Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • August 2, 2024 5 MORE THAN FUNERAL DIRECTORS We are Professional Remembrance Planners Explore the many unique ways to honor and celebrate lives. Call or visit Bradford O’Keefe today. BRADFORD-O’KEEFE FUNERAL HOMES Professional. Compassionate. Dignified. 228-374-5650 • Bradfordokeefe.com In thanksgiving to St. Jude, for prayers answered. JAO Opening Remarks -- Story: Babies have a foolproof way of getting our attention, which works every time. Five of us adults were sitting around the dinner table having a pleasant conversation when suddenly our seven-month-old started crying. Immediately, the con- versation stopped, and all the attention was on Olivia. Without saying a word, her mom dipped her finger in the mashed potatoes bowl, turned to Olivia in a highchair beside her, and put her finger into Olivia’s mouth. The crying stopped, and the child was satisfied as long as her mother repeated the process promptly, which she did. For a baby, the physical feeling of hunger is expressed in the emotion of crying, which will continue until the hunger is satisfied. That sense of depravity ignites the emotions and is expressed in crying out. God Knows: Today’s first reading is about satisfying hunger. Physical hunger is communicated by the Israelites crying out to Moses and Aaron during their desert sojourn out of slavery in Egypt, but what attitude underlies the outcry? In the Exodus event, we meet a chorus of grumblers lamenting how God led them out of Egypt only to die of starvation in the desert (Exodus 16:2-3). Is their grumbling a faith-based petition to God with the hope that He will hear and meet their need or a complaint of disgust because God has let them down? At times, God was unhappy with the people’s complaints and responded with punishment, yet in today’s reading, God responds favorably because He saw their grumbling as a prayer of expectant faith for a need. God rained down bread for the people to gather and eat, but only enough for each person for one day. If they collected more than a one-day supply, it would rot -- teaching them to rely on God every day for physical and spiritual survival. This timeless lesson now challenges us to rely on God to also supply our needs. Do you pray with complete confidence, faith, and trust, knowing God will supply all your needs, or are you a perpetual grumbler, unsatisfied with God, His ministers, and His church? God, who reads hearts, knows the difference. Let our prayer be, “Feed me, Lord, body, mind, and spirit, not to the point of excess that voids my need for you, but just enough for me to return again and again.” Bread From Heaven: The Psalmist provides an uplifting view to ponder: “Man ate the bread of angels; food He sent in abundance. He brought them to His holy land; to the mountains, His right hand had won” (Psalm 78: 25, 54). God’s provisions strengthen us to persevere toward higher callings despite obstacles. “Jesus said, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6: 35). Renewed: Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Put away your former way of life, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” The renewed mind believes that every act of God works for good (Romans 8:28). What life experiences have you had that confirms this promise? Seek Jesus: In today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled” (John 6: 26). Does my motivation for seeking Jesus reside in my heart and mind or my belly? Even in our overstuffed society, we experience physical hunger -- a stomach growl reminds us to insert food soon. We will hear the growl of spiritual hunger when God’s will is desired more than anything else. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me” (John 4:34). What is your food? Signs -- Story: A man was on a spiritual retreat at a monastery secluded in the woods. One morning, after breakfast, he set out for a walk, pausing at various spots to meditate on teachings from the night before. But time and location got away from him until he realized he was lost. Dusk was setting in, and so were pains of hunger. Finally, he saw a lighted sign that read, Fresh Hot Baked Bread Here! Overjoyed at the prospect of getting directions out of the woods and feasting on fresh, hot-baked bread to ease his hunger, he ran straight for the sign. Entering the store, he said, “I will have a loaf of your fresh baked bread.” The shopkeeper answered, “Sorry, we don’t make bread. We only make the signs.” Jesus, the bread of life, calls us to be bread for others. Instead, have we honed our skills at making all the right signs at all the right times: singing, smiling, praying, sign of peace? Or is there a desire deep within our souls to feed on the bread of life and be life for others? Closing Quote: Consider the following quote: “Spirituality is not about serenely picking or rationally choosing certain spiritual activities like going to church, praying or meditating, reading spiritual books, or setting off on some explicit spiritual quest. It is far more basic than that. Long before we do anything explicitly religious at all, we have to do something about the fire that burns within us. What we do with that fire and how we channel it is our spirituality. The Holy Longing (Page 7), Ronald Rolheiser Deacon Ralph Torrelli lives in Hattiesburg and is assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. Visit his website: www.homilypearls.com. 1st Reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 Responsorial Psalm: 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 2nd Reading: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 Gospel: John 6:24-35 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time Feed me Lord! Deacon Torrell i Sunday Scripture Commentaries Pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the Diocese of Biloxi by visiting www.invisiblemonastery.com