Buy corn without money

Welcome my log and peace e with you.

Today being Sunday, we celebrate again the Risen Lord in our midst. He feeds us with the bread of his Word. This is true nourishment for us if we eat and digest it. Through it we grow until we come to the stature of Christ himself. He feeds us too with his own Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.

May Sunday be a day of joy for you.

Sunday 2 August 2020

Buy corn without money

Ps 69: 2, 6

O God, come to my assistance;

O Lord, make haste to help me!

You are my rescuer, my help;

O Lord, do not delay.

 

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Prayer

Draw near to your servants, O Lord,

and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,

that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide,

you may restore what you have created

and keep safe what you have restored.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

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First reading

Isaiah 55:1-3 ·

Come and eat

Thus says the Lord:

Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty;

though you have no money, come!

Buy corn without money, and eat,

and, at no cost, wine and milk.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

your wages on what fails to satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat

and rich food to enjoy.

Pay attention, come to me;

listen, and your soul will live.

With you I will make an everlasting covenant

out of the favours promised to David.

THE WORD OF THE LORD

 

Prayerful reflection

Isaiah sings lyrically of the superabundance of God’s loving generosity to all who come to him seeking him with all their hearts. There is nothing that he will refuse. Everything which is best for them will be given to them. He uses the word ‘listen’ three times. If only we would listen and take to heart what he says. As Jesus says so many times: let those who have ears listen. Those who have listened, know of the generosity of God.

Most however seek for their satisfaction in the things of this world such as wealth, power, fame, pleasure, alcohol, drugs, lust and the list goes on. They end up poorer and emptier than when they started. Only God can satisfy the human heart, because he has made us for himself.

Where do actually look for your happiness?

 

 

Psalm

Psalm 145:8-9,15-18

You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,

compassionate to all his creatures.

You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires The eyes of all creatures look to you

and you give them their food in due time.

You open wide your hand,

grant the desires of all who live.

You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires The Lord is just in all his ways

and loving in all his deeds.

He is close to all who call him,

who call on him from their hearts.

You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires ____________________

 

Second reading

Romans 8:35,37-39 ·

No created thing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ

Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us.

For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. THE WORD OF THE LORD

 

Prayerful reflection

Jesus experienced the love of his Father. Nothing could separate him from it. So, in the midst of his passion he was at peace and while on the Cross he could peacefully pray for his persecutors, offer salvation to the repentant thief, give us his mother to be our mother too and offering his spirit into the hands of his Father bow his head and die. Jesus loves us as his Father loves him. Nothing can separate us from the experience of his love. In the midst of sickness, persecution and death we can be at peace and even joyful. Look at the saints who have joyfully undergone every kind of suffering. They know, as Jesus knew, that everything in this world comes to an end, but the eternal embrace of God awaits all those who suffer with his Son.

Do you unite your suffering with those of Jesus?

 

Mt4:4

Alleluia, alleluia!

Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Alleluia!

 

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Gospel

Matthew 14:13-21

The feeding of the five thousand

When Jesus received the news of John the Baptist’s death he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.

When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Bring them here to me’ he said. He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining; twelve baskets full. Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children. THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

 

Prayerful reflection

We mustn’t take the miracles of the Gospel at face value. They are signs. They point to something away from themselves. This miraculous sign looks back to the time of Moses and Elisha. Moses fed the Israelites in the desert for forty years. Elisha fed a hundred people with a few loaves. It also looks forward. The miracles points to the Last Supper. Jesus will take bread again, raise his eyes to heaven, bless and break and give it to his disciples saying ‘This is my body, given up for you’. It also looks forward to the millions of people Jesus will feed every day until the end of time. He gives those who come to the Water of Life the living bread of the Holy Eucharist. This is the Gift of Gifts, for God in Jesus gives us himself.

Do you realise the generosity and love of God when you receive Holy Communion?

Wis 16: 20

You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven,

endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.

Prayer

Accompany with constant protection, O Lord,

those you renew with these heavenly gifts

and, in your never-failing care for them,

make them worthy of eternal redemption.

Through Christ our Lord.