Archive for July 24, 2021

17 Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted: July 24, 2021 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Bread Left Over: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Seventeenth  Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings


2 Kings 4:42–44
Psalm 145:10-11, 15–18
Ephesians 4:1–6
John 6:1–15

Today’s liturgy brings together several strands of Old Testament expectation to reveal Jesus as Israel’s promised Messiah and King, the Lord who comes to feed His people.

Notice the parallels between today’s Gospel and First Reading. Both Elisha and Jesus face a crowd of hungry people with only a few “barley” loaves. We hear similar words about how impossible it will be to feed the crowd with so little. And in both the miraculous multiplication of bread satisfies the hungry and leaves food left over.

The Elisha story looks back to Moses, the prophet who fed God’s people in the wilderness (see Exodus 16). Moses prophesied that God would send a prophet like him (see Deuteronomy 18:15–19). The crowd in today’s Gospel, witnessing His miracle, identifies Jesus as that prophet.

The Gospel today again shows Jesus to be the Lord, the good shepherd, who makes His people lie down on green grass and spreads a table before them (see Psalm 23:1, 5).

The miraculous feeding is a sign that God has begun to fulfill His promise, which we sing of in today’s Psalm—to give His people food in due season and satisfy their desire (see Psalm 81:17).

But Jesus points to the final fulfillment of that promise in the Eucharist. He does the same things He does at the Last Supper—He takes the loaves, pronounces a blessing of thanksgiving (literally, “eucharist”), and gives the bread to the people (see Matthew 26:26). Notice, too, that twelve baskets of bread are left over, one for each of the Apostles.

These are signs that should point us to the Eucharist—in which the Church founded on the Apostles continues to feed us with the living bread of His Body.

In this Eucharist, we are made one Body with the Lord, as we hear in today’s Epistle. Let us resolve again, then, to live lives worthy of such a great calling.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: July 24, 2021 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Are you good? YES for you are a wonderful child of God our Heavenly Father made in His image and likeness and so loved by Him.

Can you remain good? YES if you choose always do His Will and to remain steadfast in prayer, to listen to His Word, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly in His presence.

Can you turn bad? YES for we have all been given free will. This happens if we choose evil and sin over the love of our Lord and God.  If we choose to live in the world and succumb to the influence of those who ‘thrive’ in it.

The Good news for us is that the LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in mercy. (Ps 103:8) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, He will not despise. For He sent His only Begotten Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to reconcile the world unto Him. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. (num 14:18) Let us therefore hasten unto Him!

Jesus my Lord I turn to You, wash me clean in Your blood and I will be white as snow! Let me remain steadfast in Your love always. Amen

First reading

Exodus 24:3-8 ·

This is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you

Moses went and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice, ‘We will observe all the commands that the Lord has decreed.’ Moses put all the commands of the Lord into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to the Lord as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, ‘We will observe all that the Lord has decreed; we will obey.’ Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people. This’ he said ‘is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you, containing all these rules.’

Gospel

Matthew 13:24-30

Let them both grow till the harvest

Jesus put another parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’