[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: July 29, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Fruit Tapioca Parfait
• Pink and White Meringue Torte
• Potatoes and Peas in Cream
• Shrimp Marsala

ACTIVITIES

• Childhood Games
• Homemade Prayer Book for Preschool Children
• Make Your Own Chef's Hat
• Story-Telling

PRAYERS

• Ordinary Time, After Pentecost: Table Blessing 1
• Ordinary Time, After Pentecost: Table Blessing 2

LIBRARY

• By the Babe Unborn | G. K. Chesterton
• Christ the Source of Resurrection and Life | Unknown
• God Alone Is My Every Good, My Life | Pope John Paul II

Ordinary Time: July 29th

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten (Jn 6:11-13).

Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

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Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Second Book of Kings 4:42-44. We have here an incident from the life of Elisha, the prophet in Israel who inherited the mantle of the great Elijah. He prophesied in Israel during the second half of the 9th century. By anointing Jehu as king of Israel, he helped to bring about the overthrow of Achab's dynasty which had introduced the worship of Baal into Israel and had almost paganized the whole northern kingdom. This reading describes a miracle worked by Elisha

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 4:1-6. St. Paul lays great stress on Christian unity which is the essence of the faith. In these six verses he gives a sevenfold formula of unity on which the various aspects of true Christian unity are based.

The Gospel is from St. John 6:1-15. Although Jesus had the intention of preparing the minds of the multitude for his discourse on the heavenly food which he would make next day, his principal motive in working this miracle was pity and compassion. He knew that they were hungry—they had been away from home all day and some for many days.

They were willing to suffer this inconvenience but he did not want them to do so. Even though he knew there were some among them who would never accept him, and perhaps even some who would be among the rabble that demanded his crucifixion on Good Friday; yet he made no distinction. He had compassion on them all.

This miracle should surely convince us that Christ is interested in our daily needs too, just as he was interested in those of his contemporaries in Palestine. Our principal and only real purpose in life is to be saved and Christ is ever ready to help us. However, we have first to travel through our earthly life so, of necessity, we have to take a passing interest in the affairs of this world. We have to provide for our earthly needs and for those of any others who may depend on us. For many, in fact for the vast majority of men, this has always been and will be a struggle against great odds. Here, too, Christ is ever ready to help us. He has a true interest in our progress through life and if we turn to him trustfully and sincerely, he will help us over our difficulties.

This does not mean that we can expect or demand a miracle whenever we find ourselves in difficulties. If, however, we are true to Christ and to the faith in our daily lives, he will find ways and means of freeing us from difficulties which would otherwise overcome us. If we look back over our past we may notice occasions when we were saved from grave difficulties by some unexpected intervention. We may not even have called on Christ to help us but he knew our needs and he answered our unspoken request. Those five thousand hungry people had not asked him for food, but he knew their needs. He knew too that their needs were caused by their desire to be in his presence—so he gave them what they had not thought of asking for. If we are loyal to him we, too, can trust that his mercy and power will be with us in our hour of need. He may not remove the cause of our difficulty. Remember St. Paul who had some bodily infirmity which he thought impeded his effectiveness as a missioner? Three times he pleaded with Christ to remove this 'infirmity, but Christ assured him: "my grace is sufficient for you." He would prove all the more effectively that he was Christ's Apostle by preaching in spite of that infirmity: "for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12: 7-9). Thus it may be that Christ will use the very difficulty from which we are suffering, to bring us and others into more intimate union with him. Many of the saints suffered great hardships and afflictions during their years on earth—these very afflictions were Christ's gifts to them. Without these, and the virtues of patience, faith and trust which they had to practice, they might not be among God's elect today.

