August 2 - One Bread, One Body
August 2, Eighteenth Sunday Ordinary Time
Cycle A Readings:
1) Isaiah 55:1-3
Psalm 145:8-9, 15-18
2) Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21
"O come, all ye faithful"
''Come to the water!.'' — Isaiah 55:1
Our heavenly Father repeatedly commands us to come. He commands: “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!” (Is 55:1) He commands the poor to “come, receive grain and eat” (Is 55:1) and to come, “drink wine and milk” (Is 55:1). Next, our Father commands us to come specifically to Him. He says: “Come to Me heedfully, listen, that you may have life” (Is 55:3). If we come to Him, He will renew with us the everlasting covenant (Is 55:3). Jesus Himself tells us: “Come to Me” (Mt 11:28).
We obey our Father’s commands to come when we come to repentance and conversion, worship and evangelization, Confession and Mass, and discipleship and holiness. Baptism is the major way we “come to the water.”
On this Sunday, as we recall our Baptism into Christ’s death and Resurrection (see Rm 6:3ff), let us come to the water and renew our baptismal promises:
- Do you reject Satan?
- Do you reject all his works?
- Do you reject all his empty promises?
- Do you believe in God the Father?
- Do you believe in God the Son, incarnate, crucified, and risen?
- Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
Come to our Father through the Son and in the Spirit! Come!
Prayer: Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! (Rv 22:20)
Promise: “Yet in all this we are more than conquerors because of Him Who has loved us.” —Rm 8:37
Praise: Risen Jesus, I earnestly want to follow you. “I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps 27:13).
Rescript: In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Imprimatur ("Permission to Publish") for One Bread, One Body covering the period from August 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020.
†Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 1, 2019.
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.