EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
1st READING
God always takes the initiative. It is prevenient grace working within our hearts that leads us to respond to Him. Conversion is our response to God’s offer of love and forgiveness. Isaiah knows this and writes these beautiful words of invitation. Like him, let us warmly invite others to follow the Gospel.
Isaiah 55:1-3
1 Thus says the Lord: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat. Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! 2 Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. 3 Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.
PSALM
Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18
R: The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 9 The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) 15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; 16 you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (R) 17 The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R)
2nd READING
Paul’s conversion is reflected in his deep conviction that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Even when we choose to move away from Him, He will still pursue us. We will face many difficulties and trials as disciples of Jesus, but they can draw us closer to Him.
Romans 8:35, 37-39
35 Brothers and sisters: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? 37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
GOSPEL
The people flock to Jesus probably because they consider Him as the successor to John’s ministry. Maybe most of them are John’s followers who are now looking for a new master. We will never know why they came. What we know is that once they encountered Jesus, they became His disciples. The proclamation of the Gospel is not a competition of having the most followers. It is about proclaiming God’s love for all humanity.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. 14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 17 But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” 18 Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” 19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
Reflect: “offer up your loneliness to God, as the little boy who offered to Jesus his five loaves and two fishes. God can transform it for the good of others. Above all, do something for somebody else.” – Elisabeth Elliot
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T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
thank You, Lord, for:
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Read the Bible in one year - 1 Maccabees 5-6
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