Reflection for the 20th Ordinary Sunday 2024

“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me.”

Remember last week, “The Jews murmured about Jesus.” Jesus had been describing Himself as the Bread that came down from heaven. He said that He will give Himself as a bread that lets us live forever. He also assumed God’s name, I AM. He told His listeners that they must eat His flesh to live forever. Today He goes even deeper.

We said last week that the reaction of the people who followed Jesus to Capernaum made sense. Afterall, Jesus words, claims, and instruction were outstandingly unbelievable, impossible to grasp.

To even better set the situation, the Jewish people then and to this day follow the prescriptions of the Law, the Law overcome by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. 

Observant Jewish people cannot say nor write the word God nor His name YHWH. They cannot consume blood of any type: ‘Moreover you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwellings. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ Leviticus 7: 26-27. Kosher meat is prepared by proper slaughter and the washing, salting, and rinsing of the meat three times to remove all traces of blood.

We can clearly see why Jesus calling Himself I AM and telling the people they are to eat His flesh and drink His blood would cause not only confusion, but anger and disgust.

Yet eat and drink is what we are to do if we want eternal life. That is what we must do if we desire everlasting freedom.

Our freedom comes from the fact that we need not be afraid of God. In Jesus we can approach God, speak His name, take Him within ourselves, and live in His love as one in His body; the fulness of Christ Jesus.

Our freedom comes from the fact that the prescriptions of the Law no longer hold us hostage. Again, we are free in Jesus because He gave Himself completely for us and allows us to partake of Him. The sacrifices of the Law are not needed to atone for sin because Jesus freed us from sin once and for all in His body and blood.

Jesus sets the Eucharistic feast before us. Eucharist means thanksgiving. As we meet Him today in the consecration and eat His body and drink His blood in communion, let us be truly thankful for and celebrate the freedom, fellowship, and life we have in Jesus.

Visit Us at the Altamont Fair 2024

Holy Name of Jesus is a White Ribbon Sponsor for this year’s Altamont Fair running Tuesday, August 13th through Sunday, August 18th. We are underwriting the Chapel at the Fair (near Gate 3 in the Grove).

Holy Mass will be held at the Chapel on Friday, August 16th at 11am. Parish volunteers will be present all day. We have give-aways too.

See you there.

Bible Study for the 19th Week in Ordinary Time 2024

This week’s memory verse: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. — Galatians 2:20

  • 8/11 – Philippians 4:8
  • 8/12 – Colossians 1:10
  • 8/13 – Romans 5:8
  • 8/14 – Isaiah 43:4
  • 8/15 – Luke 12:6-7
  • 8/16 – Psalm 139:13-14
  • 8/17 – 1 Peter 2:9

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You came to save me and to give Your very body and blood for me to partake in. In receiving You, change my heart into and image of Yours and help me to see that You value me. Amen.

Reflection for the 19th Ordinary Sunday 2024

“I Am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.”

Last week, after reflecting on the movement between proclamation, healing, service, care, and feeding the rubber met the road. Indeed, people began to react to the truth of the Kingdom and following the heavenly King Who would give them Himself as food for eternal life. 

We anticipated the reaction, and unfortunately the reaction was not positive or accepting. We heard it right at the start of today’s Gospel: “The Jews murmured about Jesus.”

Their reaction might seem natural to us. Here is this Man saying that He will give us a bread that lets us live forever. He is saying He came down from heaven and that His Father is God. He is assuming God’s name, I Am. In the end He says that He is the Living Bread and that we must eat His flesh to live forever. He will go deeper into that next Sunday. The reaction against Him will get more negative.

It is sad that this sort of thinking and reaction makes sense even in the current age. To many people, even to many Catholics, the reaction of the people who followed Jesus to Capernaum makes sense. They cannot believe His outstanding claims. It is indeed hard to grasp the power and mystery of God, because at its core we consider ourselves unworthy of God’s abundant goodness How could we possibly be worthy?

If we look at today’s reading from First Kings, we see the depth of God’s care for His servants. Elijah, afraid, exhausted, and unwilling to go forward is met by God’s provision. God provides not once, but twice. God not only provides food and water, but He also works to strengthen Elijah for all he is called to do.

