19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying: “This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Reading 2EPH 4:30—5:2

GospelJN 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.   It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.  Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.
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.”

I love these readings.  The 1st reading reminds us that Jesus is our “Food for the Journey” and without Him we are not strong enough to make it!  We are on a journey and sometimes we forget that Our Lord gives us all we need to continue on!

The Gospel of course is the “Bread of Life” discourse!  Jesus is the bread that feeds us, drawing us toward Eternal Life with Him!  God does teach us if we take the time to be still and listen!  He doesn’t force us He draws us!

To wrap this up the 2nd reading talks about receiving the Lord worthily!  When we receive the Lord worthily we do not grieve the Holy Spirit!  Is there a way to receive the Eucharist worthily!?  Yes, by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently!  While at the beginning stages of a Private Association of the Faithful, I also raise children in need of a safe home.  Some of them are Catholic.  So I say, bring your children celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with you!  Mention that you stopped by the church for the Sacrament of Reconciliation!  I learned that one of the children living in the home was starting to do the same thing!  So we go as a family monthly and as needed in between!  It is so great to learn that the children follow!  Some people wonder “why so often?”, would we only bath or clean our homes 1-2 times a year!?  Of course not, the reason being if we do not continually clean ourselves or our home, the  mess overtakes us!

Then there is Mass prep.  It can be hard with little ones, but try to read at least the Gospel the night before.  Try to come to Mass a few minutes early, this allows time to get the children settled before Mass starts, and time for the family to just quiet themselves.

This prepares us to receive our Lord worthily!  This will continually move the bad out and let us live in love as beloved sons and daughters of God!

Enjoy the week and try to find some time out side of Mass to spend with the Lord, who strengthens us and gave Himself us for us!