14th Sunday A : Come to me all who are Burdened

Starters:
“Do you have any idea who I am?" 
The Los Angeles Times published the story of a commercial airline flight cancellation which resulted in a long line of travelers trying to get bookings on another flight. One man in the line grew increasingly impatient with the slow-moving line.  At last, he pushed his way to the front and angrily demanded a first-class ticket on the next available flight. "I’m sorry," said the ticket agent, “First I’ll have to take care of the people who were ahead of you in the line." The irate man then pounded his fist on the ticket counter, saying, "Do you have any idea who I am?" Whereupon, the ticket agent picked up the public address microphone and said, "Attention, please! There is a gentleman at the ticket counter who does not know who he is. If there is anyone in the airport who can identify him, please come to the counter." Hearing this, the man retreated, and the people waiting in line burst into applause.   We are like this man. We have forgotten how to wait patiently. In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to learn his meekness and humility. (Tony Kadavil)

St. Thomas Feast - Jul 3rd: Liturgy

Introduction

The gospel has some beautiful texts about St. Thomas. Not only the “My Lord and my God” after his doubt and hesitation to believe, but also “Let us too go and die with him,” and the question “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How could we know the way?” And the  Lord’s, “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Tradition has him go as far as Persia and the Malabar region in India, where the Christians are still called “the Christians of St. Thomas.”

13th Week, Wednesday, Jul 1

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24 / Matthew 8:28-34 

Take your sacrifices away: “It is justice that I want from you.”

The God of Amos was a God of concern for the poor. He scorned those Israelites who came to offer sacrifice on religious feasts but trampled on the poor the rest of the year. God said of these people: “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! . . .Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.” Amos 5:21,24

Revisit the Issue of Ministries in the Church

"We need to revisit the issue of ministries in the Church"

Exclusive interview with biblical scholar Anne-Marie Pelletier, member of new papal commission on women deacons.

Céline Hoyeau
France

June 25, 2020

Anne-Marie Pelletier. (Photo by CORINNE SIMON/CIRIC)

July 4th: US Independence Day

July 4 Saturday (U. S. Independence Day reflections on next page): Matthew 9:14-17: 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is  taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.  17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is  put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm

13th Week: June 29- July 4: Reflections

29 Monday (Saints Peter & Paul the Apostles): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/solemnity-of-saints-peter-and-paul/ Mt 16: 13-19: 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

13th Week, Monday, Jun 29th

Amos 2:6-11, 13-16 / Matthew 8:18-22 

Amos prophesies in Israel: “You trample on the poor!”

This week’s readings are from Amos. He’s the first of the so-called writing prophets, those whose works are recorded in books. Although Amos came from Tekoa, in the southern kingdom of Judah, he was sent by God to prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos was ill-equipped to be a prophet. He himself said: “I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees. But the Lord . . . ordered me to come and prophesy to his people Israel.” Amos 7:14-15