Today Jesus says — “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”

What is this food?

We see a foreshadowing of it in the first reading….that word MANNA literally means “what is it?”
“… and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. Then the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.” (Exodus 16:13-16). When the heavenly bread began to rain down, in the original Hebrew the people of Israel asked: “Ma’n Hu?” {?מן הוא} – English for “what is it?” and that is the origin of the name “manna” (In Hebrew the name is “man” {מן}).“… and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. Then the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.” (Exodus 16:13-16). When the heavenly bread began to rain down, in the original Hebrew the people of Israel asked: “Ma’n Hu?” {?מן הוא} – English for “what is it?” and that is the origin of the name “manna” (In Hebrew the name is “man” {מן}).

We’ve been praying for this kind of food every day as Catholics, if we know it or not! “Give us this day our DAILY bread”…. the word dsaily comes from that Greek word Epiousios is an adjective no one quite knows how to translate, back all the way to Jerome

We say DAILY, but another translation is SUPER-SUBSTANTIAL or SUPER-ESSENTAIL …

Without it, we’ll die. It is essential.

In Gospel, it takes place right where we left off last week: the two fish and five loaves. The people thought that was pretty cool. Their bellies were hungry. So they thought, let’s follow this guy

Then Jesus says, I’m talking about a DIFFERENT kind of food. This is what will save you.

Without those who dedicate their lives to this FOOD, we will all starve to death

St John Vainney – no priest, no Eucharist

I pray for an army of young people who will take Jesus up on these words: ” “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”

I want an army of young men in the seminary who GET IT .. that the Eucharist is everything …. and who give their lives to JESUS and giving JESUS to the rest of us

Feast of St. Ignatius – this is from today;s Matins

From the life of Saint Ignatius from his own words by Luis Gonzalez
Put inward experiences to the test to see if they come from God

Ignatius was passionately fond of reading worldly books of fiction and tales of knight-errantry. When he felt he was getting better, he asked for some of these books to pass the time. But no book of that sort could be found in the house; instead they gave him a life of Christ and a collection of the lives of saints written in Spanish.

By constantly reading these books he began to be attracted to what he found narrated there. Sometimes in the midst of his reading he would reflect on what he had read. Yet at other times he would dwell on many of the things which he had been accustomed to dwell on previously. But at this point our Lord came to his assistance, insuring that these thoughts were followed by others which arose from his current reading.

While reading the life of Christ our Lord or the lives of the saints, he would reflect and reason with himself: “What if I should do what Saint Francis or Saint Dominic did?” In this way he let his mind dwell on many thoughts; they lasted a while until other things took their place. Then those vain and worldly images would come into his mind and remain a long time. This sequence of thoughts persisted with him for a long time.

But there was a difference. When Ignatius reflected on worldly thoughts, he felt intense pleasure; but when he gave them up out of weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet when he thought of living the rigorous sort of life he knew the saints had lived, he not only experienced pleasure when he actually thought about it, but even after he dismissed these thoughts, he still experienced great joy. Yet he did not pay attention to this, nor did he appreciate it until one day, in a moment of insight, he began to marvel at the difference. Then he understood his experience: thoughts of one kind left him sad, the others full of joy. And this was the first time he applied a process of reasoning to his religious experience. Later on, when he began to formulate his spiritual exercises, he used this experience as an illustration to explain the doctrine he taught his disciples on the discernment of spirits.

Feast of Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

From Divine Office:

St. Peter Chrysologus was a 5th century Church Father. From a biography written in the 9th century, we know he studied under Bishop Cornelius and was ordained Bishop of Ravenna by Pope Sixtus. Known for his brief yet inspiring homilies, he was given the name Chrysologus or “golden-worded” by Empress Galla Placidia, daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius I. A collection of his sermons, 176 in total, were compiled by his successor, Felix of Ravenna, and has earned him the respected title of Doctor of the Church.

Feast of St Christopher – this painting hangs in my chapel

“All things are possible for him who believes, more to him who hopes, even more to him who loves.”

–St. Lawrence of Brindisi