18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:24-35)

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“Why are we looking for Jesus (see Jn 1:38)? Are our motives pure? Do they resonate with the deepest longings of our heart? Saint John of the Cross: ‘He who seeks God, and yet wants his own satisfaction and rest, seeks him at night and thus will not find him. He who looks for him through the practice and works of the virtues and gets up from the bed of his own satisfaction and delight, seeks him by day and thus will find him.’” ~Magnificat Magazine, August 5, 2018, digital edition

St. John Vianney

“All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone – for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good.” ~St. John Vianney
Almighty and merciful God, by your grace Saint John Mary Vianney was remarkable for his zeal as priest and pastor. Help us by his example and prayers to win our brethren for Christ by love, and to share with them in eternal glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

 

The Breaking of My Own Independence

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). These words mean the breaking of my own independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to the point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but he cannot put me through it. It means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus.” ~Oswald Chambers

August 2: St. Peter Julian Eymard

O God, who adorned Saint Peter Julian Eymard with a wonderful love for the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of your Son, graciously grant that we, too, may be worthy to receive the delights he drew from this divine banquet. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

August 1: Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

“If you desire heaven, you must walk in the way which leads to heaven; if you should walk in the way which leads to hell, you will one day unhappily find yourself there.” ~St. Alphonsus