Newsletter- 18th Week of Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners
Many more this week from our parish will leave us after this weekend for their summer holidays either at home or abroad. To those of you who will be travelling during this coming week I wish each of you a wonderful holiday! Travel safely and return to us refreshed! A very warm welcome too to all who may be visiting our parish during the month of August.
On this Sunday, the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B the liturgy builds on the theme of Eucharistic Communion that we began to explore last week in St John’s Gospel. Today, we are invited to be transformed by the Bread of Life, made flesh in Jesus, and present in the Word of God. The First Reading tells how the people of Israel were grumbling about the painful new life they were living in the desert. God heard their cry and gave them all that they needed to survive. With the Psalmist, we celebrate how the Israelites were fed in the desert. St Paul (Second Reading) nevertheless calls the Christian community in Ephesus to adopt a completely new way of life, with a more radical understanding of God’s loving providence. The true abundance of God’s love for us is not to be found by focusing on our many material needs; instead, it is found in the goodness and holiness of the Gospel truth. In the Gospel, today at Mass Jesus challenges us: He doesn’t want followers who are just looking for material security and a guarantee of plenty of food to eat. Following Jesus requires a more radical response on our part. Our true spiritual food isn’t manna from heaven; rather it is to be found in a personal encounter with the risen Christ, the Bread of Life and truth eternal.
As we pray with this week’s Scripture, let us ask for a spirit of complete transformation and renewal in ourselves, in our local faith community, our diocese and the wider Church as well. May we have the grace to remain sustained by the life-giving Word of God.
With my prayers for you and your families during the holiday season,
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
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