Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

In the first reading from the Book of Numbers, we see Moses exclaim to Joshua, “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” What exactly does it mean to be a prophet? For the people of the Old Covenant, it meant calling back the sinful Israelites and foretelling the doom they would undergo if they did not repent. It meant proclaiming that one day God would send a savior, the Messiah, to right all the wrongs of the world. However, what does it mean to be a prophet under the New Covenant?

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches His disciples a profound lesson on humility and service. The disciples are arguing about who among them is the greatest. Jesus, aware of their conversation, turns the world’s idea of greatness upside down. He tells them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Today's Gospel focuses on a critical question Jesus poses to His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" (Mk 8, 29). This question invites both reflection and response. Not just for the disciples of Jesus' time but, even more, for the disciples of today.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

In this Sunday's Gospel we witness Jesus healing a deaf man with a speech impediment. This passage is powerful in its simplicity, illustrating the compassion and healing power of Christ. Jesus takes the man aside, away from the crowd, away from distraction, and intimately engages with him. He touches the man's ears and tongue, looks up to heaven, and with a deep sigh, says, "Ephatha", meaning "be opened".

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

As we return to meditating on the Gospel according to Mark, we are confronted with Jesus' critique of the exterior acts of devotion and worship performed by his contemporaries. Acts without depth or conversion of heart and life.

Jesus follows the example of the prophets of Israel, who denounced the peoples' faith and devotion which were based only in exterior actions but empty of interior meaning and conversion. We also risk such empty faith and devotion.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

At the end of the discourse on the bread of life there is drama among Jesus' listeners, "this discourse is too hard". The disciples face a decision, to leave or to stay with Jesus. Jesus doesn't impose himself and always keeps the doors open. Only those who really want to stay do so, nobody is forced.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

As we journey through chapter 6 of the Gospel according to Saint John, we are brought to a deeper sense of the great gift God has given to us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.

We are in front of a gift, a mystery, a reality which surpasses our human understanding. In fact, only when we realize who the Giver is will we be able to understand and accept the Gift. The Giver is our Triune God who out of love for us does not desire our failure in discipleship but rather that we become like the image of the Son. The Gift is the Son himself who not only became one of us in the incarnation, in the proclaimed Word we hear in Church, He goes beyond and offers His own life (body and blood) as food for our journey in discipleship, remedy for immortality to heal our soul and broken heart and a pledge of eternal life.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus' statement, "I am the bread that came down from heaven", was misinterpreted by his adversaries, as we already expected. They interpret it in the literal sense, to accuse him of encouraging anthropophagy.

The metaphoric language of Jesus, even though the Eucharist is not a metaphor, brought to his listeners a theme very dear to them, the manna that came down from heaven, as food for the hungry people in the desert.

Do not work for food in the parishes rather work for the food that endures in eternal life. When we think about obtaining food, we think about the here and now. That means what we will eat as a way of nourishment, and suitable for consumption, while others think about what is in it.