Be Filled with the Spirit and Partake
of the Bread of Life!
Summer has almost come to an end. Of course, the term “summer”
in San Francisco might cause us to recall the words of Mark Twain
when he stated - “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in
San Francisco.” Yet the end of summer signals a time to take
whatever increase in energy we have achieved by resting to
continue on into the year. For school-aged ones, this means
a return to school and academic pursuits, for college-aged ,
perhaps it is the end of a wonderful time spent with family.
For those families that are getting ready for the adjustments
and the new demands of the coming seasons, they are busy
in these last days of summer concluding one season and
preparing for another.
One can tell from the advertising that the stores are running
sales now. It is all about getting ready to go back to school.
Soon the stores will be prepared for the holidays of fall and
then comes Christmas, the end of another year as a new one
begins and soon the Church will be calling all to celebrate the
new life of Easter which was accomplished by the Paschal
Sacrifice and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We seem always
to be so busy in preparing for the next season that perhaps
we lose a certain respect for the current moment. We lose
the ability to live in the present.. One can tell a person that
has lost/ is losing this ability by a certain distractedness
as we attempt to talk to them or a sense that they would
rather dismiss us than dialogue. It is a sad casualty of
our time and culture.
In today’s first reading, we are encouraged to forsake
foolishness and perishable values and embrace
wisdom and understanding. This is more than simply
reading a text message written in code. It is a call
for us to embrace the message of offered life with
our whole being and let the choice determine all
other choices in life. It is radical and salvific.
In the second reading, we are encouraged to
beware that our time is finite and to utilize our
wisdom in selecting wisely a way of life.
St. Paul was trying to be gentle, yet firm in
encouraging others to seek God.
In our Gospel reading, we are encourage to
seek the life-giving food that comes from
following Christ. To make this choice of God,
we have had three weeks of effectively the
same “advertising” in our Sunday readings
exhorting us to choose the food that endures,
to choose life through Jesus. Let us respond to
that invitation (“advertising” as it were), received
from God with greater attention and deliberate
choice. Our lives with God depend upon this choice!
Fr. Mike
