Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Reading 1: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

Reading 2: Romans11:13-15, 29-32

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Summary: In the long version of this Sunday's homily, we reflect on the symbolism in today's Gospel. In a way that little boat in the middle of the storm represents our temporary, earthly life, always agitated by winds and difficulties. The shore of the lake can be seen as an image of the glorious eternity of heaven, the shore we will reach if we do not allow the waves sink our boat.

Jesus comes to us to protect us, and today he invites us not to hesitate to come to him, especially in the most difficult moments. We must set our eyes on Him. As the Apostle Paul tells us, the Lord is above all and has the power to overcome any enemy of our souls and any situation no matter how complicated it may seem.

Those who doubt him, as Peter did, are those who sink into the sea. You can meditate this week on the powerful image of Christ grasping the hand

of his disciple. The hand of Christ who does not let us fall apart in the trials of life. Jesus wants to help us, to care for us and to give us the grace to reach holiness.

It is up to us to look at him, not take our eyes off him, to take his hand and let him enter our boat, to look for him in the silence on the mountain and find him in the quiet breeze of silent prayer, to stay in Peter's boat which is the Church and receive his grace in the Sacraments, and so be encouraged in life’s difficulties.

Let us pray to God that we never stray from Him and that we do not fall into the temptation of pessimism that looks at the troubled waters of life and not on the Lord who walks on them and calms the storm before it can harm us. Our eyes, only on Jesus. Our trust, only in Jesus. Our hope and our support, only in Jesus. And He will take us to a safe harbor and will lead us, after the struggles and storms of this life, to the bright and beautiful shore of eternity.

Reading 1: 1 Kings 19:9A, 11-13A

Reading 2: Romans 9:1-5

Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

This Sunday we see the Lord working the well-known miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, with which he feeds a hungry and tired crowd. In this miracle, the Church has always seen an image of the Eucharist and, therefore, the readings of this Mass help us to reflect on our relationship with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

In the long version of this homily, I allow myself to apply in some way this page of the Gospel to the situation that we have lived and continue to live in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. It is evident that the decisions taken to restrict access to the Eucharist have caused great suffering to the faithful. In my humble opinion, it has also been a wound for the unity of the Church, because, as we pray in the Second Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass, the Holy Spirit gathers in unity those who participate in the same Body and Blood of Christ.

Still and all, today we want to thank the Lord for his love for us and the care with which he attends to us. His heart sympathizes with our weakness and always comes to our aid. Especially here, at Holy Mass, he nourishes us with his Word and with his Body. The situation we have recently experienced should remind us to never take the gift of the Eucharist for granted. Perhaps we had become so accustomed, or it was so easy for us to receive Holy Communion, that the Lord wanted to use what has happened so that we realize how lost we would be without Him. Now we know better how difficult fidelity is without the Eucharist; how weak we are when we lack the Body of the Lord; how quickly we sink when we fall away from Jesus Christ, as we will hear in the Gospel next Sunday.

So we ask God to always give us this Eucharistic bread, that we will love him in the Eucharist with fervor, and that when we feel tired, we will seek strength and rest in the Lord, who always awaits us in the Tabernacle and in Holy Communion to give us light, grace, strength, hope, and eternal life.