We must rest assured then that Christ is intimately interested in our daily lives on earth. We must not expect that this interest of his will remove all shadows from our path. This would not be for our eternal good—and our eternal happiness is Christ's first interest in us. It should also be our own first and principal interest too. It will help us, too, to bear with our lot, if we look about us and see so many others who are worse off, or at least as badly off as we are especially with regard to the snags of life. Christian charity will move us to help them; we may not be able to give them any material help, but we can help to lighten their load by showing our sincere interest in them and by offering words of comfort and consolation. This is the only charity that the poor have to offer to their fellow sufferers, but if it is Christ-inspired its effects will reach to heaven.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 6:1-15

 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.” (John 6:9)

Have you ever noticed that some­times when you bring your gifts to Jesus as this young boy did, noth­ing much seems to happen? They just seem to sit there, undeveloped and underappreciated. Did you ever think that perhaps, to use a business parallel, the blockage is on the distri­bution side?

Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to just sit quietly while he multiplied the loaves. He told them to have the people recline—he told them to get the crowd ready for the mir­acle he was about to do. Similarly, Elisha didn’t explain away his ser­vant’s objections, he simply repeated his instruction: “Give [the food] to the people to eat” (2 Kings 4:43). It wasn’t time to sit by and wait for Jesus to do something; it was time to get to work! And so the disciples organized the people into groups sitting on the grass, and Elisha’s ser­vant started handing out the food. That’s when the miracles happened.

So if you want to see your offer­ings to God multiplied, you have an essential role to play. You may not be working the miracle yourself, but you do need to get out there and do something! It’s impossible to know what that “something” is in each sit­uation. We all have different gifts, different life situations, different opportunities that will present them­selves today. But one thing is sure: Each of us will have an opportunity to do something important for the kingdom of God.

Starting today, try your best to be open to your Father’s promptings when it comes to the people you meet, the situations you encounter, and the movements of your heart. And then take a step in whatever direction you think he is leading you. The result may surprise you!

“Heavenly Father, I am not sure how to start. But I will take a step in faith today. Show me what you have for me to do, and how my gifts can bear fruit for your kingdom.”

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Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

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

1. In the first reading the prophet Elisha feeds a hundred people in a story that prefigures Christ’s miracle of the multiplication of loaves. In the “Our Father,” we ask the Lord for “our daily bread.” In what ways does the Lord feed you and provide you with daily sustenance?

2. In the responsorial Psalm we read again that God feeds his “faithful ones” and satisfies all of their desires. What are the desires in your life that bring you closer to God? What are the desires in your life that keep you from God?

3. The Responsorial Psalm goes on to say these words: “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.” How important do you think it is to call upon the Lord in a daily time of personal prayer and Scripture reading? If you don’t have a daily time of personal prayer and Scripture reading, are you willing to commit 15 minutes a day to it? If not, what are your reasons?

4. In today’s short reading from the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul urges us to “to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received.” As inspiring as these words are, we all tend to reduce this invitation to specific points of action: I have to do this good thing and I have to avoid that temptation. But these can all be just a matter of human striving and doesn’t necessarily lead to fulfilling God’s call. How would you describe God’s call for your life? What new steps can you take to change the things in your life that are keeping you from living “in a manner worthy of the call”?

5. The Gospel relates the story of the multiplication of the loaves, which itself prefigures the Eucharist. The bread in this story sustains earthly life, while the Eucharist sustains us for eternity and is the full manifestation of Christ’s boundless love for us. It is a meal we share together in humility as Catholics, a sign and cause of unity. What steps can you take to deepen your experience of Christ, and his love for you, when you receive the Eucharist?

6. In the meditation, we hear these words: “We all have different gifts, different life situations, different opportunities that will present themselves today. But one thing is sure: Each of us will have an opportunity to do something important for the kingdom of God.” The meditation goes on to encourage us with these words: “Starting today, try your best to be open to your Father’s promptings when it comes to the people you meet, the situations you encounter, and the movements of your heart. And then take a step in whatever direction you think he is leading you. The result may surprise you!” What obstacles get in the way of your saying yes to the “Father’s promptings”? What can you do to overcome them?

7. Take some time now to pray for a greater openness to using the gifts God has giving you to bear fruit for his kingdom. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.