19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“ The is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. (Psalm 118:24)
On this 19th Sunday of Ordinary time, the gospel of Mathew 14:22-33 gives us a marvelous account of the miracle of calming the sea. It is so refreshing and reassuring of our Lord’s love for us as we meditate upon his parables and his miracles. As long as Peter kept looking at the Lord, he could walk on the waters. The moment he turned his gaze from the Lord to the waves, he started sinking. Here is a great lesson for us to learn. As long as we trust in the Lord’s power, the problems of life will not engulf us. The moment we begin to doubt the power of God, we will be lost in the darknes.
BACK TO SCHOOLS:
This is the week in the state of Florida(August 9-15) during which the public and private schools reopen after summer vacation. I believe the home schools too follow the similar schedule. We pray that God’s abundant blessings come upon the students and their teachers in their pursuit of knowledge and Wisdom. Leading the young ones to God is the true Wisdom.
SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN:
On November 1, 1950 Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption as a dogma of our Faith with infallible authority:
“We pronounce, declare, and define to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.
The solemnity of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15th.
This year, since the solemnity of the Assumption falls on Saturday, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops decided that it is not a holy day of obligation.
THE THEOLOGY OF THE EUCHARIST:
This weekend we highlight the Eucharist as a Sacrament. We have seven sacraments in the Catholic Church instituted by Jesus Christ himself: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony.
Jesus instituted the holy Eucharist during the Last Supper as mentioned in the gospels of Mathew 26: 26-28, Mark 14:22-24, and Luke 22:19-20. Even though John’s gospel does not record the words of the Institution of the Eucharist, there is the mention of the Last supper during which Jesus washed the feet of the disciples(John13). In John 6, Jesus proclaims himself to the people of his time as the Bread of life. He did not edit his wording when he told them that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood, they had no life in them.
All the people left him because they thought he was out of his mind. Only the twelve disciples remained with him. What the Lord declared to the people in public, he made it a reality by instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
Jesus took bread, gave thanks and gave to the disciples saying:
“Take this all of you and eat of it, for this is my Body which will be given up for you”.
Then he took the cup filled with wine, blessed it and gave it the disciples saying:
“Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me”.
The origin of the Eucharist is the Lord himself. Therefore it is not just a sacrament, but a special sacrament as we receive Jesus Himself who is truly and really present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
We continue the theology of the Eucharist in the weeks ahead.
God bless you!
Fr. Bob Romaine









