Aug 14, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gospel - Luke 1:39-56
Three thoughts to share on this great feast when we celebrate our destiny which we can see in the Assumption of Mother Mary. The three thoughts about a Marian way of life which we can see in the song of Magnificat. First, recognize the greatness of the Lord. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit exults in God my saviour”. How great is our Lord! Second, recognize the gifts and grace which I received in my life. “…for the Almighty has done great things for me”. Recognize every blessing we received in our life, in every moment. Third, recognize the plan of God which is to pull down princes from their thrones and exalt the lowly. “He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away”. The Lord wants to be with the humble. If we want to be close to the Lord, be humble and gentle. Let’s reflect: How much I belong to the Marian way, which recognizes the greatness of the Lord, the gifts of the Lord, and the way of the Lord?
Don Giorgio
Aug 13, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest, Martyr
Wednesday of week 19 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – John 15:12-16
Today we are celebrating the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a great missionary from Poland, in Japan. In 1941 he was arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where he helped and succoured the inmates. In August of that year a prisoner escaped, and in reprisal the authorities were choosing ten people to die by starvation. One of the men had a family, and Maximilian Kolbe offered to take his place. The offer was accepted, and he spent his last days comforting his fellow prisoners. The man he saved was present at his canonization. He literally did what Jesus said, “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends”. Jesus did that for us. He died for us. And He asks us to do the same. “I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last”. To bear fruit we must love like Him. St. Kolbe did that. We can also do that when we are ready to volunteer to take up the suffering of others with little kind deeds to big sacrifices. Giving up your comfort to give comfort for the other. This must be natural to us. Then it will not be only for those who know. But it will be to anyone. You care for the comfort of anyone. Let’s reflect: Am I ready to give up my comforts to give comfort for the other?
Don Giorgio
Aug 12, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Tuesday of week 19 in Ordinary Time
Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs
Gospel - Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14
“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me”. This is an important aspect of our spiritual life which should be taken care. This is also linked to the culture of the times. We want to welcome the big, the great, the famous. We want to invite and welcome great and famous people. But Jesus is saying something different. He is speaking about welcoming a child. We are called to welcome the poor, marginalised, orphans and abandoned. Then we will be welcoming Jesus. And also, it’s important how we welcome. We must welcome in the name of Jesus. Welcoming in the name of Jesus means we must see them first as Jesus sees them. As God sees them. So, the message is very clear. We must welcome the marginalised and the unknown. And before welcoming them, we must learn to see them as Jesus sees them. Then we will be welcoming Jesus always. Let’s meditate: Am I running behind the famous people or am I running behind the marginalised people seeing them as Jesus sees them?
Don Giorgio
Aug 11, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of week 19 in Ordinary Time
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious
Gospel – Matthew 17:22-27
“However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you”. This is one of the passages where we can find how much Jesus is sensitive to the feelings of others. He announced that He is going to be put to death. Jesus is going to deliver himself on the cross, but He is sensitive to pay the tax. And He wants that Peter pays that. When we want to imitate Jesus, this sensitivity of Jesus is very much to follow. Whenever we are doing some sacrifice, we lose our sensitivity. Everyone around us must be attentive to the sacrifice we make. Look, how much I suffer! Look, how much I sacrifice! And in these moments, we forget about others around: their concerns and their questions. Jesus is aware about the question of the tax collectors and is sensitive to their concern even though it should not be His concern as He is going to offer His life for the salvation of the world. Our sacrifices must not shut down our sensitivity, but it should be the manifestation of our sensitivity. Let’s reflect: Do my sacrifices shut down my sensitivity towards the questions and concerns of others?
Don Giorgio
Aug 10, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saint Clare (1193/4 - 1253)
Gospel John 6:41-51
“Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world”. This belongs to the passage about the Eucharist. In this sentence, Jesus is speaking about three things. First, whoever eats this bread will live for ever. Second, this bread is His flesh. Third, this is for the life of the world. Actually, one message. The Body of Jesus is the bread from heaven for the life of each one of us. This is from heaven because this is gift from God. This gift is God himself. The second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son. He incarnates so that He can be bread that gives life to us. He incarnates so that He can give himself up totally to us. He can give His life to us. At the Cross, He becomes the bread for us which was celebrated at the last Supper. And this bread is the life of the world because He is Risen and is alive. This is Eucharist. So, in Eucharist, the love of God the Father becomes real through the real presence of the Son, who incarnated and gave Himself up on the cross for us, and which is realized by the working of the Holy Spirit. Let’s reflect: How much am I grateful for the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist?
Don Giorgio
Aug 9, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Laurence, Deacon, Martyr
Gospel – John 12:24-26
“I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest”. The grain has to fall down and the grain has to die. This is the vocation of the grain. But in this falling and dying something amazing happens. In this falling, everything falls off from the grain and in the darkness of soil, in the moisture of the soil, the grain dies to give birth to a new life. The new life sprouts out of the grain throught his process This process is also necessary in us to bring out the life of Christ which we received in the baptism. When the sufferings, challenges, tensions and difficulties make us fall, this fall is painful. Again the coldness around us, which changes nothing but adds pain to us, we are stuck. We have to chose between the accept the pain to make our life and those of others difficult or to accept the pain to bring the life of Christ alive in us so that we can make our life and the life of others beautiful. The former is always murmuring and complaining. The latter is always smiling and welcoming. The former produces negative vibes. The latter produces positive vibes. The former brings our the evil in us. The latter brings out the best in us. Our difficulties and sufferings are opportunities to bring out the life of Christ in us. Let’s reflect: Am I using the challenges in my life to bring out the life of Christ in us?
Don Giorgio
