Good News (REC)
Gospel Reading Sunday 19th June
Luke 9:11b-17
They all ate and were satisfied.
Background on the Gospel Reading
Today, the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate a second solemnity, which marks our return to Ordinary Time. Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. At one time, this day was called Corpus Christi, Latin for “the Body of Christ.”
The feeding of the 5,000 is the only one of Jesus' miracles to appear in all four Gospels. In Luke the feeding is not the result of Jesus' compassion for the crowd but is instigated by the disciples. They wanted Jesus to send the crowd away to town. Instead Jesus tells the disciples to give them some food on their own.
The passage is connected to the institution of the Eucharist. As in the Last Supper accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke and in Paul's account in 1 Corinthians 11:23-24, Jesus takes bread, looks up to heaven, blesses the bread, breaks it, and then gives it to the disciples. In using this exact language, Luke is reminding his readers that in this miracle Jesus is doing more than feeding hungry people as God did for the Israelites and the prophet Elisha did as well. The bread he gives is his body, which he will continue to give as often as the community breaks bread in remembrance of him in the Eucharist.
Family Connection
In our age of busy after school and work schedules, families often find that they are not eating meals together at a dinner table. As a family, look back over the past week and recall how many meals were eaten together and how many meals were eaten alone or on the run.
In the Bible, meals are seen as much more than a means to satisfy a physical need. The Hebrew people viewed eating a meal as a way of expressing and strengthening their relationship to one another under God's covenant. It is no coincidence that meals are often the setting of Jesus' teaching and miracles in the Gospels. In this Sunday's Gospel, we hear the story of Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000 people.
Read this Sunday's Gospel, Luke 9:11b-17. Talk about the kinds of hungers that people have in addition to physical hunger. Describe the hungers that a family nourishes (love, compassion, forgiveness, laughter, and so on). Together give thanks for the food that Jesus gives us that we celebrate on this Sunday's feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Make a commitment to share in this Eucharistic meal together as a family.
Vinnies Winter Appeal
Thank you to all those families who have generously donated warm clothing and small blankets to our winter appeal. Next Friday 24 June will be the last day for our youth ministers to collect the clothing before taking it to St Vincent de Paul.
Confirmation
This Friday Year 6 Confirmation Candidates and their peers, who have been supporting them on their faith journey, will participate in a retreat day. They day has been thoughtfully prepared to bring together their learning in a prayerful and reflective way. We continue to keep in mind and pray for those students who will be receiving the sacrament of confirmation on Tuesday 21 and Thursday 23 June.
Lousia Vance
Religous Education Co-ordinator (Acting)