This trope is repeated over and over throughout salvation history. The foreshadowing of the Old Testament points to God’s care for His people, and not just care, but more so a desire for deep and everlasting relationship. God shows His desire to commune with His people.

When God came to earth it wasn’t just for a visit. It wasn’t to say a few wise words and let us have at it. It was to bring us everlasting life, continual relationship, and perpetual communion.

Jesus calls us into a faith and belief that transcends the ordinary, overcomes our doubts, and in the end calls us to understand that we are worth it to God. He says we are worthy of this mystery so great, His very self.

Overcoming doubt and unbelief by the grace God grants us in His Eucharistic feast, let us truly accept His flesh and blood as we faithfully rejoice in what we celebrate today – salvation.

Bible Study for the 18th Week in Ordinary Time 2024

This week’s memory verse: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” — Matthew 26:26

  • 8/4 – Matthew 6:11
  • 8/5 – Ecclesiastes 9:7
  • 8/6 – Acts 20:7
  • 8/7 – Psalm 81:16
  • 8/8 – Genesis 14:18
  • 8/9 – 1 Corinthians 10:17
  • 8/10 – Acts 2:46

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You lay the Bread of Life before me in word, bread, and wine. You grant me the fulness of Yourself in the Eucharist. Grant that I may clearly perceive Your great promise and place all my confidence in it. Amen.

Reflection for the 18th Ordinary Sunday 2024

So they said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

The Apostles had gone out and ministered to the people of Galilee. They proclaimed the Gospel message, declared the Kingdom, and healed. They came back tired and alongside Jesus were soon confronted with more work, teaching a large crowd of people who were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus seeing deeply into the totality of their need miraculously fed them.

Now the rubber meets the road. What would be the reaction of these people? Would they embrace the Kingdom and its truth? Would they follow a heavenly King Who would give them Himself as food for eternal life?

We sit in a moment of anticipation. Factually, that is what the true followers of Jesus have been doing for two thousand some years. We anticipate our receiving the Bread from Heaven in sacramental word, bread and wine. We anticipate the full revelation of the Kingdom we are working for. We anticipate Jesus’ return and the exaltation of all believers.

The Gospel of St. Mark led us into a continuation of events as recorded in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. As we look at today’s passage, we sense an upcoming realization, the rubber beginning to meet the road. This will play out over the next several weeks. The truth of people’s hearts will be revealed.

The Old Testament offers a foretaste, a shadowy revelation of the coming Messiah, Jesus. In our First Reading from Exodus, we find the same events: people grumbling, unsatisfied even though they had clearly seen God’s power in saving them from the Egyptians. They focused solely on temporal, everyday needs and remained blind to God’s promise of rest, a land of plenty, and continuing provision. Today’s Introit from Psalm 78 recounts it so well: They spoke against God, and said, “Can God spread a table in the desert? Can He also provide bread, give meat to His people?”

That says it all and is an indictment down through the ages. It indicts us if we do not put our full faith in God’s saving power which we see here regularly.

God came among us to give us Bread from Heaven, the full and eternal presence of Jesus among us. We are called to believe and receive Him – and that includes receiving His great promise – life now, life eternal, a full satisfaction of all things people long for, the healing of their souls and peace. Let us truly enjoy and rejoice in His feeding, provision, and true life. Let us believe.

Bible Study for the 17th Week in Ordinary Time 2024

This week’s memory verse: If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. — Isaiah 58:10

  • 7/28 – Matthew 25:35
  • 7/29 – John 6:35
  • 7/30 – Proverbs 22:9
  • 7/31 – James 1:27
  • 8/1 – Proverbs 19:17
  • 8/2 – 1 John 3:17-18
  • 8/3 – Galatians 6:2

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You persevered and overcame for us. Grant that I may walk in Your footsteps proclaiming the Kingdom, staying at it, and fulfilling the spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual needs of those I encounter. Amen.

Reflection for the 17th Ordinary Sunday 2024

Andrew said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.

The Apostles had gone out and ministered to the people of Galilee. They proclaimed the Gospel message, declared the Kingdom, and healed.

As we heard last week, they came back tired and were soon confronted with more work, teaching alongside Jesus to a large crowd of people who were like sheep without a shepherd.

