17th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Jesus Feeds Us

The readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B offer a rich tapestry of themes and lessons that resonate with the Christian journey. The first reading from the 2nd Book of Kings (4:42-44) presents the miracle of Elisha feeding one hundred people with twenty barley loaves, prefiguring the miraculous feedings Jesus would perform and symbolizing God's providence and abundance. The Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 145:10-11, 15-18) echoes this theme of God's care, emphasizing that the Lord is just in all his ways and kind in all his works, always near to those who call upon him in truth.

The second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (4:1-6) calls for unity and peace among believers, urging them to live in a manner worthy of their calling with humility, gentleness, and patience. This message is particularly poignant in today's world, where division and discord are prevalent, reminding the faithful of the fundamental Christian call to love and communal harmony.

The Gospel reading from John (6:1-15) recounts the feeding of the five thousand, a powerful sign of Jesus' divine authority and a testament to his compassion for the people. This narrative not only highlights Jesus' ability to provide for physical needs but also points to the Eucharist, the spiritual nourishment he offers to all believers.

These readings collectively invite reflection on the nature of God's kingdom, characterized by generosity, unity, and care for the physical and spiritual well-being of the community. They challenge Christians to embody these values in their daily lives, serving as instruments of God's love and abundance in a world that hungers for hope and sustenance.

The readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B also offer a profound opportunity for personal and communal introspection beyond the initial messages of providence, unity, and compassion. Here are some additional reflections that can be drawn:

1. Stewardship of Resources: The miracle of the loaves and fishes teaches us about the responsible stewardship of resources. It invites us to consider how we can multiply our own resources, no matter how small they may seem, to serve others generously.

2. Faith in Scarcity: The readings challenge us to have faith even in times of scarcity. They remind us that with God, there is an abundance that defies our limited human understanding.

3. The Power of Gratitude: The act of giving thanks, as Jesus did before distributing the loaves, is a powerful gesture that can transform our perception of what we have and what we can give.

4. The Call to Serve: The readings call us to serve others, not just with our surplus but also from our substance. It is a call to radical hospitality and generosity.

5. Unity in Diversity: St. Paul's letter emphasizes unity in the body of Christ. This unity is not uniformity but rather a harmonious diversity where different gifts and talents contribute to the common good.

6. Spiritual Nourishment: The Gospel points to Jesus as the Bread of Life, inviting us to seek spiritual nourishment that satisfies our deepest hungers – a hunger that material bread cannot fulfill.

7. The Role of Community: The readings highlight the role of community in God's plan. The feeding miracles were communal events, emphasizing that sharing and caring are communal acts.

8. Trust in Divine Providence: A recurring theme is trust in divine providence. The readings encourage us to trust that God will provide for our needs, often through unexpected means.

9. Active Participation in Miracles: The young boy who offered his loaves and fishes played a role in the miracle. This suggests that God invites us to actively participate in His miraculous works.

10. The Significance of Small Acts: The small act of sharing by the boy in the Gospel had a huge impact. This teaches us that no act of kindness or sharing is too small in the kingdom of God.

These reflections can serve as a guide for meditation, prayer, and action. They encourage us to look beyond the surface and find deeper spiritual truths that can transform our lives and the lives of those around us. As we ponder these readings, we are invited to apply their lessons in practical ways, becoming beacons of God's love and abundance in our communities.

Applying the reflections from the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B to our daily lives involves integrating spiritual lessons into our practical actions. Here are some ways to bring these reflections into the everyday:

1. Sharing Resources: Look for opportunities to share your resources with those in need. This could be donating food to a local pantry, volunteering your time, or sharing your talents with your community.

2. Cultivating Faith: In moments of scarcity or challenge, remind yourself of the abundance of God's love. Practice gratitude daily, even for the smallest blessings, to cultivate a mindset of abundance.

3. Practicing Gratitude: Make it a habit to express thanks for what you have, whether it's before a meal, at the start of your day, or in your prayers. Gratitude can transform your outlook on life.

4. Serving Others: Seek out ways to serve within your community. This could be through your church, local charities, or simply by being a supportive friend or neighbor.

5. Embracing Diversity: Celebrate the diverse gifts and backgrounds of those around you. Encourage inclusivity and unity in your workplace, school, and social circles.

6. Seeking Spiritual Nourishment: Engage with your faith through prayer, reading scripture, or participating in church activities. Find what spiritually nourishes you and make it part of your routine.

7. Building Community: Get involved in community-building activities. Attend community events, support local businesses, and foster connections with those around you.

8. Trusting in Providence: When facing uncertainty, lean on your faith. Trust that your needs will be met and that you are guided by a higher power.

