Signs of Life Eternal

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present an attitude of trust in God and the Way we have experienced to bring fullness of life to our journey.

Signs of Fullness of Life

In the Reading from Ezekiel the Prophet presents a Sign for the Exiles.

* [24:17] The bread of mourners: a post-burial meal that mourners shared to comfort one another; cf. 2 Sm 3:35; Jer 16:7. The other gestures mentioned here were also popular mourning customs. Because Ezekiel does not observe any of the mourning customs mentioned, the people are puzzled and ask him to explain.

* [24:22–24] The fall of the city will be so sudden and final that the exiles will have no time to go into mourning. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

The response from Deuteronomy declares false worship brings destruction at the hands of a foreign invader.

* [32:21] “No-god”…“no-people”: worship of the gods of the nations brings destruction at the hands of a foreign invader. A false god cannot sustain or protect (cf. Jer 14:22); and though the nations seem “foolish” (see their characterization in such passages as Ps 114:1; Is 28:11; 33:19), they will prove to be anything but nonentities when the Lord stirs them up against Israel (Is 9:10–12). For the “no-” or “not-” construction, see Hos 1:6, 9; 2:1, 25. (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus responds to the question of The Rich Young Man.

* [19:16] Gain eternal life: this is equivalent to “entering into life” (Mt 19:17) and “being saved” (Mt 19:25); the life is that of the new age after the final judgment (see Mt 25:46). It probably is also equivalent here to “entering the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:23) or “the kingdom of God” (Mt 19:24), but see notes on Mt 3:2; 4:17; 18:1 for the wider reference of the kingdom in Matthew.

* [19:17] By Matthew’s reformulation of the Marcan question and reply (Mk 10:17–18) Jesus’ repudiation of the term “good” for himself has been softened. Yet the Marcan assertion that “no one is good but God alone” stands, with only unimportant verbal modification.

* [19:18–19] The first five commandments cited are from the Decalogue (see Ex 20:12–16; Dt 5:16–20). Matthew omits Mark’s “you shall not defraud” (Mk 10:19; see Dt 24:14) and adds Lv 19:18. This combination of commandments of the Decalogue with Lv 19:18 is partially the same as Paul’s enumeration of the demands of Christian morality in Rom 13:9.

* [19:20] Young man: in Matthew alone of the synoptics the questioner is said to be a young man; thus the Marcan “from my youth” (Mk 10:20) is omitted.

* [19:21] If you wish to be perfect: to be perfect is demanded of all Christians; see Mt 5:48. In the case of this man, it involves selling his possessions and giving to the poor; only so can he follow Jesus. (Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB, n.d.)

Barbara Dilly comments that we often forget that amid our despair, God still blesses us, even as he does in our strength. God can give and God can take away, we are reminded. But demonstration of that kind of power is not the true nature of God. Despite our uncertainties, God’s love, and goodness for us is steady and certain.

What does God want from us in return? It seems to me that the lessons for today tell us that what God wants is loyalty, faithfulness, and commitment. God does not want pride in outward displays of religious piety. God does not want our accomplishments or our attempts to demonstrate perfection. God wants us, however poor in spirit we may be. God wants us to engage in his work on this earth. I pray today that we are all confident enough of the promises of treasures in heaven that we can give of ourselves to those in need. (Dilly, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “Seek the life that endures,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The Lord said to a certain young man, 'If you would enter life, keep the commandments.' He did not say 'If you would have life' but 'If you would enter life,' defining that life as eternal life. Let us first consider then the love of this life. For this life is loved, whatever its quality - and however troubled it is, however wretched, people are afraid to end it. Hence we should see, we should consider, how much eternal life is to be loved, when this miserable life that must at some time be ended is so loved. Consider, brothers, how much that life is to be loved when it is a life you never end. You love this life, where you work so much, run, are busy, pant. In this busy life the obligations can scarcely be counted: sowing, plowing, working new land, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving. And after all this hard work your life comes to an end. Look at what you suffer in this wretched life that you so love. And do you think that you will always live and never die? Temples, rocks, marbles, all reinforced by iron and lead, still fall. And a person thinks that he will never die? Learn therefore, brothers, to seek eternal life, when you will not endure these things but will reign with God forever." (excerpt from Sermon 84,1) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Ezekiel did many symbolic actions including dressing like  a refugee fleeing the city, Today when his wife dies, He goes on as if life continued. He is telling Jerusalem that the coming punishment is deserved. They should continue with life. In the Gospel of Matthew, a rich young man asks Jesus how to obtain eternal life. Jesus' response to  give everything you have to the poor is an ask to place our trust in His Providence. Friar Jude reminds us that eternal life is not just checking off our obedience to the Commandments but to convert to God’s life of being good, kind, loving, and merciful.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22 comments that every day, Jesus is inviting us into more of his life—more freedom from sin, more reconciliation and healing in our relationships, more generosity toward those who are suffering or marginalized. He offers us treasure beyond what we could ever imagine, but our possessions can keep us from saying yes to his invitation.

