Christ among the Doctors, ca.1560, by Paolo Veronese
29 Jul 2024
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am the bread of life
We continue our reflection on the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. Last Sunday we saw the people wanted to make Jesus a king after the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and Jesus fled to the hills by himself. Jesus is in Capernaum now. For our meditation today the theme is hunger and bread. A similar theme runs in the first reading of today; people of Israel complain to Moses of hunger and (still fresh in their memory) the food of slavery! Would you surrender you freedom for bread? There is a similarity between the woman at the well asking Jesus for the water that he gives; the crowd in todays gospel ask Jesus about the bread that he gives for the life of the world. What is the hunger that we have? Where do we look for the bread?
On Tuesday the sixth of August we celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus knew that His impending passion could easily blur his disciples’ visions concerning His eventual resurrection. Jesus allowed them to have the foretaste of the glory of his resurrection by transfiguring before their eyes. This experience of the disciples should also be ours when we go through our everyday struggles.
On Thursday the eighth we celebrate the memorial of St. Dominic (1170-1221). He founded the Dominican order: the order of preachers. They are a mendicant order and brought great revival to the Church at the Middle Ages. Let us thank the Lord for St. Dominic and the Dominican order who continue to preach the Kingdom of God to the ends of the world.
On Friday the ninth we celebrate the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). She was born into a Jewish family and was well educated but her career was impeded because she was a woman. Reading the autobiography of Saint Theresa of Avila brought about her conversion to Catholicism and she became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was killed in Auschwitz. Her writings and life is an inspiration to many.
On Saturday the tenth we celebrate the feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr. He was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome. He was responsible for the material goods of the church and the fit of alms to the poor. We pray for such ardent love of the Lord and firmness of faith in the midst of persecution.
A blessed week to all!