16th Sunday in Ordinary Time(Cycle B, Year II)

Community Word:Faith anchored on Jesus Christ is unshakeable.

Theme: Unshakeable faith enables us to lead others to a deeper understanding of Christ’s teachings.

Promise:“I will appoint shepherds for them … so that they need no longer fear…(Jer 23:4)

Reflection:
Christ calls us to carry our lamps glowing with the Truth of our Faith wherever we go. As high-spirited lamp-carriers we cannot hide the light we are carrying. Our proclamation of faith may vary at various moments and stages of our life as we are called to stand up for Truth and live our Christian values. We have to ensure that our sharing of God’s word is true to our experience so that we may become authentic witnesses for Christ as we pondered on His word to understand our lives better. We are indeed called to use our God-given spiritual gifts in service to others as part of the Body of Christ.

In this digital age, many people are eager to share their daily living experiences with others thru media; for example, the food they eat, places they go to and people they are with, but do not care about sharing the joy of living in faith. People are hesitant to share about one’s faith for fear of offending others or making them feel uncomfortable. If we talk about things we truly love, we should not be scared to speak about our faith with those around us, else we will never become the bearer of light for our faith. It becomes a challenge for Christians then to speak for the truth especially when situations grow increasingly complex. But we are called to stand up for our faith and live it every day of our life.

To fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission, we must be strong in facing the challenges of proclaiming the story of God’s love in meaningful ways. When we answer God’s call and seeing our own imperfections and that of others, we begin to see these imperfections with God’s eyes of love. Then we are able to tell a different story. With God’s eyes of love we are tasked to live differently, revealing Christ to the world and bearing the fruit of the Spirit in all that we do. Our mission is to go beyond ourselves to serve and connect with the deeper needs of the community. As disciples and missionaries, the Lord gives this consoling promise: “I will appoint shepherds for them … so that they need no longer fear…” (Jer 23:4).

Our commitment to follow Jesus as His disciples may leave us feeling overwhelmed and tired. So, in today’s Gospel, Jesus shows us the importance of resting and going away in solitude to be refreshed and renewed. He himself brought his disciples away to spend time with Himalone. As present-day disciples, this is what we need – to pause and spend time in prayer and in the celebration of the Eucharist. These are moments of abandonment into the hands of God and resting in His Spirit. We need to continually ignite our hope and confidence through prayer, reflection and self-offering to God that we may be sustained in our faith journey and mission work.

We ask for God’s grace to help us become more aware of the needs of His people and to respond in a generous way. We also give to the Lord our service so that He may ease our burden while sharing His teachings to others, as we are sustained by allowing Him to refresh our souls along the way. The work to promote God’s kingdom is not ours alone. As faithful Christians, when we open our lives as vessels to bring the Good News of salvation to others, we shall persevere because Jesus remains with us through all ages.
Prayer:
Almighty God and Father, ours is the privilege to share in the loving, reconciling and healing mission of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in this age and wherever we are. Without You, there is nothing good that we can do. May Your Spirit make us wise, guiding, renewing and strengthening us so that we will remain strong in faith, be discerning in proclamation, courageous in witness and persistent in good deeds. Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1. What do you do when you want to teach others something about your faith?

2. How can you lead others to a deeper understanding of Christ’s teachings?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
July 22, 2018 (Sun) -Jer 23:1-6/Ps 23:1-6/Eph 2:13-18/Mk 6:30-34
July 23, 2018 (Mon) – Mi 6:1-4, 6-8/Ps 50:5, 6, 8, 9, 16, 17, 21, 23/Mt 12:18-42
July 24, 2018 (Tue) – Mi 7:14, 15, 18-20/Ps 85:2, 4, 6, 7, 8/Mt 12:46-50
July 25, 2018 (Wed) -2Cor 4:7-15/Ps 126:1-6/Mt 20:20-28
July 26, 2018 (Thu) – Jer 2:1-3,7-8,12,13/Ps 36:6,7,8,9,10,11/Mt 13:10-17
July 27, 2018 (Fri) – Jer 3:14-17/Jer 31:10-13/Mt 13:18-23
July 28, 2018 (Sat) – Jer 7:1-11/Ps 84:3-6, 8, 11/Mt 13:24-30

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”