This week's readings Week of August 4 - 10 Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002 Reading I: Is 55:1-3 Reading II: Rom 8:35, 37-39 Gospel: Mt 14:13-21 Monday, Aug. 5, 2002 Reading I: Jer 28:1-17 Gospel: Mt 14:22-36 Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2002 Reading I: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 Gospel: Mt 17:1-9 Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002 Reading I: Jer 31:1-7 Gospel: Mt 15: 21-28 Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002 Reading I: Jer 31:31-34 Gospel: Mt 16:13-23 Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 Reading I: Nah 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 Gospel: Mt 16:24-28 Saturday, Aug. 10, 2002 Reading I: 2 Cor 9:6-10 Gospel: Jn 12:24-26 Week of August 11 - 17 Sunday, Aug. 11, 2002 Reading I: 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a Reading II: Rom 9:1-5 Gospel: Mt 14:22-33 Monday, Aug. 12, 2002 Reading I: Ez 1:2-5, 24-28c Gospel: Mt 17:22-27 Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2002 Reading I: Ez 2:8-3:4 Gospel: Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002 Vigil of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading I: 1 Chr 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2 Gospel: Lk 11:27-28 Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading I: Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab Gospel: Lk 1:39-56 Friday, Aug. 16, 2002 Reading I: Ez 16:1-15, 60, 63 or 16:59-63 Gospel: Mt 19:3-12 Saturday, Aug. 17, 2002 Reading I: Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32 Gospel: Mt 19:13-15 Pope's Prayer Intentions August General Intention Development of consciences that respect the environment: That all of us, individually and collectively, may develop a growing respect for the environment as God's gift to us. August Mission Intention Prayerful support for missionaries who work in the world's shantytowns: That the missionaries in the world's vast shantytowns may manage to alleviate the suffering that injustice inflicts and help the people living in them to develop to the fullest.

God's abundance:
He answers all our needs

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

The Gospel story of Jesus feeding the five thousand when all the food that was available were a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish tells us of Jesus' great power, but also of his great love and compassion.

He saw the people who were hungry for his word, for the words of life which he came to preach. He did not come merely to fill their bellies, but to give them living water that brings eternal life, and the food which is his own flesh and blood for the life of the world.

"From the abundant spiritual and material riches which God has given us, we are to serve those who are spiritually famished for his word - and for what they need to live."

When his disciples wanted to send the physically tired, hungry, spiritually famished crowd away, Jesus said, "There is no need for them go away; give them some food yourselves." He was using the situation as a teachable moment for his apostles, for it would not be long before his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension would take him away from them.

Then, they would be on their own, but not without his presence and the guiding grace of the Holy Spirit. But the Church which would be born of water and flood flowing from his side and emboldened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost would rely on his power, love, and compassion working through those he left behind him to continue his mission.

Today the Church continues the work of Jesus and that of his apostles throughout the world. And that work is not only hospitals which provide for the sick, shelters which provide for the homeless, pantries and kitchens that provide for the hungry, but also living witnesses, men and women, who show the power of the living Gospel in their lives by their service and generosity to others.

Readings for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Aug. 4) Is 55:1-3 Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18 Rom 8:35, 37-39 Mt 14:13-21

Jesus was a great teacher. No more than does a kindergarten teacher draw pictures in crayon while the students look on did Jesus hand out food to the hungry. A good teacher places the tools in the hands of her students and guides them - that is how learning best takes place.

So did Jesus do. He gave his followers the tools of the Gospel, and in this instance had them directly distribute the food to those in need. He showed them how his parables, his miracles of healing, would one day be theirs. He prepared them for the day when he would return to the Father, so that the Church would then be his presence and life in the world.

Isaiah the Prophet preaches about God's abundance. "Come, without paying and without cost," to receive from all that God has given to you. So do the psalms. "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs."

St. Paul, too, says that nothing can separate us "from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." God's generosity meets our poverty in ways we cannot imagine, so that even the gift of eternal happiness in God's home can belong to those who love the Lord Jesus.

We, the baptized, who are disciples of Jesus in the present age, are also called to continue the work of Jesus. From the abundant spiritual and material riches which God has given us, we are to serve those who are spiritually famished for his word - and for what they need to live.

God indeed answers all our needs, and often he puts into our hands the means of answering others' needs. It may be a loaf of bread or a jar of peanut butter. It may be a place to sleep or clean clothes. It may be a kind word, a loving touch, and listening ear, and compassionate heart, a generous spirit - all these and more God has given us.

"There is no need for them to go away," Jesus said. "Come to the Lord, for he is generous and loving" should be the way we reach out in his name.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.

Take courage: God is near, reaching out to us

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

Before the space age there were many great frontiers to explore on Earth, none of which we have exhausted by any means.

Mountains are there for the climbing. The oceans beckon us to plumb their secret depths. The North and South Poles are forbidding zones where it is not easy to go - or survive.

Readings for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Aug. 11) 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a Psalm 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:22-33

Now the moon, other planets, and the stars themselves call out to our minds, our curious spirits, our sense of wonder and adventure. They are places difficult to visit, challenging to our technology, far off from where we are.

The imagery of a mountain as the home of God is strong in the Scriptures. It is an earthly place high up, rooted in stone yet close to the heavens, and somewhat difficult to ascend for the ordinary person. If God lives on the mountain he is far off indeed.

Elijah took shelter in a cave on the mountain of God, Horeb. In spite of the storm and earthquake and fire, he waited for the Lord to manifest himself. God did so as a "tiny whispering sound." Elijah recognized that God was there, on the mountain. Yet we know that God is not contained by any one place. Rather, all places have their being in him.

Jesus often went far off from the crowds. To the mountain, to the desert, he went to quiet places to pray and be alone with God his Father. The fruit of his time alone with God is rich for us with parables, miracles, healing, forgiveness, and all the treasures of the Gospel.

One of those riches that Jesus shared with us from his time alone with the Father is his sense that God is not far off, but very near to us. "Go to your room and pray to your Father in secret," we read in one place. God is there, close by, listening for us.

We may not experience a windy storm, a violent earthquake, or a raging fire as God's presence, any more than Elijah did. God's tiny whisper may be more quiet than we, with our noisy, busy lives, are able to hear. But he is there, calling to us, wanting to share his life with us, trusting us with freedom.

Jesus remains close to his Church. Just as he came walking across the water to his disciples rocked by a storm in their boat, he comes walking into our lives too. Just as he reached out and helped Peter up when he was sinking, so does he reach out and help us up out of our sins and weakness.

"Take courage," Jesus says. "Do not be afraid." And perhaps more importantly, "do not doubt." God is present, and he will never allow you to falter if you take the hand of his Son.

Being with God isn't difficult, you know. There are no mountains to climb, only the mountains we put in our way by our own sins. There are no storms to weather, only the storms of our emotions of fear, anger, hatred, doubt . . . all these can be misused in many ways that hinder us from being with the Lord.

Nor are there earthquakes, nor fires that keep us from God. He built his Church on solid rock, and he sends the fire of the Holy Spirit to ignite us with passion for justice and peace, with zeal for the Gospel.

We need not visit the Poles, nor fly to places no one has seen. God is here, in our hearts, at our side, loving us constantly, supporting us always. He is as near as a whisper, as the hand of a friend reaching out to save us from falling. He is as close to us as he is to himself, for his Son became our brother to make us children of our God ever near.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.