Study, Pray, Contemplate

​The Liturgical Teaching on How to Avoid Separation from God​

This commentary sits with a crowd fed in a deserted place, hears Isaiah’s invitation to come and eat without money, and presses Paul’s question, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” — all to show how the liturgy of the Mass keeps us from the one separation that matters.

First Reading (Isaiah 55:1-3): God calls the penniless to a feast, “You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat . . . Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare,” and binds the invitation to a promise: “I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.”

Second Reading (Romans 8:35, 37-39): “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” Neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor any other creature. Paul is not saying nothing can separate us from God — sin does — but that no external pressure can. It is our response to our environment that leads us into virtue or into sin.

Gospel (Matthew 14:13-21): Withdrawing after the death of John the Baptist, Jesus is followed by the crowds, cures their sick, and refuses to send them away hungry: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”

Liturgical Connection: The multiplication of the loaves is a type of the Eucharist, and the gathering of all who need mercy a type of the liturgy of the Mass, but the type and the reality differ on one point: all are called, yet not all may worthily receive the bread of the everlasting covenant. As eschatological separation from God is Hell, liturgical separation is unworthiness to receive Holy Communion. So the Church requires Reconciliation for grave sin (CCC 1385), and the liturgy gives us the Confiteor, the priest’s intercession, and, in the Byzantine Rite, the Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn for the rest.

Key Message: The surest way to avoid separation from God is the Divine Symphony. The world, the flesh, and the devil work to diminish the imago Dei in us; the liturgy blesses us because it cherishes our original value and restores us to our intended splendor. Come to the table prepared, and the God who calls you to eat will dwell in you.

​Amazon New Book​

​A Priest in Interesting Times is not a gentle memoir—it’s a stark, quietly explosive account of one priest’s fifty years on the Church’s hidden front line. Father Antony Brennan served where most Catholics assume no battle exists: suburban covens of witches behind drawn curtains, ordinary rooms where the afflicted twisted beneath his stole, exorcisms, parish houses thick with a presence no seminary had prepared him to name. READ MORE

Told with dry wit and unflinching candor, Brennan’s only book blends spiritual autobiography with firsthand dispatches from a Church struggling with its own loss of nerve. Spanning six decades—from wartime childhood to monastic formation to diocesan ministry—it is a testimony of obedience, doubt, and the stubborn endurance of faith at the strangest frontier of belief.

AVAILABLE ON PAPERBACK & KINDLE

OTHER NEW THINGS AT SAINT DOMINICS MEDIA

1. ​VIDEO: SSPX, John Corapi & Vigano vs. James Martin SJ: Who Does the Church Correct? ​

​

THE CATHOLIC MIND:
Which Sacrament Most Powerfully Delivers Grace to Your Design?
​Click Here to Begin the Process to Understand and Get Your Sacramental Reception Profile​

Have You Gotten Your Copy Yet?

Year B - To Be Released on October 1. Pre-Order Available Soon!

The Liturgical Sense of the Readings at Mass (Year A): The Liturgical Sense of the Readings at Mass invites the faithful to engage deeply with the Scriptures, enhancing their understanding of the Eucharist and the rhythm of the Church's liturgical life. 10% Off Price Code: "ilovethemass" saintdominicsmedia.com

REVIEW: "Was grateful to receive this one in the mail before Advent. An excellent commentary to read to the family. This has become my family's reading for Friday to help us prepare for Sunday Mass. It offers a depth that is helpful to all ages. A great conversation starter for the family dinner table. Bergsma's 'The Word of the Lord' was our Friday reading prior to The Liturgical Sense of the Readings at Mass, but this has become our preferred reflection. Thank you." - JP, Abide The Fire Apostolate