In today’s world, as was in ancient times, nations are said to be great if they have a powerful military, strong economy, achieve significant scientific and business feats, and possess international diplomatic integrity. Israel had left Egypt and, after forty years of desert wandering, was about to enter Canaan, the promised Land. Moses, their leader, wanted them to have a unique national identity and so he invented a new standard of measuring national greatness. According to him, Israel was to be a nation of God’s people and they would achieve that by observing God’s statutes. They would be acknowledged as great in wisdom and understanding, not because of their military might or economic strength, but because of their diligent observance of God’s just statutes.

Beloved people of God.

After the people of Israel possessed the promised land, Joshua, an old man approaching his earthly end, gathered Israel together for one final address. Part of this address is what we have as our first reading today. In it, Joshua reminds the nation about the good deeds of the Lord towards them, encouraging them to always remember. He concludes his emotional speech by placing before them two options: choose to serve Yahweh and live, or choose to be like the surrounding nations by worshiping their gods and face the consequences. To set an example, Joshua went ahead to make a choice for himself and his family. “.......as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24: 15). The people naturally followed their leader and chose to serve only God in gratitude for his benevolence towards them. Like Israel, we are presented with options and expected to make a choice: choose to love and serve God who has loved us first, or create and acknowledge any god we want living by the standard of the world and in slavery to the desires of the flesh. The options are clear, the choice is completely ours to make but whatever choice we make comes with great responsibility and consequence.

Brethren, Catholic doctrine has four Marian Dogmas namely: Theotokos (Mary, the Mother of God), the Immaculate Conception, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and the Assumption. Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. The doctrine was defined by Pope Pius XII in the year 1950 in his apostolic constitution munificentissimus Deus. The Pope proclaimed in this document that Mary, the Mother of God, after completing her earthly life was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven. Mary, the “New Eve,’’ lived her entire life for Christ and his Church and so attained the final bodily resurrection promised to all Christians through her assumption into heaven.

We live in a society where many people crave longevity, but at the same time, are afraid of any sign of old age. We are bombarded each day with advertisements about how to lose weight and achieve the so-called ideal body shape; many people put so much eff ort into new forms of diet and exercise to stay healthy and strong, or spend large amounts of money on plastic surgery and anti-aging products in an attempt to remain looking youthful. Many scientists are embarking on advanced research to fi nd diet formulas and genetic modifications that will enable people to live up to 200 years or more. While all these may appear as vanity, they seem to me more like a demonstration of our inner longing as humans for eternal life. No matter the scientific advancement and human achievement, we cannot attain eternal life by human eff ort alone. Only God can give us eternal life.

Beginning last Sunday through the last Sunday of this month, the Gospel is centered on the theme of “Bread of Life.” Last Sunday we heard Jesus feed 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish. This particular miracle drew special attention from the people more than all other miracles He performed throughout His ministry on earth. We are told that many people were looking for him and asking him to repeat the loaves and fishes miracle. The multiplication of loaves in the Gospel reminded the people about the event in today’s first Reading when God rained down bread/mana from the sky daily. The people saw Jesus as the new Moses so they wanted him to repeat the miracle daily for them like Moses. Jesus understood the deepest desires of the people even more than themselves. He told them He would give them the Bread of Life so those who eat it will never hunger again. This promise was fulfilled in the institution of the Eucharist.

The stories in our First Reading and the Gospel today are very similar: The people were very far away from their town and hungry. One person had a loaf of bread but there were too many people to feed. Then Jesus blessed the loaves and multiplied them for everybody to eat. These Scripture readings invite us to pay attention and do something about, the reality that many people, particularly children, are malnourished or die of hunger globally. In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 811 million people (10% of global population) were undernourished in 2020. This is an alarming increase of world hunger from previous years, much of it related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme of Liturgy over the past three weeks has been centered on different types of leadership and responsibilities in the Church. Two weekends ago, we reflected on the roles of prophets; last weekend we reflected on the roles of missionaries; and this weekend the theme of the Liturgy is centered on the roles of shepherd and religious leaders. It is not a coincidence that God chose most of the great leaders, the patriarchs in the Old Testament such as Abraham, Moses and David, from among the shepherds. In the New Testament, Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd, “who is willing to lay down His life for His Sheep” (John 10:11). This explains why a priest in charge of a parish today is called Pastor, a Latin word for shepherd. Religious leaders as shepherds are called to model their lives after that of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