9. Participating in Acts of Kindness: Don't underestimate the impact of small acts of kindness. Offer help, give compliments, and spread positivity.

10. Recognizing the Value of Small Contributions: Understand that every contribution counts. Whether it's a small donation or a few minutes of your time, your actions can have a ripple effect.

By actively applying these reflections, we can embody the teachings of the readings in tangible ways. It's about making a conscious effort to live out our faith through our actions, creating a life that reflects the generosity, unity, and compassion we are called to by the Gospel.

For those preparing homilies or seeking deeper understanding, these readings offer a wealth of material for contemplation and action. They encourage believers to trust in God's provision, strive for unity within the body of Christ, and actively participate in the mission of sharing the Bread of Life with the world. As the faithful gather to celebrate the liturgy on this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, they are called to renew their commitment to living out the Gospel message, fostering a community that reflects the boundless grace and mercy of God.

On an interesting note, the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis concluded on Sunday, July 21, 2024.  After over 50,000 Catholics were empowered with a renewal of faith in the Eucharistic Lord, something awful happened abroad. During the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, France, there was a disgusting display of vulgarity and mockery against the Last Supper, God, and the Catholic faith. It seems the devil is mad.  But God will not be mocked. Paris lost power in a massive outage the day after.  

We need to pray for those people bent on harassing Christians. They do not dare mock Islam like the cowards they are.  Only in the Eucharist can we be truly fed. The devil does not want this and will do everything possible to prevent it.  Keep the faith! 

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Give Your 2 Cents

 Part of being Catholic Christians is that we must help one another in many ways especially giving. Next month I have to pay the bills for this domain and other services and I need your help. Like the widow today who gave what she had, I ask you to imitate her by helping me continue this work and expand it. Donate to my campaign at www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus.  God will see this and reward you for helping.  Thanks.

REFLECTION:
Today's readings remind us to be humble and simple. What the poor gives is greater than what the rich can ever offer.

In the first reading, we read of Elijah the great prophet. He enters Zarephath and runs into a widow. He calls out to her to bring him some water and bread.  She quickly goes to get him some. However, she does not have enough flour and oil to make bread.  She was saving it for her son and herself. The writer emphasizes this because of the culture. Women at the time were not allowed to have property or work. Some cultures in today's world still have this way of living. The fact that this woman was a widow and that she had a little flour and oil for her son and herself shows her struggle after losing her husband.  The husband was the 'breadwinner.'  However, with his absence, she has no source of income or wealth to care for herself or her son.  Despite knowing this, Elijah still insists on the bread.  However, he tells her,  "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose.  But first, make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" This widow immediately did as Elijah instructed without question. Because of her faith, she had enough to feed herself and her son for a year.  God took care of her (Psalm 68:5).  This connects to the Gospel and shows us why we must trust God and praise Him as the Psalm today calls for.

God keeps faith forever.  What does this mean?  It means that He is always there for us (1 Corinthians 1:9). He will not abandon us.  God is just and protects the oppressed like the widow we read of in the first reading (Deuteronomy 10:18).  God cares for all, the blind, the dead, those who are humiliated.  He loves the just and is there to protect the stranger.  As we read, He protects and sustains the widow and stops the wicked.  We must praise God and thank Him always (Psalm 106:1).  We are in the month of November which in the United States of America is dedicated to giving thanks to God on Thanksgiving Day.  However, we must thank God all the time. Luckily, we have Jesus Christ who is our connection to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as we read in the second reading.

Jesus is God.  He is also our high priest who plead for us and sacrificed Himself for us (Hebrews 4:14-16).  The reading tells us that Jesus "did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one." This is in reference to the temple built by Herod which was a copy of the Temple of Solomon (John 2:20). Moreover, the verse reminds us that temples, synagogues, churches are just buildings made by human hands. It is God who blesses them and gives them importance via His presence (Ezekiel 10, 2 Chronicles 5:14). A Catholic church building may be beautiful with ornate decorations, images, etc; however, it is useless without the Holy Eucharist; the presence of Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 10:16)! This reading reminds us that Christ is with us.  He suffered for us and died once for us (Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 3:18).  The reading also reminds us that human beings die once and are judged. We do not reincarnate nor do we become angels.  Human beings are conceived, live, and die.  They remain human entities.

