Home Town Hero

Aug 4: Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. Amelia’s home from school for the summer, and so we’re squeezing in a lot of check ups and stuff. It’s not always easy balancing my time.

Thanks for your patience!

Reading 1

Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

The LORD said to Moses, "These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate at their proper time with a sacred assembly. The Passover of the LORD falls on the fourteenth day of the first month, at the evening twilight. The fifteenth day of this month is the LORD's feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first of these days you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work. On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD. Then on the seventh day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work."

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap your harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest, who shall wave the sheaf before the LORD that it may be acceptable for you. On the day after the sabbath the priest shall do this.

"Beginning with the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the wave-offering sheaf, you shall count seven full weeks, and then on the day after the seventh week, the fiftieth day, you shall present the new cereal offering to the LORD.

"The tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement, when you shall hold a sacred assembly and mortify yourselves and offer an oblation to the LORD.

"The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the LORD's feast of Booths, which shall continue for seven days. On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly, and you shall do no sort of work. For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD, and on the eighth day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and offer an oblation to the LORD. On that solemn closing you shall do no sort of work.

"These, therefore, are the festivals of the LORD on which you shall proclaim a sacred assembly, and offer as an oblation to the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day."

C.S. Lewis wrote, “the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.”

Routines and patterns help us see eternity. It’s why we have holidays. We can look far back into the ancient past and see people celebrating the same feasts that we do now; we can cast our imagination into the future and see the same thing.

We change year after year, but the holiday doesn’t, if it’s a real holy day. That’s a glimpse into the mind of God.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 81:3-4, 5-6, 10-11ab

R. Sing with joy to God our help.
Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.
R. Sing with joy to God our help.
For it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob,
Who made it a decree for Joseph
when he came forth from the land of Egypt.
R. Sing with joy to God our help.
There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt.
R. Sing with joy to God our help.

Celebrate God, who is One God, forever. We don’t need or want multiple gods, when the one, true God is there for us at every feast day, every sabbath day, every day.

Alleluia

1 Pt 1:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of the Lord remains forever;
this is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

That’s why we read it at every mass!

Gospel

Mt 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?"

And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house."

And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.

We heard Mark’s version of this story wayyyyy back in February. The most obvious takeaway is that we don’t always see the blessings in our lives, even when they’re right in front of us.

But there’s something more significant for us, looking back 2000 years. “Is not his mother named Mary?” Like it’s no big deal.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Most Holy, Queen of Heaven, Theotokos? Yeah, that’s his mom. This is the Catholic view—

And here’s the protestant understanding of Mary—

So, yeah, Jesus is the son of Mary. We shouldn’t be like the people of Nazareth, but instead recognize His presence among us not despite being Mary’s son; rather, her perfection should be a sign that Jesus is who he says he is.