In our first reading today, Amos told Amaziah that he is not a prophet but an ordinary man sent by God to preach the truth to the people. In other words, he considered himself as a lay person sent to preach the word of God. We often think of missionaries as priests and religious sisters who are sent to faraway countries. In a way, that is true. However, the 2nd Vatican Council document on the Missionary Life of the Church (Ad Gentes) states that “the Church is missionary by nature.” This means that we are all missionaries by virtue of our Baptism.

In our first reading today, Amos told Amaziah that he is not a prophet but an ordinary man sent by God to preach the truth to the people. In other words, he considered himself as a lay person sent to preach the word of God. We often think of missionaries as priests and religious sisters who are sent to faraway countries. In a way, that is true. However, the 2nd Vatican Council document on the Missionary Life of the Church (Ad Gentes) states that “the Church is missionary by nature.” This means that we are all missionaries by virtue of our Baptism.

“God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living.” This is the introductory sentence in our first reading today. What a powerful message. This clearly highlights the ongoing debate about Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice that has divided the country at different levels today. This is also timely as this issue dominated the discussion at the General Assembly of the U.S. Bishops Conference last week. The Church has consistently affirmed that we should always respect and protect every human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Our God is God of life, not death. He created us to be imperishable and gain eternal life with Him. When we choose God, we choose eternal life; but when people turn away from God, they turn towards death and eternal damnation.

The Scripture readings this weekend emphasize the manifestation of God’s power over storms. If you are familiar with the book of Job, you will recall that, prior to the fi rst reading today from chapter 38, Job’s life of suff ering and pain caused him to question God; Job asked why he, an innocent and holy man, was experiencing so much misfortune and how he could find strength to keep trusting in God in the midst of so much loss and adversity. In the fi rst reading, we heard God respond to Job’s questions out of the storm. God asks Job a series of questions reminding him of the magnitude of His power over nature and all creatures and assures Job that He is in full control of the situation in his life. We find a similar situation in the Gospel when the Apostles cried out to Jesus in the midst of a storm and Jesus responded by calming both their fear and the storm. The Responsorial Psalm also describes the helplessness of people caught up in the midst of storms on the sea and how they were saved by calling upon the Lord.

Scientists have identified seven basic characteristics of living things: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition. Of the seven, the process of growth is uniquely different in that it takes place gradually and continuously throughout the life span of the organism. While growth can be observed and measured over time, the actual process of growth at the cellular level is not generally visible to the human eye. In the Gospel today, Jesus uses the parables of the mystery of growth to illustrate the nature of the Kingdom of God. Just as the farmer cannot understand or explain the process of growth that takes place between the time of sowing the seed and the time of harvesting, so also it is difficult for us to fully understand the nature of the Kingdom of God and how it grows throughout our lives and among us.

This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi; a Latin term, meaning “Body of Christ.” This solemnity is celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday to commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist. People often ask “Why do we need a special day for this celebration when every Mass is a celebration of the Eucharist?” A brief historical background may help clarify this. In the 13th century, St. Juliana of Liege in Belgium, an Augustinian nun, saw a vision in which she was instructed to tell the Church to institute a feast in honor of the Eucharist. She revealed the information to her bishop, Robert de Thorete, and later to Pope Urban IV. In 1246, the Pope called for a synod in which the feast was approved to be celebrated in the Latin Church as a solemnity. The great theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, composed some Eucharistic adoration hymns for the celebration such as “Tantum Ergo,” “Pange Lingua,” and the “O Salutaris Hostia.” We still sing these Eucharistic hymns today during Benediction and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.