As an atheist studying reincarnation in Hinduism and Buddhism, the idea did not register logically to me. If we come back over and over in order to reach perfection, then which personality actually reaches perfection?  Moreover, how can a soul reach perfection if it starts a new life with new experiences and does not have knowledge of mistakes in "past lives?"  These are just some of the problems I saw with the idea of reincarnation. The Christian idea of dying once and facing God after death made more sense. This is why we must take advantage of this one life that we have and do our best.  We must live each day as if it were our last, as the saying goes (Ecclesiastes 9:1-12).  A video game comes to mind in this regard. In video games such as PacMan or Super Mario Bros, the character has a set of lives. The more the lives, the more careless a player playing the game is. However, if his or her character has only one life left in the game, then he or she will be more careful so as to not lose the game. We should have a similar mentality in life.  We only have one, so we must make the best of it by avoiding sin and 'losing' our life by condemning ourselves to hell or permanent separation from God.  Our lives must be humble, doing small things with lots of love as Blessed  Mother Teresa said.  We see this in the Gospel which connects with the first reading.


In the Gospel, we read that Jesus is teaching the crowds.  He warns the people saying, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."  This verse is unfortunately used to attack priests and Catholics who pray the Rosary. However, Jesus was clearly speaking about the scribes and Pharisees. He was making a point that these people dressed the part and did the prayers but out of vanity, not for the real reason (Matthew 6:5). However, this does not mean that some of us in the Church does not do similar things.  Many times there may be priests who celebrate Mass simply as a ritual that needs to be done. They focus on the wording more than the spirit of the wording. Vestments become things that 'dignify' the priest instead of representing the high priest Christ.

Some laypeople may pray Rosaries without even focusing on what they are saying.  All that is heard is a mumbling of words without any substance behind them. We must not be like this. A priest should say Mass recalling what it really is.  He must use vestments not to look 'pretty,' but to remind himself and the people who He represents. This is why Pope Francis has made it a mission to tone down the ornate decorum. We cannot be in a Church thinking we are royals that deserve praise and veneration from the world.  Moreover, when we pray Rosaries, chaplets, litanies, etc, we must really think about what we are saying (Matthew 6:5-15). The Rosary is the life of Christ and Mary.  It is not an incantation that we recite mindlessly.  In light of this, we must be sincere. Jesus reminds us in the Gospel that we must be like the poor widow who had little (2 mites - Lepton) but gave a lot.  These mites were worth about half a penny which is a cent.  Some tend to believe the phrase, "Putting my 2 cents in" comes from the story of the widow.  A rich person can give 10 dollars out of his or her $1 million dollar salary to charity thinking it was a big deal, but in reality, it is not.  In contrast, a poor man or woman who gives 2 quarters he or she got from begging to charity and he or she gave a lot because it was all he or she had.  God sees this and puts more value on this giving because the person gave all he or she had, showing that he or she is detached from material wealth and trusts in God.  The Gospel reminds us that the lowly widow's actions trump that of the hypocritical religious person. Let us be like the widow and give to others even when we have little. Let us be humble like she was practicing true and sincere religion that trusts in God and does not seek to promote the self.  During this pandemic of the Covid-19 Coronavirus, many stepped up to help others by donating food and volunterring. Let us continue to do this and reach out to those in need whether there is a pandemic or not.  May Jesus be praised.


Readings:  Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Christ Gives Us To Eat

Dear readers, sorry for this "in your face" message but it is urgent and I do not know any other way to get help.

Please consider helping my fundraising campaign which will help me maintain and expand this evangelization work.  In about six months I have to pay the expenses related to this website.  I need your help! The pandemic has hit us all very badly especially those who rely on donations.  Please donate. 

Funds are needed for the following:

1. Help keep the blog domain URL names which are expensive and help bring in web traffic.  see godaddy.com for more information on the costs of premium domain names.

2. To help purchase podcasting equipment for the radio podcast show and expand the time slot for it by updating the subscription. For subscription costs see: https://secure.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx?aid=CRMTS

3. I mail religious articles (Rosaries, Crucifixes, Pamphlets, Medals, Scapulars, etc) to people who request them. This costs money to purchase and mail. Shipping is expensive, so funds are needed to help cover this cost as well. See usps.com for cost information regarding shipping.

4. I want to publish some books to help maintain this work via sales. In order to publish, I need funds for printing, access to research papers to cite from (journals et al), etc.

5. In the future, I may expand the work on Livestream and other streaming and video services which also cost money.  We need to purchase 2 Mevo cameras for this purpose. 

All monies will go towards the ministry of Sacerdotus in order to keep it stable and running for at least 3 to 4 more years until another fundraising campaign will be needed.

Again, without your help, I will lose this domain name in six months when the renewal of it is due. If this happens, I will lose access to keywords, search engines, and millions of visitors. Moreover, someone else may purchase the domain for malicious purposes in order to attack Catholicism or me by pretending to be me.  Your help can help me keep this going and expand it, especially the radio podcast subscription.  With it, I can speak more, have guests and take calls on air live.

