August 11th, 2024 – Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
In the first reading for this Sunday, we hear the prophet Elijah make a heartfelt prayer to the Lord when he says, “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life for I am no better than my fathers.” The prophet must have been in a very painful place in his life when he uttered this prayer.
How many times have we not found ourselves in a similar place, maybe not praying to God for death but certainly feeling like it has been enough!?
The Good News from the Word of God this weekend is that God hears us when we cry out to him, especially when we pray from a place of struggle. In answer to his prayer, God sent Elijah an angel to encourage him in the journey and to give him the strength to continue walking.
I am certain that God sends angels to us every time he knows the journey is hard for us.
Last week, I came across the story of the current bishop of Lincoln, NE, Bishop James Conley. In his letter, “A Future with Hope,” he shares about his own mental health journey and struggles dealing with depression, and how he even had to ask for a leave of absence from his ministry to heal.
Like Elijah the prophet, Bishop Conley came to a point of honesty in his life in which he acknowledged how hard the journey had become. God, of course, listened to his heartfelt prayers by encouraging him to begin a journey of hope.
I invite you to read bishop Conley’s letter which can be found on his diocesan website, www.lincolndiocese.org. I also invite us to pay attention to the many angels God sends into our lives every day, in bigger or smaller shapes, to offer us healing and strength for the journey.
With love,
Fr. Carlos
August 4th, 2024 – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Last Sunday, the gospel readings for Mass departed from the Gospel of Mark for a five-week reading of sections of chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. This chapter is known as the Bread of Life Discourse. This discourse follows Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish.
In today’s reading, Jesus declares himself to be the “bread of life” and that no one who comes to him will ever be hungry or thirsty again. He also teaches,
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. (Jn 6:53-54)
Did you notice that Jesus uses the present tense in these two sentences? The life Jesus imparts is not only a pledge of everlasting life. He teaches that when we eat his body and drink his blood, we have his life within us now. It is this share in his life that enables us to continue Jesus’ mission of proclaiming the gospel in our world, bringing healing, forgiveness, justice, and love into the world around us. Thus, the Eucharist is not primarily an object for adoration; it is the food Christ gives us so that we can share his divine life today.
Remember this every time you receive the Eucharist. Christ himself is feeding us to strengthen and sustain us as we depart from Mass to live his life and mission in our everyday lives.
