The Christian way of life is defined in today’s gospel. Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Let’s break it down.

...must deny himself… Contrary to societal norms, everything should not be “all about me”. We must live our lives in service to others. Even small, random acts of kindness can make someone else’s day a little bit brighter.

...take up his cross… We all have burdens to carry. Some will be temporary; some will be with us our entire life. Our duty is to persevere and not succumb to despair. These burdens are not punishment but products of our human condition. We must rely on God for the strength to endure.

...follow me… Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. He was sent to show us the way to eternal life. He teaches us how to follow the path to our salvation. Jesus is the light guiding our way to heaven. Do not be afraid of the burdens of this life. Live to ease the burden of others. Embrace the trials of this life believing—knowing—that what awaits us in heaven is worth it.

God comes to rescue us. Take His hand. Life can be tough. We experience tragedy, illness, broken hearts and sometimes, we are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. There are days when staying in bed all day sounds like a great idea. How do we find the strength to put one foot in front of the other and keep on going?

Today’s readings remind us of what Christians have known all along: when we put our trust in God, He will never abandon us. He will be by our side giving us the strength and hope to continue. Through the words of Isaiah, the Lord promises that the trials of this life are temporary. In heaven, all will be made new. St. James tells us that heaven’s banquet is available to all the faithful. No one is too lowly or too poor to attend. In fact, “lowly” and “poor” will no longer have meaning. And in the gospel reading, Jesus touches our human frailties and makes us new. He is our saving grace.

God is always there to help us in our struggles in this life. Call to Him. He will answer. “Walk on, walk on, With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone, You’ll never walk alone.” Rodgers & Hammerstein

“What” you do matters, but “Why, you do it” matters more. 

In today’s first reading, Moses tells the people about the commandments given to them by God. They are the rules by which they should live in order to please God. Rules are good. Without them, we would live in chaos. 

St. James, in the second reading, reminds the people that hearing God’s word isn’t enough. They must act on what they hear. Actions are good. They bring our beliefs to life.

Now we get to the gospel reading. As often happens, humans have taken good things and gone a bit too far. The number of rules had been expanded tremendously. The Pharisees were so concerned with the “letter of the law” that they forgot the reasons for the laws in the first place. And all those people encouraged to act on the word of God? Many used their deeds to promote their own interests. God was often left out of the picture. 

So what is Jesus telling us today? We need to temper the rules with love. In other words, we must do the right things for the right reasons. When we embrace God’s word and live according to His teachings, the rest will fall into place.

When we make a commitment, there are certain expectations involved. If we commit to a relationship, we are expected to be loving, respectful, and faithful. If we commit to a job, we are expected to be on time and productive. If we are not willing to put forth the effort required to meet the expectations, we should not enter into the commitment. 

The same is true in our commitment to God. We are expected to be His disciples in all we think, say and do. Yet God knows that we are not perfect. As long as we continue to pick ourselves up when we fall short and ask for forgiveness as we try to do better, then we are fulfilling our end of the commitment. And God, in His ever-loving mercy, sent Jesus to give us hope and to be our strength along the way. 

So the next time we are tempted to “like and share” a Facebook post - the content of which would make Jesus cry - remember that this is not how to live our commitment. When we have our children receive sacraments and then do not take them to church, this is not how to live our commitment. If we are believers, we must whole heartedly commit. 

Each of us on our baptism day was promised to God that we would be raised in the faith. Today, 70% of Christians in America do not attend any type of worship service. 

If these children are not baptized, how will they hand on the faith to their own children and grandchildren?

Reasons why we believe in the dogma of Assumption Pope Pius XII in the papal document Munificentimus Deus gives four reasons for our belief in the Dogma of Assumption of Mary. 

1) The uninterrupted tradition about Mary’s death and Assumption  starting from the first century. 

2) The belief expressed in all the ancient liturgies of the Church. 

3) The negative evidence — the absence and veneration of a tomb of Mary while most of the apostles have their tombs can still be visited today. 

4) The possibility of bodily assumption warranted in the Old Testament in the cases of Enoch (Gn 5:24), perhaps Moses (Dt 34:5), and especially Elijah (II Kgs 2:1).5) 5)The theological reasons: a) The degeneration of the body after death is the consequence of “original sin,” and Mary, as “Immaculately Conceived,” is exempted from the post-mortem decay of the body. b) As receiver of the fullness of grace and holiness because she is mother of Jesus and co-redeemer with Him, Mary’s place is with her son, God’s Son Jesus, the Redeemer, in the abode of holiness, Heaven. When her earthly life was over, she was not tainted by sin, but given the extreme gift that Jesus could give her, eternal life with Him in heaven forever. We never separate the child from the mother who gave Him life!