Our world is becoming more and more secular and without strong Catholic voices online, then it will continue to grow and push back all that Christianity has done in order to build the West.  As you may know, atheism thrives online.  On the internet, atheists can create blogs and other social networks which they use to promote their misconceptions. This draws in naive youth who read these blogs and buy into the rhetoric. We must stop this by having online evangelization work done just like sacerdotus.com which is a source for those of faith and no faith to get clear answers to the questions and claims regarding atheism.

I hope you reading this will make a donation at www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus to help me.

God will repay you for your help.  I promise to remember at Mass, Liturgy of Hours, and private prayer all of those people who have helped me keep this alive.


Reflection:

Christ feeds us all.  In today's readings, we are reminded of how God cares for His people, not only spiritually but physically as well.

The first reading tells us of Elisha who was the successor of Elijah. Elijah was seen as the greatest of prophets.  I mention Elijah because of what the reading tells us and how it relates to the Gospel. Elisha, we are told had twenty barley loaves.  With those twenty loaves, a hundred people were able to eat and there were loaves left over. Sound familiar (Jesus' miracle)? Here we see a miracle regarding the multiplication of loaves. Elisha's servant at first objects to giving the barley loaves because his reason told him that twenty loaves cannot feed a hundred. However, God is above the laws of physics and our cognitive limits in regards to processing what is physically possible and what is not (Ephesians 3:20).

Elisha, as stated above is the successor, Elijah.  I stress this because Elijah as well was involved in a miracle regarding loaves as well.  In 1 Kings 17:7-16, we read of the prophet Elijah who was told by God that a widow would be waiting for him. Elijah meets with her and asks for a loaf of bread. However, the widow does not have enough flour and oil. Her family is literally starving. Nevertheless, Elijah still instructs her to make him a loaf of bread and then one for herself and her son. She does this and they then have enough food for each day. A miracle occurred. God multiplied the food. So first Elijah is involved in this miracle for himself, the widow, and her son.  Then Elisha is involved in one, but this one entails twenty barley loaves that would feed one hundred.  However, as we shall read in the Gospel today, Christ outdoes them both.  He multiplies five barley loaves and feeds 5,000 leaving twelve baskets leftover of food.  This indicates that Jesus is greater than Elisha and even the greatest prophet of all Elijah.  As God promised Moses, He rose a prophet from among the Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:18). God, Himself comes to feed us as we read in the Psalm (Psalm 81:17).

Today's responsorial Psalm tells us that, "The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs." God cares for us (Matthew 6:26). We in turn must give Him thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  He gives us our food in due season and satisfies the desires of everything that lives (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). All things come from God and we must be grateful (James 1:17, Psalm 127). We must have faith in Him and realize our place in nature.  We are not gods (Psalm 8:5). Nature reminds us of this constantly. We are seeing droughts in many areas and floods in others. These are natural processes that occur but also serve as a reminder that we are mortal and need to trust in God. God will bless a nation that seeks Him (2 Chronicles 7:14).  The nations that run from Him face destruction.  We seek God by having faith and putting that faith into action via love as we read in today's second reading.

In the second reading, we are reminded that we must live in a manner that is worthy (Philippians 1:27).  We do this by being humble, gentle, and patient.  We must do this with one another through love (John 13:34-35).  I know there are people in our lives or people we may encounter who we want to push down a flight of stairs.  They may annoy us, may compete with us or may just rub us the wrong way.  This happens all the time. Nevertheless, we must love these people and bear them for the sake of Christ and our own sanity. This is especially true of our own in the Church.  Sometimes or many times, people in the Church can be worse than people outside of the Church. We perceive it this way because they are in our Church or parishes, we know what to expect of them. When they do not meet that bar, we begin to judge them. This is wrong (Matthew 7:3-5). We must bear with one another with love. We must be united in peace; of one body and one spirit (Philippians 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8). We have one Lord and must be of one faith and one baptism. This means we should all believe in the same God and believe the same thing.  The ideas and labels of "Conservative Catholic," "Liberal Catholic," "Traditionalist," "Progressive," etc must disappear from our Catholic culture.  We must be of one faith (John 17:21). Moreover, those that believe in Christ must be of one baptism. It is a big scandal that there are over 30,000 sects calling themselves "Christian" and the "true church." Christ only founded one Church, not Churches (Matthew 16:18).  Christ has only one bride (Ephesians 5:25-27).  We must work hard to bring our separated friends back home to Rome (Luke 5:4, 2 Timothy 2:25, James 5:20). We must evangelize all those around us and bring them to eat of the baskets, so to speak as we read in today's Gospel.

