Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. This is our Psalm today. It is Psalm 34. I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
How wonderful it would be if our spirit was always one of gratitude inspiring us to praise the glory of God. However many times we are like Elijah in our first reading. Elijah is not giving glory to God. He is saying “this is enough, O Lord”. Elijah was “praying for death.” Elijah is the great prophet from the Old Testament. And in today’s first reading we we find him at the point of despair.
So what happens to him? We hear that God sends an angel to take care of him. God provides. God provides by presenting Elijah with food and encouragement.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. This is such a rich and full phrase. Such a rich and full. admonition. To taste means to partake and to let the food into your body. The food enters our body and becomes part of us. Do we do that with the goodness of the Lord? Do we partake in God‘s goodness? Do we then let things of God become part of who we are? Do we see God‘s goodness? Do we see gods care for us?
At some point in our lives I suspect we are all saying in the words of Elijah. This is enough all Lord. It is precisely in those moments that we need to read up all our efforts to see God‘s goodness in our life. This does not illuminate the challenge or struggle. However it does keep us from being blinded by anxiety or worry. Do you see God‘s goodness? It is present in the care of family friends and staff.
What of God will you allow to become a part of you? Will it be Joy? Will it be patience? Will it be love? Will it be forgiveness? Will it be gratitude? Will it be humility? Will it be generosity? Will it be kindness? Let these things become a part of you. Take them in.
Today let us hear the words of our God. Let us receive His gifts and His care. Always, may we taste and see the goodness of the Lord
First Reading
1 Kgs 19:4-8
Strengthened by that food, he walked to the mountain of God.
A reading from the first Book of Kings
Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. :
R.(9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Second Reading
Eph 4:30-5:2
Walk in love, just like Christ.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Acclamation before the Gospel
Jn 6:51
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jn 6:41-51
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven,”
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?
Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:
The Gospel of the Lord.
Catholic Bible Study / Scripture Reflections 