Ordinary Time, 13th Sunday (C)

These were the readings for my Mass of Thanksgiving the day after my ordination. The first reading from 1 Kings 19 looks like a call to priesthood. Elisha realizes the call is a one-way ticket; he's not coming back to farming. He offers sacrifice and he feeds his people.

In the second reading we see a different kind of feeding: "[I]f you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another." The Galatians are chewing on each other like two teenage sisters who are always mean to each other. How can we avoid consuming others as they consume us?

Jesus shows us the answer -- he refuses to bite the people that chew on him. He can do good to those who hate him because he feeds on his Father's love. As a priest, I receive your sacrifices and unite them to the one sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. I feed you with the bread of life, so that you can feed the people who chew on you. We are the sacrifice; we are the food. Jesus takes us, blesses, breaks, and shares us for the life of the world.

(26 June 2022)

Going Deeper: What person or situation makes you feel chewed on? How can feeding on Jesus help you to love that person or improve the situation?

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