18th Week: Aug 7-12:
Aug 7 Monday: St. Sixtus II, Pope and companion martyrs; St Cajetan:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’
miraculous feeding of a great multitude. The story is told in all four Gospels
and serves as Jesus’ way of introducing to those listening a merciful and
providing God. This miraculous feeding was meant to remind people of God’s
provision of manna in the wilderness and to foreshadow the true Heavenly Bread
which Jesus would offer those who listened, believed, and chose to receive.
Moses, Elijah, and Elisha had all fed people without the benefit of resources.
The present miracle resembles particularly the one performed by Elisha in 2 Kgs
4:42-44.
Jesus took pity on the growing physical hunger of his
listeners as they listened and challenged the apostles to feed them. They
brought him what they had — five loaves of bread and two dried fish. Jesus took
these, said a prayer of blessing, broke them and asked the apostles to distribute
them. Since it was mid-April, springtime in Israel, the people could sit
comfortably on green grass in groups of hundreds and fifties as Jesus asked.
After serving a sumptuous meal, which satisfied everyone’s hunger, the apostles
collected twelve wicker baskets filled with leftover bread and fish pieces, a
vivid demonstration of God’s generosity in giving.
Life message: 1) We may not be able to feed the
hungry millions in the world, but today’s Gospel challenges us to do our humble
share in alleviating hunger and poverty in our neighborhood. God will amplify
our little contributions and reward our good will and generosity. Let us be
thankful to Jesus for feeding us spiritually with the word of God and with the
Holy Eucharist. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 8 Tuesday: St. Dominic, Priest:
The context: The event presented by today’s
Gospel is the scene immediately following Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five
thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish. Sensing the danger of having
the people make him leader of a revolt, Jesus promptly instructed his apostles
to leave the place by boat and, after dispersing the crowd, went alone to the
mountain to pray.
A double miracle on the sea: When the apostles in the boat
were several furlongs away from the shore, they faced an unexpected storm on
the sea caused by the hot wind of the desert rushing into the Sea of Galilee
through the gaps in the Golan Heights. Recognizing the danger, Jesus walked on
the stormy waters toward the boat. Jesus calmed the frightened disciples as He
approached the boat, allowed Peter to do a trial walk on water, then saved the
apostle from drowning when he panicked. As soon as Jesus brought Peter into the
boat the storm ceased miraculously. The apostles recognized the presence of God
in their midst, and they all worshipped Jesus.
Life messages: 1) Let us approach Jesus with strong
Faith in his ability and willing availability to calm the storms in our lives
and in the life of the Church. Church History shows us how Jesus saved his
Church from storms of persecution in the first three centuries, storms of
heresies in the fifth and sixth centuries, storms of moral degradation and the
Protestant reformation movement in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and
storms of sex abuse scandals of the clergy in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries. 2) Let us ask Jesus to protect us when we face storms of strong
temptations, storms of doubts about our religious beliefs, and storms of fear,
anxiety, and worries about the future, as in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, in
our personal lives. 3) Experiencing Jesus’ presence in our lives, let us
confess our Faith in him and call out for his help and protection. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 9 Wednesday: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross:
The Context: Jesus
withdrew to Tyre and Sidon both to escape persecution by Herod and by the
Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles. Tyre and Sidon
were Mediterranean coastal cities in Lebanon, outside the territory of Herod
Antipas. Jesus and His disciples traveled about 40 miles on foot to this
district. The people there were said to have been descendants of Cain, the son
of Adam and Eve who killed his brother, Abel, and was banished. He and his
descendants settled in the area of Tyre and Sidon and were not heirs to the
Faith given through Abraham, Moses and the prophets, making them Gentiles. The
Event: Today’s Gospel episode speaks of the expansive and universal nature of
the “Kingdom of God,” in contrast with the theory that salvation was offered
first to the Jews and through them alone to the rest of the world. In fact, God
included all nations in His plan for salvation and blessed all the families of
the earth in Abraham (Gn 17:1-5). In today’s Gospel episode, Jesus demonstrates
that salvation was meant for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews by healing
the daughter of a Gentile woman as a reward for her strong, trusting Faith,
unwavering trust, perseverance, wit, and humility. Thus, Jesus shows that God's
mercy and love are available to all who call out to Him in Faith.
