From the Administrator's Desk

J. M. J.

August 2. 2026

Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Timе

My friends, in today's Gospel we hear about Our Blessed Lord working the miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. Our Lord brings forth a miraculous amount of food from five loaves of bread and two fish, feeding a crowd of over five thousand. This marvel is a prefigurement of the Eucharist, where Our Lord feeds us sacramentally with his own Body and Blood, for the life of our souls and of our world.

One aspect that always strikes me when I read and hear this passage is when it says that "taking the five loaves and 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." There are four key words here: (1) "take," (2) "bless," (3) "break," and (4) "give." Whenever we see these words in the New Testament, our ears and hearts should bе alert to Eucharistic language. These same verbs are used in the accounts of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist there, and in the Eucharistic account embedded in the post Resurrection appearance of Our Lord to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

These verbs are a reminder of who Christ is, who we are, and what we are called to be as his disciples and friends.

Christ is eternally begotten of the Father before time, eternally taken and chosen by the Eternal Father as his beloved Son. He is blessed by his Father and sent into the world, he is broken on the Cross and given through his Resurrection. We too are beloved children of God by the grace of baptism. Everything that Jesus is by nature we are through grace. We are each taken, chosen by the Lord for a unique mission and he sends us into the world with his love and blessing, so we can be a blessing to others. We are broken and sent through our suffering and other life experience, if we are open to the Lord. This is not just a one time phenomenon but a fact of the everyday Christian life, of our adventure with the Lord. Maybe we can ask ourselves this week in our prayer and reflection some questions relating to these four verbs in our own life journey with the Lord.

Where has the Lord taken and chosen me in my life? Where is God blessing me in my life? How am I invited by God to remind others that they too are chosen and blessed by him? Where is God forming me in my being broken? Where is God sending me this day?

As we receive the Body and Blood of Christ this week, may we ask him to remind us of what we are called to be, as chosen, blessed, broken and sent people.

Know that I remember you all in my prayers every day and please remember me in your prayers! May God bless us and Mary keep us always in his love!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Peace,

Fr Mal