GROW: My first thought upon reading today’s Scriptures is that by healing the deaf man, Jesus is fulfilling what God had said he was going to do since the time of the prophet Isaiah: “making the eyes of the blind see and opening the ears of the deaf,” as we heard in the first reading. And indeed this is what Jesus did. But when I re-read the Gospel I was intrigued by the line: “[Jesus] took him off by himself away from the crowd.” Jesus had a reputation as a healer and a teacher, so it stands to reason that he healed people in front of the crowds often. Why, then, does Jesus remove the man from the crowd?

Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

GROW: Traditions are so important to us! They help define and preserve our heritage and our communities while also offering comfort and stability. They shape our human world as we see and live it. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus scolds the Pharisees and scribes for allowing “the tradition of the elders” to drive them to hypocrisy: “In vain do they worship [the Lord], teaching as doctrines human precepts.” He accuses them, saying “You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32; Jn 6:60-69

GROW: “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve.” Not much nuance or wiggle room in that phrase, is there? This is what Joshua said to the people in today’s first reading, when he gathered together all the tribes of Israel. Although these were God’s chosen people, they still had to make a conscious choice – a decision to live with God and be obedient to him, or not. Jesus’ followers and disciples faced the same test of resolve in today’s Gospel, as he had just revealed himself as the bread of life. Some left and some stayed. We, too, must decide, today and every day. Too busy or distracted to attend to God? Then what? Do we have a plan? In this busy world, there is always something calling out for our attention. But there is nothing more important for our happiness in this life and the next than to stay focused on a life of service to Christ and his Church. For, as Peter says, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” The Twelve have made the choice as to whom they will serve: they will serve the Lord.

Prov 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20; John 6:51-58

GROW: We tell our children, from a young age through their teen years: make wise choices. It’s a sort of catch-all to cover the endless possibilities of circumstances – good, bad, or neutral – they might find themselves in. But what does it mean to be wise? To have wisdom? In today’s first reading from Proverbs, we are shown a depiction of wisdom herself, spreading a table where the guests will dine when they arrive. “Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!” she says. This invitation is echoed in the Gospel, by Wisdom personified: Jesus Christ. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” Simplicity of heart and the forsaking of foolishness are the only criteria for accepting the offering of wisdom. It seems we are to come and be fed. But how do we discern, in our fast-paced, consumer-based world, what exactly is a wise choice? It’s hard to advance in true wisdom; it is acquired by the humble and the simple, not the busy and the overcomplicated. Often, what the Christian deems important the world finds “foolish.” It can be hard to keep our priorities rightly ordered, but advancing on the path to wisdom begins first by recognizing the centrality of God in our lives and humbly allowing him in.

1 Kgs 19:4-8; Eph 4:30-5:2; Jn 6:41-51

GROW: In the first reading, we encounter the prophet Elijah as he is fleeing for his life from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. He accomplishes a day’s journey, then sits under a tree and prays for death. This is a tough scene! He is at the lowest point a human being can be. Yet in this darkest moment of despair, the light of faith flickers: Elijah cries out to God. He cries out for what he thinks he wants, and God provides him with what he needs, sending an angel (a messenger) to him with food and water for nourishment and strength. Thus fortified, Elijah continues his journey to Horeb. God took care of his tired, hungry, and despairing child. And over time, and through generations, his people continued to cry out to him, and in abounding love, God took care. Yet they remained separated from him. So he sent them, and the whole world, another messenger to bring food and drink for nourishment and strength: his Son. Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” With even just a flicker of faith at our lowest point, or in the best of times, we call upon the Lord and can receive the perfect nourishment of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Through God’s merciful love, he is food for this life and the next.

Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-25

GROW: When have you grumbled against God instead of consenting, trusting, and believing he would see you through to a brighter future? In this first reading from Exodus, the whole Israelite community laments over their wanderings in the desert; their earthly focus on hunger and thirst leads them to believe slavery in Egypt would have been better than God’s freedom for them. When we are struggling for whatever reason, it’s easy to forget all that God has done for us in the past and all he desires to do for us in the future. We may not even recognize the very life-giving and life-sustaining “bread” that lays before us, much as the Israelites did not recognize the bread that lay before them in the desert. In spite of our hard-heartedness at times, however, God is truly patient; he loves us beyond measure. Just as he did not condemn the Israelites, he does not condemn us but rather, calls us back to him time and again with love and mercy.

GROW: If the multiplication of the loaves sounds oh so familiar … it’s because it is! It’s the only miracle story found in all four Gospels, and for good reason. Jesus multiplies the meager offering of a boy with five barley loaves and two fish and feeds a large crowd with baskets left over. The story is symbolic of the food that is readily available through Jesus in the Eucharist. The crowd in the Gospel that had been following Jesus was tired, worn out, and hungry. Don’t we all feel discouraged now and then? When we do, Jesus makes himself available to us in the Eucharist; he provides daily food that nourishes and sustains. When we eat this life-giving bread, we are strengthened and fortified, as was the crowd in the Gospel, as we heard: “They had more than they could eat.”

GROW: What words do we associate with being misled? Deceived, fooled, cheated? While these actions make great plot points in novels and movies, in real life they are offenses against justice, charity, and truth. In both the first reading and the Gospel today, we hear that God’s people are being misled (“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture”) and/or left to their own devices (“for they were like sheep without a shepherd”). In the time of Jeremiah the kings of Judah, who were shepherding in God’s name, were not tending their flock: They had “scattered [his] sheep and driven them away.” Jeremiah prophesies that the Lord will gather the remnant of his flock and bring them back to their meadow; in short, the Lord offers hope. He would raise up from the house of David a true shepherd to guide and guard his people. The incarnation of Jesus is the manifestation of that hope, and in him we have a guiding light to lead us along the correct path. He will never deceive, fool, or cheat. In this world filled with unrest and division, he offers something that no mortal man or woman can: He is the one who saves and redeems. He is the one true shepherd.

GROW: Have you ever considered the task before you and thought, No way am I equipped for this?  There are certainly times when it seems God is calling us to more than we are prepared for. The prophet Amos never expected to be God’s mouthpiece. He was a simple shepherd and a “dresser of sycamores.” Yet, Amos listened when God chose him “from following the flock” and instructed him to speak to Israel, even if he may have thought the whole idea quite silly. “Do you really mean me?” we might imagine him saying. We see this theme of God calling those we might least expect to important missions on countless occasions throughout Scripture: Moses had a speech impediment; Rahab was a prostitute; David was a young boy; Ruth was a foreigner; Matthew was a despised tax collector; Paul persecuted the early Christians; and the list goes on. On every occasion, however, trusting in God and listening to his voice was enough for each of these individuals to fulfill the role they were called to, even if they considered themselves the most unlikely candidate for the cause.

GROW: The prophets of the Old Testament didn’t exactly have it easy, and Ezekiel is no exception. The Lord tells him that he’s being sent to the Israelites, calling them “rebels who have rebelled against me,” who were “hard of face and obstinate of heart.” In other words, God basically tells him that they will be a tough audience. Can you imagine how Ezekiel felt? Here, he is being dispatched to a people who will likely not welcome him in order to say things that probably no one will want to hear And yet his work is crucial. God is sending his people a messenger, telling them he stills loves them and wants them to be his people. It should come as no surprise that we are called to do the same! Although we may not describe the people in our lives as obstinate or “a rebellious house,” we know it’s not always easy to share God’s message. It matters that we do, though. We may not always know exactly what effects our words and actions have, but everything the Lord asks us to do has a purpose.