The Gospel tells us of one of the most well-known and popular miracles Jesus had performed: the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes. We are told that a large crowd follows Jesus.  They are following Him because of the signs and wonders He performed; namely, healing the sick. Jesus goes up on a mountain with His disciples. The "mountain" is where God resides (Psalms 125:2, Exodus 19:16-19).  Passover is coming up soon.  We are told this for a reason. The miracle Jesus is about to perform is connected to the Passover.  Jesus notices the huge crowd and asks Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"  The question is a strange one because why would God need to buy food? Why would the creator of space, time, matter, and energy need to buy food?  This is why the Gospel says, "He said this to test Him, because He Himself knew what He was going to do."  So we see here Jesus was playing the "human role," so to speak.

Philip tells Jesus that not even nearly a year's worth of wages is enough to buy the crowd food. Andrew then interjects saying that a boy has five barley loaves and two fish but then asks what good would these do. Jesus then tells them to tell the people to relax on the grass.  The Gospel is careful to tell us this by stating, "Now there was a great deal of grass in that place."  Sound familiar? We read of this last week where God Himself will bring back the sheep to the meadows and will care for them on verdant pastures (see: Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 23, Sacerdotus: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The Flock He Shepherds) Here we are seeing how God is bringing the sheep back to the meadow. This is why the Gospel mentions that "there was a great deal of grass in that place" to make the connection that God is present as a shepherd.  Jesus then takes the loaves from the boy. This boy to me is like the first altar boy ever and is the Gospel I love to use when I used to train altar servers.

Anyhow, Jesus gives thanks and distributes it to those 5,000 present. After the distribution was done and everyone ate their fill, they gathered what was left showing that Jesus was not part of what our Holy Father Pope Francis calls a "throw-away culture." When the leftovers were collected, there were twelve baskets left over.  The number twelve is significant in the Sacred Scriptures and is mentioned 187 times.  The number twelve symbolizes God's holy people; God's power and authority, and completion.  This number is a product of three (3x3x3x3=12 /  3^4=12) which represents the Holy Trinity.  There were twelve tribes, twelve patriarchs, and twelve apostles. Furthermore, notice what the people say when they had their fill, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." This is connected to the promise God told Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18.

The miracle of using five loaves and two fish showed them that Jesus outdid Elijah, their greatest prophet. By using five loaves and two fish, Jesus uses seven items indicating the number of God or total perfection. This means that this miracle was done not by a mere human prophet, but by the one who is represented by "number 7" or God Himself.  The five loaves represent the body of Christ (bread/Holy Eucharist) and the five wounds of Christ (Matthew 26:26). The fish represent baptism; that the disciples are fishers of men, and the dual (hypostatic union) nature of Christ (Human/Divine) (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Matthew 4:19, John 20:28, Mark 15:39). This miracle is done when Passover is approaching which is a foretelling of the Holy Eucharist where Christ feeds us with Himself under the form of bread and wine (John 6:25-59). The loaves are connected to the Old Testament and the events surrounding Passover which reveal who Jesus really was to the Jews of His time and us today. Jesus was preparing the people for the Holy Eucharist.  Unfortunately, the closure of parishes last year was a disaster and should not have happened. Many do not have faith in the Real Presence, to begin with, according to statistics. Now, things are worse. By closing parishes and denying the people the Mass and sacraments, the bishops sent a very bad message that the spiritual is ineffective and useless.  The truth is, we need the Eucharist now more than ever. The Eucharist is Jesus Himself!  Jesus will never spread disease. Now with the Delta variant spreading so quickly, we need to rely on God.  Man, Science, and even religion have failed. It is now God and our faith that we have left.  Let us trust in God and allow Him to feed us daily.  May Jesus Christ be praised!


Readings: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Putting 2 Cents In

Part of being Catholic Christians is that we must help one another in many ways especially giving. Next month I have to pay the bills for this domain and other services and I need your help. Like the widow today who gave what she had, I ask you to imitate her by helping me continue this work and expand it.  Donate to my campaign at www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus.  God will see this and reward you for helping.  Thanks.

REFLECTION:
Today's readings remind us to be humble and simple. What the poor gives is greater than what the rich can ever offer.

In the first reading, we read of Elijah the great prophet. He enters Zarephath and runs into a widow. He calls out to her to bring him some water and bread.  She quickly goes to get him some. However, she does not have enough flour and oil to make bread.  She was saving it for her son and herself. The writer emphasizes this because of the culture. Women at the time were not allowed to have property or work. Some cultures in today's world still have this way of living. The fact that this woman was a widow and that she had a little flour and oil for her son and herself shows her struggle after losing her husband.  The husband was the 'bread winner.'  However, with his absence, she has no source of income or wealth to care for herself or her son.  Despite knowing this, Elijah still insists on the bread.  However, he tells her,  "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose.  But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" This widow immediately did as Elijah instructed without question. Because of her faith, she had enough to feed herself and her son for a year.  God took care of her (Psalm 68:5).  This connects to the Gospel and shows us why we must trust God and praise Him as the Psalm today calls for.

