Aug 21, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Our Lady, Mother and Queen
Gospel Luke 1:26-38
The doctrine of the Assumption was promulgated in 1951, with its feast on 15 August. Today we remember that the Blessed Virgin reigns in heaven together with her Son. She reigns not because she is in any way equal to God but because she is the mother of Christ the King. Her privileges come from her willingly agreeing to become the Mother of God and make our redemption possible. The reading suggested to this memorial is the episode of Annunciation where Mary willingly accepts be the Mother of God. Mary, Mother of the God, reigns as Queen and as Mother of all of us. All Her apparitions around the world are visible signs of how She is a mother for all of us. Our devotion to Mary is not just a pious activity but it’s a real relationship. We are related to Mother Mary as we carry in us, the life of Her Son, Jesus Christ through our Baptism. This is not a theory. But a real relationship of love and redemption. Mary is our Mother in all senses and let’s enjoy Her maternity to us in all senses. Let’s be close to Her in all senses. Let’s reflect: How much am I close to Mother Mary in my daily life?
Don Giorgio
Aug 20, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Pius X, Pope
Wednesday of week 20 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – John 21:15-17
This is the conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asking Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ And Peter answers, “Yes Lord, you know I love you”. And then Jesus says to him, “Feed my lambs”. In this we can understand that there is an intrinsic relationship between the love to Jesus and feeding his lambs. If we love Jesus, we must feed His lambs. That’s His wish. We must take care of those around us. The more you love Jesus, the more we must take of those around us. Our love to others around us, those in our family, those in our neighbourhood, those in our community, those at our work, must be proportionate to our love to Jesus. If we love Jesus, it must be seen in our dealing with those around us. Let’s reflect: Do my love towards others reflect my love to Jesus?
Don Giorgio
Aug 19, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Bernard, Abbot, Doctor
Tuesday of week 20 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – John 17:20-26
“I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one”. This is something very big which we must recognize in our vocation as Christians. Jesus, the only Son of God has given His glory to us. What is this glory? This glory is our dignity as sons and daughters of God. Jesus shared this dignity with us for specific reasons. The first reason is that we may be united. But we know how much we are divided as Christians. Also, we know how much we are divided among ourselves in the same family, in the same parish, in the same society. This happens because we don’t recognize our dignity as sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Christ. Whenever we make unity, we become more Christian because we are realizing the dream of Jesus. Again, we are given this dignity so that we may recognize the love with which God the Father loves us, “so that the love with which you loved me may be in them”. This is what we must recognize in being Christian. Recognizing that the love with which God the Father loved His only Son, Jesus Christ, is in me. This is something very very big. Often it goes unnoticed! Let’s reflect: Do I recognize that the love with which God the Father loved His only Son, Jesus Christ, is in me?
Don Giorgio
Aug 19, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of week 20 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Matthew 19:16-22
“But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth”. This happened to the man who wanted to possess eternal life. This happened to the man who was keeping all the commandments. So what happened to this man who had the intention to have the eternal life and who has been keeping all the commandments? Why did he go away sad from Jesus? Because he had lot of wealth which he did not want to share. This is the truth. We can be following all the commandments, and we can be saying all the prayers, but we will not be close to Jesus. And we will be sad. Why? Because we are not ready to share what we have with the poor and needy. If we want to be close to Jesus, we must be close to poor and needy. It can happen also that even our prayers and devotions become a cover up not to be close to Jesus. If we are close to Jesus, we will be close to poor and needy. We will see the needs of others and we will share we have. If not, we are not close to Jesus. Let’s reflect: Am I close to poor and needy, and do I see their needs?
Don Giorgio
Aug 17, 2024 | DAILY BREAD
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel – John 6:51-58
“Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” Jesus said to the crowd that He is the living bread that has come down from heaven and this bread is His flesh for the life of the world. One of the reactions was this. One group started arguing with one another, “how is this possible?” Many projects of God are struck up in our life because of this “how” question. We must believe in the words of Jesus. When Jesus says, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink”, what we must say is to thank Him and not to ask “how”. If Jesus says this, He also finds a way for that. That is the Eucharist. And that is what happens in the Holy Mass. The bread becomes the body of Christ, and the wine becomes the blood of Christ. Jesus shares His body and blood with us so that we have eternal life. Jesus shares His body and blood so that we can live in Him and He can live in us. This is love. We live through His love and His love lives in us. This is the meaning of Christian life too, two aspects: We live through Christ’s life and His love lives in us. Only with these two aspects, we become real Christians. Let’s reflect: How much I live through the life of Christ and How much the life of Christ is alive in me?
Don Giorgio
