Preparing for the Mass - August 9, 2009

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time August 9, 2009

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:4-8

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.

He prayed for death saying: “This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

A note of interest: The Broom Tree is actually more of a desert shrub. One might typically select a place of encampment in a spot where it grows in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind; and during the day, to be sheltered from the sun.

Responsorial Pslam: 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

. . . . I sought the LORD, and he answered me. And delivered me from all my fears. . . .

. . . . Look to him that you may be radiant with joy. And your faces may not blush with shame. . .

. . . . Blessed the man who takes refuge in him. . . . .

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2

Brothers and sisters: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and revilingmust be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us.

Gospel: John 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you,whoever believes has eternal life. 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.”

Reflections on the readings are many. Here are parts of wonderful outpourings of The Holy Spirirt I found all over the web, on paper and in hearts. Click on the key word, as Paul Harvey was so fond of saying, to find 'the rest of the story' . . . .

1) The Eucharist is God’s kiss. Andre Dubos, the Cajun novelist, used to say:

“Without the Eucharist, God becomes a monologue.”

. . . . (this is) how the Eucharist works. In it, God physically embraces us.

2) The Gospel inspires the post, "Faith as a drug problem".

3) The angel tells Elijah to “get up and eat”.

When God communicates with us He sometimes asks us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. We find Elijah in this story overcome with despair and depression yet the angel does not give him some divine dream or adventure. He simply tells him to get up and eat. When Elijah finally acts on this mundane command he is given the best gift imaginable- seeing the LORD pass by.

St. Therese of Lisieux's "Little Way" teaches us to do the ordinary things of life with extraordinary love. The smallest action, done with love and trust in God, is more important than great deeds done for personal glory, gratification or simply out of obedience.

For the children . . . . A reflection on the first reading:

Sometimes our fears and troubles seem to be just too much for us. We may feel that we cannot go on. The prophet Elijah felt that way after being pursued by his enemies who wanted to kill him. He sat down under a tree and prayed for death. But God awakened him twice, providing food and water for his dejected messenger. The refreshments and the knowledge of how much God cared for him gave Elijah the strength to continue his journey to "the mountain of God."

This information has been gathered for my personal Catholic Notebook. Full sourcing is included

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Sadler-We Believe

Kelly Anne Timmins word artist