Daily Retreat 08/06/06
2006 Aug 7 Mon: Sixtus II, pp, mt, & co., mts/ Cajetan, p (Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
Jer 28: 1-17/ Ps 118(119): 29. 43. 79. 80. 95. 102/Mt 14: 13-21
From today’s readings: “The prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as truly sent by the LORD only when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled.... Lord, teach me Your statutes.... When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, He withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by Himself....”
Feeding the Five Thousand (Again)
Two Sundays ago, we started Chapter Six of John’s Gospel, which begins with the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, moves on to the miracle of walking on water, and then covers the Lord’s Bread of Life discourse for the remainder of the chapter. Incidentally, while Sundays of Ordinary Time normally take precedence over liturgical feastdays, all solemnities and those feastdays which commemorate moments of the Lord’s life (as opposed to feastdays in honor of a saint) are observed even when they fall on a Sunday. So, yesterday’s liturgical feastday of the Transfiguration pre-empted the regular lectionary readings for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, which would have included further verses of Chapter Six of John’s Gospel. Since next Sunday’s Gospel will be John 6:41-51, I encourage you to read up to verse 40 of John 6 in order to stay in step with the Sunday systematic reading of that chapter.
As mentioned before, the Sunday lectionary cycle is separate from the weekly lectionary cycle, so by coincidence, today, the daily lectionary presents that same feeding of the five thousand miracle covered two Sundays ago, although this time, the version given in Matthew’s Gospel is featured.
Remember, the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of our Lord’s public life recorded in all four Gospels. Why? Well, when the Apostles went forth after Pentecost to share the Gospel, in addition to repeating the words of Jesus, they also repeated His actions, especially as He commanded them at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of Me.” So, the Apostles regularly broke bread and celebrated the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, in memory of Jesus, and they used those occasions to pass on their memories of what Christ said and did. In the context of celebrating the Lord’s Supper, they naturally would recall the miraculous meal when Jesus fed the five thousand, so that narrative must have been repeated many times, and become unforgettable to all the early Christians.
And to us as well! So we in turn now recall anew how Jesus, “taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to Heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied!”
Jer 28: 1-17/ Ps 118(119): 29. 43. 79. 80. 95. 102/Mt 14: 13-21
From today’s readings: “The prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as truly sent by the LORD only when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled.... Lord, teach me Your statutes.... When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, He withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by Himself....”
Feeding the Five Thousand (Again)
Two Sundays ago, we started Chapter Six of John’s Gospel, which begins with the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, moves on to the miracle of walking on water, and then covers the Lord’s Bread of Life discourse for the remainder of the chapter. Incidentally, while Sundays of Ordinary Time normally take precedence over liturgical feastdays, all solemnities and those feastdays which commemorate moments of the Lord’s life (as opposed to feastdays in honor of a saint) are observed even when they fall on a Sunday. So, yesterday’s liturgical feastday of the Transfiguration pre-empted the regular lectionary readings for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, which would have included further verses of Chapter Six of John’s Gospel. Since next Sunday’s Gospel will be John 6:41-51, I encourage you to read up to verse 40 of John 6 in order to stay in step with the Sunday systematic reading of that chapter.
As mentioned before, the Sunday lectionary cycle is separate from the weekly lectionary cycle, so by coincidence, today, the daily lectionary presents that same feeding of the five thousand miracle covered two Sundays ago, although this time, the version given in Matthew’s Gospel is featured.
Remember, the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of our Lord’s public life recorded in all four Gospels. Why? Well, when the Apostles went forth after Pentecost to share the Gospel, in addition to repeating the words of Jesus, they also repeated His actions, especially as He commanded them at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of Me.” So, the Apostles regularly broke bread and celebrated the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, in memory of Jesus, and they used those occasions to pass on their memories of what Christ said and did. In the context of celebrating the Lord’s Supper, they naturally would recall the miraculous meal when Jesus fed the five thousand, so that narrative must have been repeated many times, and become unforgettable to all the early Christians.
And to us as well! So we in turn now recall anew how Jesus, “taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to Heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied!”
posted by FrPitstick | 8/05/2006
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