August 05, 2013 Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome (Memorial) usccb.org/bible/readings/080513.cfm Numbers 11:4-15 Psalm 81:12-17 Matthew 14:13-21 How good it was living under the slavery of Pharaoh, who provided the Israelites with fruits and flesh to eat. Now they are left with nothing else but manna that falls from the skies because they have listened to Moses and followed him out into the desert. The people fret and become angry at Moses and God because they have listened to the word of God and set out to the land of promise flowing with milk and honey. Men are easily appeased when things are going well and they are found in possession of what they need, however they even more easily become distraught when afflictions appear before them or they are led somewhere they do not want to go. Why should the Israelites become agitated when God provides all that they need? Why should the chosen nation cry out in sorrow and hunger after seeing their loved ones pass away in the deserts of Egypt? It would seem most gracious to expect and receive from the merciful God only good things to our senses, without trials and pains. Yet, the Kingdom of God is not of this world and the people must pass from the old ways of living into the new Covenant, signed with eternal witness and word by the Blood of the Lamb. How good it was living under the protection of the mighty sword and enjoying the authority built by gold and silver. Now the children have been led by the servant of God into famine and insecurity, and ‘see nothing before them but this manna’. When God leads us away from the glory of this world by faith, our life changes by the Cross and there is never a return to its former ways. It is good however to realize and fully witness the saving grace of God through self-denial and loss of possessions. It is the world of men that keeps us enslaved to its thoughts and ways of living, however God seeks to lead us away from its corruptions and imprisonment. It is better that we already begin living gathered around the Body of Christ, who provides for us His flesh to eat. God leads us gently to Himself, and our Mother Church reveals to us the path of salvation through humility and sacrificial love. Let us therefore not be dismayed by the Cross within our lives, but embrace the Lord and eat of His heavenly Bread. Whoever eats of this Bread from the Lord is satisfied and distributes the grace and mercy of God to the crowds. Sing with joy to the God who is our help.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 18:54:40 +0000
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