What we have learned is that God has work for us to do and that work must be our priority. This is key. We have become so used to being overly busy that our priorities get confused, and there is so much placed on the back burner that the fire of the stove can seldom be seen.

We all know how it is when our stoves get overcrowded. It’s kind of like Thanksgiving without the theme of thanksgiving, just too much. The potatoes, veggies, squash, meat, stuffing, applesauce, and more all crowded together with nothing really coming to completion. So it is with Kingdom work.

As such, we must be tactical in ordering Kingdom priorities ahead of all other things. The Kingdom must be foremost in our lives and actions so we may bring the Kingdom to fruition and completion.

This is indeed what Jesus asks of us: to prioritize making the Kingdom known by inviting those we encounter to enter it.

Jesus asks us to go on and on in our Christian witness and evangelization no matter what. Our work for Jesus must always be front burner even when we feel worn out. Jesus expects that and He deserves our focus and attention.

Finally, Jesus expects us to feed people spiritually, intellectually, and physically. Jesus wants more than a conceptual Kingdom we just talk about or dream about. We need to make the Kingdom a felt place that feeds all the hungers men and women face.

It is indeed radical, to live this way, to see in each encounter, event, word, and action a means of growing God’s Kingdom but it is necessary so that the fire of faith is always visible, so that it is not extinguished.

Pray about and for all we do here to make Jesus’ charges a reality right here at Holy Name of Jesus: Holy Mass, Worship and Devotion, fellowship, CarePortal, Food Pantry, the Women’s Empowerment Group, the upcoming Altamont Fair, Back to Church Sunday and more. Then listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and respond to it.

Bible Study for the 16th Week in Ordinary Time 2024

 
This week's memory verse: But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31
  • 7/21 – Matthew 11:28-30
  • 7/22 – Galatians 6:9-10
  • 7/23 – Jeremiah 31:25
  • 7/24 – Psalm 34:17
  • 7/25 – Philippians 4:13
  • 7/26 – Matthew 11:28
  • 7/27 – Romans 12:11

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You know me well. You know when I am exhausted and troubled by all that must be done for the Kingdom. Grant me perseverance and strength to bear up and do Your work in all times and places. Amen.

Reflection for the 16th Ordinary Sunday 2024

So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

Last week Jesus sent out His twelve Apostles as disciples for some on-the-job training in every village and town. They were to proclaim repentance for forgiveness of sins as well as the immanence of the Kingdom which was at hand. They had also been empowered to heal.

Today we hear of the Apostles return. They were filled with real joy from all they experienced, and the amazing results realized through the grace of God that accompanied them. They were also exhausted.

To set context, the Apostles were sent out when they were at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. In today’s account they regather at the northern end of the Sea and then sail across it.

While no specific timeline for the Apostles mission is given, we could posit that it probably lasted about six months.

Now imagine that we are on that mission from Jesus. We have walked the highways and byways of Galilee. We have also covered the thirteen miles from the south to the north of the Sea. We have done this with no visible means of support or supplies, relying completely on the kindness of those we are evangelizing. About two thousand square miles of Galilee, heights from one to four thousand feet. We would be completely exhausted. They were.

We should also remember that Jesus was not sitting still. He traveled on His own to preach, teach, and heal. Now came the moment, rest was ahead.

We know what scripture tells us, but better for us to understand what Jesus and His Apostles were feeling.

Here they are, sailing cross the Sea, ready to rest, pray, refresh themselves. We can imagine the anticipation, the thoughts in their minds, the feelings in their heart – and there they are, huge crowds; large numbers of people spiritually lost and alone and seeking guidance. Sheep without a shepherd.

The fact is, we all face this conundrum. We work hard, volunteer, care for family and friends, run, shop, do chores and as soon as that moment of rest comes – here’s the next thing. The old saying: ‘No rest for the weary’ comes from those experiences.

This is not just a lesson on daily life and perseverance, it is a call to go on and on in our Christian witness and evangelization no matter what. People remain hungry and need us to feed them now. People need us to be like Jesus for them, to see their need and set ourselves aside to bring them to Christ and His salvation. Remember that the sheep will not know where to go unless we shepherd them.