God keeps faith forever.  What does this mean?  It means that He is always there for us (1 Corinthians 1:9). He will not abandon us.  God is just and protects the oppressed like the widow we read of in the first reading (Deuteronomy 10:18).  God cares for all, the blind, the dead, those who are humiliated.  He loves the just and is there to protect the stranger.  As we read, He protects and sustains the widow and stops the wicked.  We must praise God and thank Him always (Psalm 106:1).  We are in the month of November which in the United States of America is dedicated to giving thanks to God on Thanksgiving Day.  However, we must thank God all the time. Luckily, we have Jesus Christ who is our connection to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit as we read in the second reading.

Jesus is God.  He is also our high priest who plead for us and sacrificed Himself for us (Hebrews 4:14-16).  The reading tells us that Jesus "did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one." This is in references to the temple built by Herod which was a copy of the Temple of Solomon (John 2:20). Moreover, the verse reminds us that temples, synagogues, churches are just buildings made by human hands. It is God who blesses them and gives them importance via His presence (Ezekiel 10, 2 Chronicles 5:14). A Catholic church building may be beautiful with ornate decorations, images etc; however, it is useless without the Holy Eucharist; the presence of Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 10:16)! This reading reminds us that Christ is with us.  He suffered for us and died once for us (Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 3:18).  The reading also reminds us that human beings die once and are judged. We do not reincarnate nor do we become angels.  Human beings are conceived, live and die.  They remain human entities.

As an atheist studying reincarnation in Hinduism and Buddhism, the idea did not register logically to me. If we come back over and over in order to reach perfection, then which personality actually reaches perfection?  Moreover, how can a soul reach perfection if it starts a new life with new experiences and does not have knowledge of mistakes in "past lives?"  These are just some of the problems I saw with the idea of reincarnation. The Christian idea of dying once and facing God after death made more sense. This is why we must take advantage of this one life that we have and do our best.  We must live each day as if it were our last, as the saying goes (Ecclesiastes 9:1-12).  A video game comes to mind in this regard. In video games such as PacMan or Super Mario bros, the character has a set of lives. The more the lives, the more careless a player playing the game is. However, if his or her character has only one life left in the game, then he or she will be more careful so as to not lose the game. We should have a similar mentality in life.  We only have one, so we must make the best of it by avoiding sin and 'losing' our life by condemning ourselves to hell or permanent separation from God.  Our lives must be humble, doing small things with lots of love as Blessed  Mother Teresa said.  We see this in the Gospel which connects with the first reading.


In the Gospel, we read that Jesus is teaching the crowds.  He warns the people saying, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."  This verse is unfortunately used to attack priests and Catholics who pray the Rosary. However, Jesus was clearly speaking about the scribes and Pharisees. He was making a point that these people dressed the part and did the prayers but out of vanity, not for the real reason (Matthew 6:5). However, this does not mean that some of us in the Church do not do similar things.  Many times there may be priests who celebrate Mass simply as a ritual that needs to be done. They focus on the wording more than the spirit of the wording. Vestments become things that 'dignify' the priest instead of representing the high priest Christ.

Some lay people may pray Rosaries without even focusing on what they are saying.  All that is heard is a mumbling of words without any substance behind them. We must not be like this. A priest should say Mass recalling what it really is.  He must use vestments not to look 'pretty,' but to remind himself and the people who He represents. This is why Pope Francis has made it a mission to tone down the ornate decorum. We cannot be in a Church thinking we are royals that deserve praise and veneration from the world.  Moreover, when we pray Rosaries, chaplets, litanies etc, we must really think about what we are saying (Matthew 6:5-15). The Rosary is the life of Christ and Mary.  It is not an incantation that we recite mindlessly.  In light of this, we must be sincere. Jesus reminds us in the Gospel that we must be like the poor widow who  had little (2 mites - Lepton) but gave a lot.  These mites were worth about half a penny which is a cent.  Some believe the phrase, "Putting my 2 cents in" comes from the story of the widow.  A rich person can give 10 dollars out of his or her $1 million dollar salary to charity thinking it was a big deal, but in reality it is not.  In contrast, a poor man or woman who gives 2 quarters he or she got from begging to charity and he or she gave a lot because it was all he or she had.  God sees this and puts more value to this giving because the person gave all he or she had, showing that he or she is detached from material wealth and trusts in God.  The Gospel reminds us that the lowly widow's actions trump that of the hypocritical religious person. Let us be like the widow and give to others even when we have little. Let us be humble like she was practice true and sincere religion that trusts in God and does not seek to promote the self.  May Jesus be praised.


Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110815.cfm

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Christ Feeds Us

Dear readers, sorry for this "in your face" message but it is urgent and I do not know any other way to get help.

Please consider helping my fundraising campaign which will help me maintain and expand this evangelization work.  In about six months I have to pay the expenses related to this website.  I need your help!

Funds are needed for the following:

1. Help keep the blog domain URL names which are expensive and help bring in web traffic.  see godaddy.com for more information on costs of premium domain names.

2. To help purchase podcasting equipment for the radio podcast show and expand the time slot for it by updating the subscription. For subscription costs see: https://secure.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx?aid=CRMTS

3. I mail religious articles (Rosaries, Crucifixes, Pamphlets, Medals, Scapulars etc) to people who request them. This costs money to purchase and mail. Shipping is expensive, so funds are needed to help cover this cost as well. See usps.com for cost information regarding shipping.

4. I want to publish some books to help maintain this work via sales. In order to publish, I need funds for printing, access to research papers to cite from (journals et al) etc.

5. In the future, I may expand the work on Livestream and other streaming and video services which also cost money.

All monies will go towards the ministry of Sacerdotus in order to keep it stable and running for at least 3 to 4 more years until another fundraising campaign will be needed.

Again, without your help, I will lose this domain name in six months when the renewal of it is due. If this happens, I will lose access to keywords, search engines and millions of visitors. Moreover, someone else may purchase the domain for malicious purposes in order to attack Catholicism or myself by pretending to be me.  Your help can help me keep this going and expand it, especially the radio podcast subscription.  With it I can speak more, have guests and take calls on air live.

Our world is becoming more and more secular and without strong Catholic voices online, then it will continue to grow and push back all that Christianity has done in order to build the West.  As you may know, atheism thrives online.  On the internet, atheists can create blogs and other social networks which they use to promote their misconceptions. This draws in naive youth who read these blogs and buy into the rhetoric. We must stop this by having online evangelization work done just like sacerdotus.com which is a source for those of faith and no faith to get clear answers to the questions and claims regarding atheism.

I hope you reading this will make a donation at www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus to help me.

God will repay you for you help.  I promise to remember at Mass, Liturgy of Hours and private prayer all of those people who have helped me keep this alive.


Reflection:

Christ feeds us all.  In today's readings, we are reminded of how God cares for His people, not only spiritually but physically as well.

The first reading tells us of Elisha who was the successor of Elijah. Elijah was seen as the greatest of prophets.  I mention Elijah because of what the reading tells us and how it relates to the Gospel. Elisha, we are told had twenty barley loaves.  With those twenty loaves, a hundred people were able to eat and there were loaves left over. Sound familiar (Jesus' miracle)? Here we see a miracle regarding the multiplication of loaves. Elisha's servant at first objects to giving the barley loaves because his reason told him that twenty loaves cannot feed hundred. However, God is above the laws of physics and our cognitive limits in regards to processing what is physically possible and what is not (Ephesians 3:20).

Elisha, as stated above is the successor Elijah.  I stress this because Elijah as well was involved in a miracle regarding loaves as well.  In 1 Kings 17:7-16 we read of the prophet Elijah who told by God that a widow would be waiting for him. Elijah meets with her and asks for a loaf of bread. However, the widow does not have enough flour and oil. Her family is literally starving. Nevertheless, Elijah still instructs her to make him a loaf of bread and then one for herself and her son. She does this and they then have enough food for each day. A miracle occurred. God multiplied the food. So first Elijah is involved in this miracle for himself, the widow and her son.  Then Elisha is involved in one, but this one entails twenty barley loaves that would feed one hundred.  However, as we shall read in the Gospel today, Christ outdoes them both.  He multiplies five barley loaves and feeds 5,000 leaving twelve baskets left over of food.  This indicates that Jesus is greater than Elisha and even the greatest prophet of all Elijah.  As God promised Moses, He rose a prophet from among the Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:18). God, Himself comes to feed us as we read in the Psalm (Psalm 81:17).

Today's responsorial Psalm tells us that, "The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs." God cares for us (Matthew 6:26). We in turn must give Him thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  He gives us our food in due season and satisfies the desires of every thing that lives (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). All things come from God and we must be grateful (James 1:17, Psalm 127). We must have faith in Him and realize our place in nature.  We are not gods (Psalm 8:5). Nature reminds us of this constantly. We are seeing droughts in many areas and floods in others. These are natural processes that occur, but also serve as a reminder that we are mortal and need to trust in God. God will bless a nation that seeks Him (2 Chronicles 7:14).  The nations that run from Him face destruction.  We seek God by having faith and putting that faith into action via love as we read in today's second reading.

