Dear Parishioners,

Today we celebrate the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We continue our prayerful reflection about Jesus’s words in Saint John’s Gospel, chapter 6. The readings this weekend remind us that the manna in the desert prefigured the true bread from heaven, the Eucharist (CCC #1094). The readings will also remind us that just as our ancestors in the desert longed for a sign of God’s faithfulness, so, too, the crowds around Jesus asked for sign that they might “see and believe.” We come to the table of the Lord to encourage and deepen our own faith, to become what we receive,  to become a sign of Jesus’ presence in the world.

Next weekend we will celebrate the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. When given seem- ingly impossible tasks or if we carry burdens of fear and doubt, the Lord does not abandon us. When we question the presence of the Lord in the midst of our very human struggles, he reminds us that he is the living bread that came down from heaven. If we taste and see the goodness of the Lord, if we eat this bread and fervently ask to become what we receive, then anger will dissipate in our lives.

The marks of faith in Jesus — kindness, forgiveness and compassion will define our lives.

An early reminder that Wednesday, August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, IS a Holyday of Obligation this year. Please recall that the U S Bishops have dispensed the Obligation to attend Holy Mass on several Holydays of Obligation when they fall on either Saturdays or Mondays.  This is one of them. However, this year, since the Feast is on a Wednesday, it is a Holyday of Obligation. Our Masses will be at 6:30 A.M., 8:15 A.M., 12:10 P.M., and 7:00 P.M. Please plan ahead now. Thank you.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord. Tomorrow, August 6th, is the Feast of the Transfiguratio of Our Lord. (It is also the 40th anniversary of the death of Blessed (soon to be Saint) Pope Paul VI.) The Transfiguration, commemorated in the second stained glass window on the South Side of our Church, speaks to us of the glory that was given to Jesus when He appeared with Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has the following about this mystery:

A foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration

554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus’ Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus’ face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking “of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem”. A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to “enter into his glory”. Moses and Elijah had seen God’s glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah’s sufferings. Christ’s Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God’s servant; the cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. “The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud.”

You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father. (From the Byzantine Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration)

556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfigura- tion. Jesus’ baptism proclaimed “the mystery of the first regeneration”, namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration “is the sacrament of the second regeneration”: our own Resurrection. From now

on we share in the Lord’s Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body

of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming, when he “will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” But it also recalls that “it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: “Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?” (St. Augustine, Sermon78)

This is a “foretaste” of the glory that Jesus will receive after the Resurrection. During these days of summer, it is something to think about and to pray about.

(I’m repeating this from last week, since the Tournament and Election are upon us!) Election and PGA Tournament: The Primary Election for Missouri will be on Tuesday, August 7th. If you normally vote at Parkway Northeast Middle School, because of the PGA tournament, your polling place will be in our gym lobby. Please be informed as to what the issues are, who the candidates are, and what their stands on LIFE are! With all the additional traffic associated with the PGA tournament, please allow extra time to get to Mass the weekend of August 11th and 12th. I know that Ladue Road will be “blocked” at Coeur de Ville, except for those with “resident” passes to get through.  Mason Road will also be closed in various areas, So those will be “messes” for some of our parishioners. There will be more traffic on Olive Street Road, too! So, please be alert as to what might be required with the PGA Championship here at Bellerive Country Club … just barely outside our parish boundaries! If you see visitors here at our Masses next Saturday or Sunday, welcome them with open arms! Thank you.

Faithfully yours,

Fr Joe Weber