sunday 02 August 2020
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter II
St Eusebius of Vercelli (283 – 371)
Green
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 69: 2, 6
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me! You are my rescuer, my help; O Lord, do not delay.
Collect
Draw near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored. 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.
First reading: Isaiah 55:1-3
Thus says the Lord: Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live. With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of the favours promised to David.
Psalm 144(145):8-9, 15-18
R/ You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires.
- The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love. How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures.
- The eyes of all creatures look to you and you give them their food in due time. You open wide your hand, grant the desires of all who live.
- The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts.
Second reading: Romans 8:35, 37-39
Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us. For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel Acclamation: Lk 19:38, 2:14
Alleluia, alleluia! Blessings on the King who comes, in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens! Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus received the news of John the Baptist’s death he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick. When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Bring them here to me’ he said. He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining; twelve baskets full. Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children.
Prayer over the Offerings
Graciously sanctify these gifts, O Lord, we pray, and, accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us an eternal offering to you. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Wis 16: 20
You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.
Prayer after Communion
Accompany with constant protection, O Lord, those you renew with these heavenly gifts and, in your never-failing care for them, make them worthy of eternal redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Today, Jesus shows us just how much He wants to involve us in his saving work. He who had created the heavens and the earth out of nothing, could have easily created a rich banquet from nothing to satisfy the multitudes. But He preferred to work the miracle starting with the best his disciples could give him. «We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish» (Mt 14:17), they said. «Bring them here to me» (Mt 14:18), Jesus replied. The Lord was able to multiply that meager donation – not enough even to feed a typical family – to nourish about 5000 families. Today the Lord is asking us, his modern disciples, to give the crowds something to eat (cf. Mt 14:16). We mustn’t wait for us to have so to be able to share. No matter how much or how little we have, let us give it to the Lord and let him take it from there. All we need to do is to give in whatever we have. Ours is to share and God’s is to multiply and make for sufficiency for all his children who hunger not just for food but also for word of God.