• The Blessed Virgin Mary
• Why do Catholics take Jesus literally when He calls Himself the "Bread of Life?"
• Why is it that, when we pray, it sometimes seems that God is not there or is not listening?
• Gospel Reflection for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

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I.  Intro
A.  Praised be Jesus Christ... now and forever!

II. Opening Prayer - Sign of the Cross
A.  - Sign of the Cross
1. Lord Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today and forever.  Do not let us be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.  Let our hearts be strengthened by grace rather than the food that this world offers.  Through You, Lord Jesus, we offer up a sacrifice of praise to our Heavenly Father, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His Name.  Amen.  Sign of the Cross. (Prayer based on Heb 13:8-9, 15)

III. Saint of the Week
   A. The Blessed Virgin Mary
      1.  Mary needs no introduction to anyone who is likely to listen to this production.  Of course, she is the Mother of Jesus, and hence, the Mother of God.  This past Monday, we celebrated the Solemnity of her Assumption into Heaven (not a Holy Day of Obligation in most dioceses in the U.S. this year).  This is the belief that at the end of her life on earth, Mary was taken body and soul into Heaven.  Though this belief has only been passed on via the Sacred Apostolic Tradition and is not recorded in the New Testament, there is Biblical precedent - Enoch and Elijah in the Old Testament.  Further evidence is in the lack of a resting place for Mary and lack of her relics... inconsistent with the practice of Christians from the earliest times.
      2.  Prayer - Almighty and everlasting God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, Mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven: grant us, we beseech you, to be always intent on things above that we may be worthy to share her glory.  Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. – Amen. (LOTH Closing prayer of the Dominican Rite for the Solemnity of the Assumption).


IV. Q and A
   I.  Given the numerous metaphors Jesus attributes to Himself in the Gospels, why do Catholics understand Him to be speaking symbolically with regard to some (as when He refers to Himself as the vine, or the gate), yet literally with regard to others (such as "the bread of life")?  Shouldn't we understand this to be merely symbolic rhetoric as well?

      1. Scripture         a. Jn 10 - Jesus calls Himself the Gate and the Good Shepherd.         b. Jn 15:1, 5 - Jesus calls Himself the Vine.         c. Jn 6:35 - Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life.      2. Common Sense using Scripture and Tradition         a. Jn 6:41-42 - The Jews murmur
         b. Jn 6:47-51 - Jesus responds         c. Jn 6:52 - The Jews quarrel         d. Jn 6:53-55 - Jesus' response
         e. Jn 6:60 - Difficult message to accept         f. Jn 6:66 - Many of His own disciples leave Him         g. Jn 6:67-68 - Affirmation of the faithful disciples         h. CCC 1338 - 1338 The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his part, reports the words of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum that prepare for the institution of the Eucharist: Christ calls himself the bread of life, come down from heaven. (Mt 26, Lk 22, Mk 14, and 1 Cor 11)
         i. Immediate practice of the early Church, beginning with the Apostles (Acts 2:46)         j. CCC 1375 - Church Fathers - 1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. the Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. the priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.202and St. Ambrose says about this conversion:Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. the power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed.... Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.k. Put it all together... no other title of Jesus brought about such controversy nor did they inspire such intense practice and devotion as the Bread of Life.  The context of Scripture and Tradition provides the answer to what was meant literally versus what was meant to be taken symbolically by our Lord.
   II.  Why is it that, when we pray, it sometimes seems that God is not there or is not listening?      A.  Scripture (RSV-CE)         1.  Mt 6:8 "...Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
         2.  James 4:3 "You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly..."
         3.  Rom 8:26-27 "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words... the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.      B.  Tradition         1. CCC 2567 God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer. In prayer, the faithful God's initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response.
         2. CCC 2734 ...The principal difficulty concerns the prayer of petition, for oneself or for others in intercession. Some even stop praying because they think their petition is not heard. Here two questions should be asked: Why do we think our petition has not been heard?
         3. CCC 2735 ...What is the image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used? or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
         4. CCC 2736 ...Are we convinced that "we do not know how to pray as we ought"? Are we asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him, but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants.
         5. CCC 2737 ..."You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." If we ask with a divided heart, we are "adulterers"; God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life.... If we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.
Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him; for he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer.
God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.         6. CCC 2739 ...For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit in us and on the faithful love of the Father who has given us his only Son. Transformation of the praying heart is the first response to our petition.
             CCC 2740 ...The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition. He is its model, he prays in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son seeks only what pleases the Father, how could the prayer of the children of adoption be centered on the gifts rather than the Giver?             CCC 2741 ...Jesus also prays for us - in our place and on our behalf. All our petitions were gathered up, once for all, in his cry on the Cross and, in his Resurrection, heard by the Father. This is why he never ceases to intercede for us with the Father. If our prayer is resolutely united with that of Jesus, in trust and boldness as children, we obtain all that we ask in his name, even more than any particular thing: the Holy Spirit himself, who contains all gifts.
      C.  Common Sense         1. Like any father, God hears His children's requests... sometimes the answer is "No."  The only reason God says no is because He has something much better in mind... He is saying "Yes" to something greater for us.  He is likely trying to cultivate the virtue of patience in us as we wait to see what alternative He has in mind, but it may take a while and it may be surprising - His ways are not our ways.
         2. This should never stop us from asking for the things we need and even the things we simply want.  The fact is that God will give us many things: some he will give us whether we ask or not, while other things He will only give us if we ask for them.  Since we don't know which things are which, it behooves us to ask!  This is God's way of inviting us to develop a relationship of dependence on Him and trust in His promises.
V.  Gospel   A. Gospel Reading for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mt 16:13-20 NAB)
      1.  A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"  They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.   And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.   I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.   Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."   Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
The Gospel of the Lord...
   B. Reflection - Lectio Divina (Come, Holy Spirit!)
      1. The phrase "But who do you say that I am?" caught my attention.
         a. Listen - I say with Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
         b. Learn - Many different views of Jesus still... a humanitarian social worker, a teacher/preacher, a moral guru, maybe even a miracle-worker, a merely human messiah, or even Lord and God.  For me, He is God... the Lord of my life.  But what does that really mean?  Well, it's the difference between Jesus' first and second questions... two different groups set apart.  The general population contrasted with true disciples.  The latter must see Him differently than the rest and must live accordingly.
         c. Live it - If Jesus is Lord... He must be Lord of everything in my life.  He is not only Lord on Sunday morning, but Lord in my marriage, my family, my relations with others, my service, my political activity, etc.  He is Lord of all!  I'm going to try to remember that, as Lord, he has power to rule areas of my life where I often feel powerless.  He is Lord over sin.  He is Lord of life and love.  He alone can overcome my selfishness.  He alone can give me the courage to act according to my convictions.  I can live this by doing what's right and letting God handle the burden - in whatever area of life that applies.



VI. Closing Prayer - Sign of the Cross   A. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His Face shine upon you, may He look upon you kindly and give you peace!
   B. Brothers and sisters, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (Jn 14:27 RSV-CE).  Go to confession.  Make a habit of frequently seeking the Sacrament of Mercy and Peace!
   C. Lord, grant us peace in our day.  In Your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ! - Sign of the CrossFood For Thought - Catecasting the Net... on earth as it is in Heaven!