When the Bible was written, there was no internet. News travelled very slowly. Word of mouth was the most common form of communication. So, one of the most important methods of learning was repetition. Variations of the same story were told and retold. Yet no matter who did the telling, the lesson remained the same.

For the last few weeks, the gospel message has been “Jesus is the Bread of Life”. Jesus helped the gospel writers make sure there was no ambiguity in His teachings. When something really important was about to be said, Jesus would start with “Amen, amen, I say to you…”. This is the gospel equivalent of “Pay attention to this!”

Today we are bombarded with information. Within minutes we know things that have happened thousands of miles away. The quantity of information we receive on a daily basis is astounding. So, when we are presented with information in that “old fashioned” repetitious way, do we tune it out? Do we get bored because there is no flash or sizzle? Are we paying attention? Perhaps we need to retrain ourselves to listen to the repetition and to heed the message we are being taught. Our eternal salvation depends on it.

People say: “You can’t take it with you.” I say, “Sure you can. The question is, ‘What is it?’” So, what is it? What are your prized possessions? What do you possess? Or, more to the point, what possesses you? Is it your money? Your house? Your car? Your baseball cards? etc…You certainly cannot take these things with you, and Our Blessed Lord warns us against them. In today’s Gospel, He says, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:27). Jesus is telling us that there are indeed things you can’t take with you, yet there is something that endures for eternal life, something you can take with you. The people then ask for this eternal bread, and Jesus tells them, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). When we die, we can take Jesus with us…if we have Him. If He is our “prized possession.” Or, better yet, if He possesses us. And what a glorious day it will be to have Jesus in our hearts when we die; that He may walk with us as we enter into the next life. I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want to leave this life alone. I would much rather have Jesus by my side, and I’m sure you would, too. So go get Jesus! You can take Him with you! God Love You

God satisfies all hungers. 

• Hunger - Noun: a feeling of discomfort caused  by lack of food 

• Verb: to have a strong desire for 

On the surface, today’s gospel is about satisfying physical hunger. Yes, Jesus performs a miracle when He takes a few fish and loaves and feeds a multitude of people. But there is more to the story. We need to look a little deeper. 

Why are there so many people gathered together in the first place? They hunger in a different way. They are looking for spiritual nourishment that will feed their souls. They hunger for hope and knowledge of a world beyond theirs where they can have everlasting life. And how is this hunger filled? Through Jesus. Through His words and stories and actions. As Jesus satisfies their physical hunger for food, He teaches them a lesson to feed their souls: When they freely offer all they have for the good of others (one boy sharing a few morsels of food), God will take that offering and do wondrous things (feed thousands and have leftovers). This is our God in action, satisfying the hunger in our souls as well as the hunger in our bellies.

Jesus is the personification of God’s compassion and mercy. Time and time again, Jesus is moved with pity over someone’s circumstances. But it doesn’t stop there; Jesus is moved to action. Look at today’s gospel. Jesus demonstrates concern for His disciples’ need for rest and nourishment. Then He acts to bring them to a place where those needs can be met. Once there, Jesus is faced with a crowd of people who “were like sheep without a shepherd”. Jesus could feel their need for spiritual nourishment. He saw their hunger for His word. So, what did Jesus do? Out of compassion, He left the boat immediately and gave the people what they were seeking. We often have empathy for the suffering of others. We must strive to emulate Jesus and DO something that will help. Let God guide your efforts to pray, donate, volunteer, or be a shoulder to cry on. When we put others’ needs ahead of our own, we begin to understand that compassion is really a verb.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus personally sends His disciples out into the world. He gives them the power and authority to preach and perform miracles. Jesus commissions them to build His kingdom of followers. We, as Christians, are the new disciples of Christ. Our mission is the same. We have been empowered by God to go forth and build His kingdom. Jesus is always with us. Our Parish & School community and other faith communities around the world were built on this conviction. But our work is not done. We must continue drawing others into the light of God’s love. Yet Catholics, generally, are not “door-to-door” evangelists. So how do we share our faith? We do it in the same way God has called us - with a personal invitation.