These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
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. (Jn 6:41-51)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081124.cfm
The bread that comes down from heaven, bread broken and shared, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. (2 Cor 9:6-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081024.cfm
Lawrence was the archdeacon of the church of Rome and was in line to become the next pope after Pope Sixtus and the other six deacons were martyred. Lawrence was arrested and ordered to surrender the treasure of the church. When he brought in the poor and declared, “Here is the treasure of the church,” he was condemned to be roasted alive.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Mt 16:24-28)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080924.cfm
Edith Stein was a Jewish convert to Catholicism and later entered the Carmelite Order with the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was a philosopher and enriched the church with her great wisdom. She died in the Holocaust of WWII at Auschwitz-Birkenau. https://youtu.be/rEMHC_iJ1Ek?si=A2LLlhBTB-j7jZ4Y
The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jer 31:31-34)
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. (Mt 16:13-23)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080824.cfm
In our final reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, we hear the promise of a new covenant, written in our hearts, so that everyone can know the Lord. Peter wasn’t chosen for his lovely vestments, nor for the fragrance of his favorite incense, nor for his ability to turn a catchy theological phrase. Peter was chosen because he knew Jesus. Saint Dominic invented a completely new religious order . . . one devoted to proclaiming the Word of God.
With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers. (Jer 31:1-7)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080724.cfm
Age-old love . . . after all the harsh preaching, the prophet Jeremiah proves to really be a softie after all. And of course, the promise of restoration . . . with music and dancing no less. Saint Sixtus (215-258) was the bishop of Rome, and his companion martyrs are the six deacons of the city of Rome: Agapitus, Felicissimus, Vincentius, Magnus, Januarius, and Stephanus. The seventh deacon is Lawrence whose feast day is on August 10. The early church of Rome suffered the loss of its bishop and all seven of its deacons.
