining: "We sure wish we could have meat for a change! We never get anything but this boring manna." Gone was their awe and wonder about the miraculous food that came straight from heaven to nourish them daily.
Miracles don't seem miraculous when they're commonplace, do they?
We have at every Mass a miraculous food that comes straight from heaven to nourish us. By divine intervention, Jesus Christ is fully present, body and soul -- his humanity and his divinity -- looking like simple bread and wine. In the Eucharist, he feeds us with his total self so that our own body and soul are nourished while we journey through the desert of life's difficulties.
Sadly, the Eucharist can be so commonplace that it's easy to lose the awe and wonder of what really happens at Mass. Why else would we complain that God is not doing enough to heal us or deliver us from hardships or give us whatever we're lacking?
When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish in today's Gospel reading, he gave the people a foretaste of the nourishment he would provide through the Eucharist. That meal took care of their physical hunger, and they had lots of leftovers as proof that God doesn't provide only what we need, but so much more, too.
Many saints throughout the centuries have lived for many years while eating nothing but the Eucharist. They are evidence that Christ's presence in the consecrated bread truly does feed our bodies, not just our souls. How much are you fed by the Eucharist?
The Eucharist nourishes us in every way that we need to be fed if we participate in it fully. Minimal, half-hearted involvement in the Mass prevents us from participating fully in all the benefits of the Eucharist. Every prayer, the songs, the readings, and the communal experience of worship all work together to make the Eucharistic experience complete.
Full participation means that when we consume Jesus, he consumes us. We become more like him. Our holiness, which is already in us thanks to the Holy Spirit we received at baptism, is released. When the minister of the Eucharist proclaims to us, "This is the body (or the blood) of Christ," our "amen" means we're agreeing with the life-changing presence of Jesus. We're agreeing to be changed!
The biggest miracle is not the bread and wine being changed into Christ. That only requires a priest ordained in the lineage of the Apostles, some unleavened bread, and certain prayers and rituals. It's more miraculous for us to be changed into Christ-like Christians, which requires our free will and full participation.
Experiencing awe and wonder over the miracle of the Eucharist is not just about appreciating what happens in Mass. It's also about appreciating and submitting ourselves to God's power to transform us into holier people.
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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