Welcome to August! What an exciting month as preseason football begins, the return to school is just around the corner, and we enter into Festival mode! Enjoy the "dog days" of summer!
Last Sunday, we began a five-week series from the Gospel of John on the Eucharist, Jesus’ “Discourse on the Bread of Life.” Today, Jesus helps us understand that God’s gift of manna to the Israelites in the desert, the story we hear in today’s first reading, was a sign pointing to Jesus, the true Bread from heaven. Saint Paul, writing to the Ephesians, reminds us that, as a Eucharistic people, we must “put away” our old, sinful selves and “put on the new self” created by God for holiness.
Monday, August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This day coincides with the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 (and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945). Jesus’ Transfiguration reminds us that despite our human tendency to acts of violence and death, our lives can be changed by God’s power to give new life.
Wednesday, August 9 is the Memorial of Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominicans. They were educated to preach, teach and do pastoral work. May we follow his advice to “practice charity in common, remain humble and stay poor willingly.”
Saturday, August 12 is the Memorial of Saint Clare. Greatly revered and respected as a “new leader of women” and credited with many miracles, she was canonized just two years after her death. Like her, may we learn to “Go forth without fear, for God who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother.”
Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Lord, give us bread from heaven," reminds us that only God can satisfy the hunger in our hearts.