In the second reading, we are reminded that we must live in a manner that is worthy (Philippians 1:27).  We do this by being humble, gentle and patient.  We must do this with one another through love (John 13:34-35).  I know there are people in our lives or people we may encounter who we want to push down a flight of stairs.  They may annoy us, may compete with us or may just rub us the wrong way.  This happens all the time. Nevertheless, we must love these people and bear them for the sake of Christ and our own sanity. This is especially true of our own in the Church.  Sometimes or many times, people in the Church can be worse than people outside of the Church. We perceive it this way because they are in our Church or parishes, we know what to expect of them. When they do not meet that bar, we begin to judge them. This is wrong (Matthew 7:3-5). We must bear with one another with love. We must be united in peace; of one body and one spirit (Philippians 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8). We have one Lord, and must be of one faith and one baptism. This means we should all believe in the same God, and believe the same thing.  The ideas and labels of "Conservative Catholic," "Liberal Catholic," "Traditionalist," "Progressive," etc must disappear from our Catholic culture.  We must be of one faith (John 17:21). Moreover, those that believe in Christ must be of one baptism. It is a big scandal that there are over 30,000 sects calling themselves "Christian" and the "true church." Christ only founded one Church, not Churches (Matthew 16:18).  Christ has only one bride (Ephesians 5:25-27).  We must work hard to bring our separated friends back home to Rome (Luke 5:4, 2 Timothy 2:25, James 5:20). We must evangelize all those around us and bring them to eat of the baskets, so to speak as we read in today's Gospel.

The Gospel tells us of one of the most well known and popular miracles Jesus had performed: the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes. We are told that a large crowd follows Jesus.  They are following Him because of the signs and wonders He performed; namely, healing the sick. Jesus goes up on a mountain with His disciples. The "mountain" is where God resides (Psalms 125:2, Exodus 19:16-19).  Passover is coming up soon.  We are told this for a reason. The miracle Jesus is about to perform is connected to the Passover.  Jesus notices the huge crowd and asks Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"  The question is a strange one because why would God need to buy food? Why would the creator of space, time, matter and energy need to buy food?  This is why the Gospel says, "He said this to test Him, because He Himself knew what He was going to do."  So we see here Jesus was playing the "human role," so to speak.

Philip tells Jesus that not even nearly a year's worth of wages is enough to buy the crowd food. Andrew then interjects saying that a boy has five barley loaves and two fish but then asks what good would these do. Jesus then tells them to tell the people to relax on the grass.  The Gospel is careful to tell us this by stating, "Now there was a great deal of grass in that place."  Sound familiar? We read of this last week where God Himself will bring back the sheep to the meadows and will care for them on verdant pastures (see: Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 23, http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/07/16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-flock-he.html) Here we are seeing how God is bringing the sheep back to the meadow. This is why the Gospel mentions that "there was a great deal of grass in that place" to make the connection that God is present as shepherd.  Jesus then takes the loaves from the boy. This boy to me is like the first altar boy ever and is the Gospel I love to use when I used to train altar servers.

Anyhow, Jesus gives thanks and distributes it to those 5,000 present. After the distribution was done and everyone ate their fill, they gathered what was left showing that Jesus was not part of what our Holy Father Pope Francis calls a "throw-away culture." When the leftovers were collected, there were twelve baskets left over.  The number twelve is significant in the Sacred Scriptures and is mentioned 187 times.  The number twelve symbolizes God's holy people; God's power and authority, and completion.  This number is a product of three (3x3x3x3=12 /  3^4=12) which represents the Holy Trinity.  There were twelve tribes, twelve patriachs and twelve apostles. Furthermore, notice what the people say when they had their fill, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." This is connected to the promise God told Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18.

The miracle of using five loaves and two fish showed them that Jesus out did Elijah, their greatest prophet. By using five loaves and two fish, Jesus uses seven items indicating the number of God, or total perfection. This means that this miracle was done not by a mere human prophet, but by the one who is represented by "number 7" or God Himself.  The five loaves represent the body of Christ (bread/Holy Eucharist) and the five wounds of Christ (Matthew 26:26). The fish represent baptism; that the disciples are fishers of men, and the dual (hypostatic union) nature of Christ (Human/Divine) (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Matthew 4:19, John 20:28, Mark 15:39). This miracle is done when Passover is approaching which is a foretelling of the Holy Eucharist where Christ feeds us with Himself under the form of bread and wine (John 6:25-59). The loaves are connected to the Old Testament and the events surrounding Passover which reveal who Jesus really was to the Jews of His time and us today. Jesus was preparing the people for the Holy Eucharist. Let us trust in God and allow Him to feed us daily.  May Jesus Christ be praised!


Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072615.cfm