In the Gospel Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"  After listening to their responses, Jesus looks at them and asks, "Who do YOU say that I am?"  This is THE question that we all must answer.  It's not enough to say that we know about the Lord; we hope to be able to answer wholeheartedly that we know the Lord.

In today's readings we hear Moses and Jesus calling the people to fidelity.  God gives us the Law in order to lead us to Himself.  Whereas we may think that laws exist to hamper our freedom, God's law does just the opposite.  Through the Law God gives us the freedom to choose the good.  By loving God with all our mind, heart, and soul, and by loving our neighbor as ourselves, we imitate our Lord and thus grow in holiness. This is a message that the people in Moses' day and in Jesus' day needed to hear; a message that we need to hear and follow today.  May we recommit ourselves to being faithful to God and to His commandments today and always.

There is a very common -- and extremely relevant -- theme in the readings today.  Both Joshua and Jesus ask their contemporaries to make a decision.  "Who will you serve?"  "Will you leave me, too?"  Even (and especially) amidst trials and difficulties of all kinds, we pray for the grace to answer as our ancestors did:  "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"  And from St. Peter: "Lord, to whom will we go?  You have the words of everlasting life."

We are making our way through the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, sometimes referred to as the "Bread of Life Discourse."  Today Jesus hears the people around him "murmuring" about him and his teaching.  This recalls the attitude that our ancestors had toward Moses and the teachings that he revealed to them from God.  'Murmuring' in the Bible goes beyond incredulity -- the people weren't simply in awe of what he was saying; it shows that they doubted and disagreed with what was being taught.  Jesus's answer to them is that it is God the Father who draws them and teaches them the Truth, if only the people will allow it.

The Eucharist is the Living Bread come down from heaven.  It is Jesus' flesh, for the life of the world.

Today's Gospel comes from John 6, the chapter which give us Christ's teaching on the Bread of Life.  Following the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, Jesus expounds on the True Bread that comes down from heaven -- the Eucharist -- and explains how we should hunger and thirst for it about all things.  We believe without a doubt that the Eucharist truly is the Real Presence; the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.  Through the Eucharist we have communion with the Father, and thus we can come to enjoy eternal life.

Today in all of the readings and in the Psalm as well, the image of a "shepherd" is clearly evident.  Whether that be in the reading from Jeremiah, where God speaks through the prophet and says, "Woe to you, shepherds who mislead my people..."; or in the Gospel from Mark, where Jesus laments the fact that the people are like, "sheep without a shepherd"; the message for all of us is obvious: God is calling us to be good shepherds of His people - people in great need, people in our own families, people around us every day.  We rejoice that we have such a Good Shepherd watching over us constantly, but we also pray that we imitate Our Lord every day, being compassionate and caring toward our brothers and sisters.

Today's Gospel stories of the resuscitation of the little girl and the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage teach us about what God wants for us: wholeness, health, life.  The sacred author of the Book of Wisdom puts it plainly: "God did not create death".  In his words and actions, Jesus shows us that God created us in His image and likeness, and therefore wants us to be well and to be with Him forever in heaven.  As we thank God for this great gift, may we direct our efforts to promoting life and healing in our world.  

Normally, we celebrate a saint's feast day on the day when they died.  This is true for almost all saints' feast days. But there are three exceptions: The birth of Jesus Christ, the birth of Mary, and the birth of St. John the Baptist.  John's birth shows us once again that God's will is being carried out in time.  We must thank God and praise Him for His loving plan of redemption for humanity.  At the same time, we should strive to emulate St. John the Baptist, who pointed the way to Christ and announced his presence when at last he came.  The question of John's contemporaries -- "What will this child be?" is a question for all of us today:  "What will I be [for Christ]?"  

In his teaching about the Reign of God, Jesus uses two very helpful parables.  He likens the Reign of God to a mustard seed, something so very small that can grow into a very large shrub.  We, too, though small can do great things because God is with us.  The other parable is of a farmer who sows seed in his field and then waits for the harvest.  Even though he tends the field and waters it, how it grows is a mystery.  So it is with the Reign of God.  It is already sown among us on earth, and it is developing according to God's plan.  We must trust in God's will always, while cooperating with God as co-workers: tending, feeding, and expanding the Reign of God.

Hoy en el evangelio, Jesus nos enseña del reino de Dios.  Él usa el ejemplo de una semilla de mostaza:  es algo bien pequeño, pero una vez sembrado en la tierra llega a ser una gran planta.  Los pajarillos y los otros animales disfruten su sombra.  Iqualmente nosotros -- aunque seamos pequeños -- podemos hacer cosas grandes, porque el Espiritu Santo vive dentro de nosotros.  Con Dios, todo es posible.