Life messages: 1) We need to persist in
prayer with trustful confidence. Although the essential parts of
prayer are adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and contrition, the prayer of
petition plays a big part in our daily lives. Christ Himself has told us to ask
him for these needs: "Ask and you shall receive." Asking
with fervor and perseverance proves that we have the "great Faith” we need
to receive what Christ wants to grant us in response to our requests. We must
realize and remember that we do not always get exactly what we ask for. Rather,
God gives us what He knows we really need, what He wants for us, and what is
really best for us. If our prayer is sincere and persevering, we will always
get an answer — one which is better than what we asked for.
2) We need to pull down our walls of separation and share
in the universality of God’s love: Very often we set
up walls which separate us from God and from one another. Today’s Gospel
reminds us that God’s love and mercy are extended to all who call on Him in
Faith and trust, no matter who they are. It is therefore fitting that we should
pray and work sincerely so that the walls which our pride, intolerance, fear,
and prejudice have raised may crumble. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 10 Thursday: St. Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr:
The context: Jesus tells us a short parable followed
by two amazing paradoxes. The parable is that of a grain of wheat sown into the
muddy field, growing up and yielding a good crop. The parable followed by the
paradoxes teaches us three lessons for Christian life. The first lesson is that
life comes only through death. Only when the grain of wheat dies in the muddy
soil of the field does it become a seedling. In the same way, the Church would
grow up and flourish in the death of its martyrs: “The blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the Church.” When we die to our personal ambitions and desires, we
are born as useful instruments in the hands of God. The second lesson is that
only by spending life we can retain it. The world owes a lot to saintly people
like St. Don Bosco, St. Vincent De Paul, St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother
Teresa), St. Jeanne Jugan, and St. Damien of Molokai, among others, who spent
their energy in service of the poor and the down-trodden and gave themselves to
God. The third lesson is that greatness comes through selfless and committed
service. This explains why the world still honors and cherishes the memory of
great souls mentioned above.
Life message: Let us surrender our lives to God
in the service of others with agápe love in all humility,
seeing the face of Jesus in each of them. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 11 Friday: St. Clare, Vigin:
The context: After Peter made his famous
declaration of Faith in Jesus as God and Messiah, Jesus plainly warned his
disciples about his approaching suffering, death and Resurrection. But the
apostles were unwilling to accept such a fate for their Master. Peter even took
Jesus aside and prayed, “God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to
you!” It was after Peter’s protest (and Jesus abrupt response), that
Jesus declared the three conditions of the discipleship which he expects from
his followers. We hear them in today’s Gospel.
Conditions of Christian discipleship: 1) Deny
yourself 2) Take up your cross. 3) Follow Me.
Denying oneself means cleansing the heart of all
bad habits and evil tendencies and evicting the self, with its selfish thoughts
and desires from one’s heart. It also means enthroning God in one’s cleansed
heart and surrendering one’s life to God’s service by serving others.
Carrying the cross means willingly accepting the
pain involved in serving others sacrificially. It also means spending our time,
talents, wealth, and health for others until it hurts us. Cross-bearing is also
our sacrificial sharing of God’s blessings with others. Further, it includes
our doing penance to make reparation for our sins and to grow in self-control.
Carrying one’s cross becomes easier and more meritorious when we accept life’s
crosses as loving gifts given by a loving Father. The comparison of our light
crosses with the heavy crosses given to others should make us grateful.
Finally, we should carry our crosses, praying for Heavenly strength.
“Follow Me” means the disciple should be ever
ready to obey as Jesus directs him or her through his words in the Bible and
through the teaching authority he instituted in the Church.
Life message: We need to love the cross, wear
the cross, and transform the God-given crosses of our life into the instruments
of our salvation by working with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 12 Saturday: St. Jane France de Chantal:
The context: When Jesus came down from the
mountain of the Transfiguration along with Peter, John, and James, the father
of an epileptic son knelt before Jesus and asked Jesus to heal his son. The
father’s complaint was that the other nine disciples of Jesus waiting for their
master to come down from the mountain could not heal the boy.
The healing: After expressing impatience with the crowd for
their lack of Faith, Jesus rebuked the demon and cast him out of the boy. Later
when the apostles asked Jesus why they had been unable to do the same, although
they had been given the power of exorcism, Jesus pointed out their lack of
Faith. Jesus said further that even a small amount of Faith would enable them
to do great things. Faith, moving mountains was a Jewish
phrase meaning that God can remove all difficulties for one who places trusting
Faith in Him.
Life message: We will be able to solve our problems and many of the problems of our fellow-human beings if we place our trusting Faith in God’s power and goodness and ask for His strengthening in prayer. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
