Aug 3 Monday: Matthew 14:22-36: Historical note: Today
the Church celebrates the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral Church
of Rome by Pope Sylvester I (AD 314-335), in AD 324. This Church serves as the
Episcopal seat of the Pope as the Bishop of Rome and, hence, is called “the
Mother and Head of all Churches of Rome and the world.”
The basilica and baptistery were built originally by the
Emperor Constantine and called Basilica Constantinia. Later, it was named the
Arch-Basilica of the Most Holy Savior. However, it is now called St. Johns
Lateran Basilica because it was built on property donated to the Church by the
Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the
Baptist and St. John the Divine served it. The name St. Johns comes, first,
from the Baptistery, rebuilt after its hard treatment by the Visigoths (AD
410), by Pope St. Sixtus II (AD 432-440), and dedicated by him to St. John the
Baptist. Later, Pope St. Hilary (AD 461-468), dedicated it to St. John the
Evangelist, in thanksgiving to that apostle for saving his life. [Richard P.
McBrien, Lives of the Popes (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1997),
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 had 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 and called to Jesus for
help. 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 4 Tuesday: St. John Vianney, Mt
15:1-2, 10-14.
The Tradition of the Elders (vv. 1-2): Scribes
and Pharisees from Jerusalem challenge Jesus because His disciples eat without
performing the ritual washing of hands. In Catholic tradition, this criticism
highlights a fundamental conflict: the Pharisees elevated their man-made
customs and oral traditions to the level of divine law, while Jesus championed
the actual commandments of God. True Defilement (vv. 10-11): Jesus
explains to the crowd that “it is not what goes into the mouth that
defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth”. According to
the Ignatius Catholic
Study Bible, this signifies an essential turning point in salvation
history. Jesus is beginning to abrogate the dietary laws of the Old Testament
(Leviticus 11), shifting the focus from external ritual purity to internal
moral purity
Blind
Guides (vv. 12-14): When the disciples point out that the Pharisees are offended,
Jesus dismisses their opposition. Catholic commentary notes that this recalls
the warning in the Prophets (e.g., Isaiah 9:16) regarding leaders whose false
teachings lead others to spiritual ruin. The “blind leading the blind” refers
to legalistic religious leaders who have lost sight of God’s mercy and justice,
leading both themselves and their followers to destruction (the “pit”).
Aug 5
Wednesday:The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major: Mt 15:21-28:
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 6 Thursday: The Transfiguration of the Lord:
Mt 17:1-9:1 The context: Today’s Gospel
describes Jesus’ Transfiguration during prayer on a mountain. It invites us to
welcome the transformation of our lives caused by the Holy Spirit and to
radiate the grace of the transfigured Lord around us by our Spirit-filled
lives. The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to consult his
Heavenly Father and to ascertain His plan for Our Lord’s suffering, death and
Resurrection. The secondary aim was to make his chosen disciples aware of his
Divine glory so that they might discard the worldly ambitions underlying their
notions of a conquering political Messiahand remain faithful to him during his
trial and the execution which would follow. The location of the Transfiguration
was probably Mount Hermon in North Galilee, near Caesarea Philippi.
The event: While praying, Jesus was transformed into
a shining figure clothed with heavenly glory. Representing the Lawand the
Prophets, Moses, the great Lawgiver, and Elijah, the great prophet,
appeared, speaking with Jesus in His glory. These representatives of the Law
and the Prophets, in their lives on earth, foreshadowed Jesus who is the
culmination of the Law and the Prophets. Then “a bright Cloud
overshadowed them, and a Voice from the Cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son,
with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.’”God revealed Jesus as His Son
— His beloved — the one in whom He is well pleased and to whom we must listen.
Life messages: (1) The transfiguration by
transubstantiation in the Holy Mass is the source of our strength. In the Holy
Mass, the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus. Hence, just as the
Transfiguration of Jesus was meant to strengthen the apostles in their time of
trial, each Holy Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against our own
temptations, and a source of renewal for our lives. In addition, each Holy
Communion should transform us both internally and externally. 2) God gives us a
message of Hope in Jesus’ Transfiguration. In moments of doubt, despair, and
helplessness, Jesus’ Transfiguration reminds us of our own coming
transfiguration in Heaven, and helps us to reach out to God to hear again His
consoling words, “This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well
pleased.” (Fr. Tony)
Aug 7 Friday: St, Sixtus II, Pope and Companion Martyrs; St.
Cajetan, Priest: Mt 16:24-28: 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 one’s heart
of all bad habits and evil tendencies and evicting the self, with its selfish
thoughts and desires from the center of 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, healing 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,
rather than trusting only in our own 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 8, Saturday: St. Dominic, Priest: Mt 17: 14-20:
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. “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/)