Jesus is well aware of what holds us back. We might, like the rich young man, have a comfortable life with ample possessions. Our grip on those resources can make it hard to let go of them and surrender generously to the Lord. But we also might be embracing the false comfort of a pattern of sin or holding onto the “possession” of a long-standing resentment against someone in our lives. Maybe we’ve become comfortable with the status quo.

Today, consider what might be holding you back from following Jesus more closely. Open your heart to him, and let go of it.

“Come, Holy Spirit, and help me to surrender anything that keeps me from following Jesus!” (Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22, n.d.)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, speaks of the hopeful imagination to which the prophets and God invite us.

The established and dominant culture does not have authentic promises because it seeks to maintain itself. The system has materialistic and self-protecting promises for more money and a better life; it encourages us to consume more and more. It cannot offer a promise which fills and expands the heart beyond itself to the larger world.

God’s promises energize and expand the heart, deepening our capacity for life and our quality of being in this world. They put the authority inside us. This, finally, is the only overcoming of death, the only answer to the absurdity that this time is going to end. That’s what the promises of God do—lead us to the experience of deeper life. The Gospel writers call it resurrection. (Rohr, n.d.)

We live in the tension between the dominant culture aggressively trying to shape our decisions about how to treat our fellow humans and the invitation of Jesus to live for more permanent gains in compassion, love, mercy, care, and concern for our fellow siblings of Jesus.

References

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/32? 

Dilly, B. (2026, August 17). Daily Reflection August 17, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-17-2026 

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/24?15 

Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19? 

Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/08/17/1649078/ 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Task of the Prophets. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-task-of-the-prophets/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Give - and You Will Have Treasure in Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 17, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Signs of Full Life

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to attend to the people we meet that may present ideas that are foreign to our understanding and life experience.

Full Life on our Way

The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Accusation against Stephen by members of the synagogue of Freedmen.

* [6:8–8:1] The summary (Acts 6:7) on the progress of the Jerusalem community, illustrated by the conversion of the priests, is followed by a lengthy narrative regarding Stephen. Stephen’s defense is not a response to the charges made against him but takes the form of a discourse that reviews the fortunes of God’s word to Israel and leads to a prophetic declaration: a plea for the hearing of that word as announced by Christ and now possessed by the Christian community. The charges that Stephen depreciated the importance of the temple and the Mosaic law and elevated Jesus to a stature above Moses (Acts 6:13–14) were in fact true. Before the Sanhedrin, no defense against them was possible. With Stephen, who thus perceived the fuller implications of the teachings of Jesus, the differences between Judaism and Christianity began to appear. Luke’s account of Stephen’s martyrdom and its aftermath shows how the major impetus behind the Christian movement passed from Jerusalem, where the temple and law prevailed, to Antioch in Syria, where these influences were less pressing.

* [6:13] False witnesses: here, and in his account of Stephen’s execution (Acts 7:54–60), Luke parallels the martyrdom of Stephen with the death of Jesus. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 119 proclaims “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents an introduction to Jesus' discourse on the bread of life.

* [6:22–71] Discourse on the bread of life; replacement of the manna. Jn 6:22–34 serve as an introduction, Jn 6:35–59 constitute the discourse proper, Jn 6:60–71 portray the reaction of the disciples and Peter’s confession.

* [6:23] Possibly a later interpolation, to explain how the crowd got to Capernaum.

* [6:27] The food that endures for eternal life: cf. Jn 4:14, on water “springing up to eternal life.” (John, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Jeremy Graney comments that we parent in hopes that our children grow to be persons for and with others and we accompany others on this journey, creating a message and a space for hope.

I have been in education my entire professional career, accompanying youth on their journey, hopefully helping foster some hope along the way. As an educator, I am but one chapter or verse in another’s journey. I hope that I give space and time to reflect beyond their immediate needs and desires, to not only focus on the food that perishes but on a life that goes beyond the need of the now. I try to take this time for myself as I navigate the immediate (food that perishes) with the Holy. (Graney, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “God is our landlord,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Our wish, you see, is to attain to eternal life. We wish to reach the place where nobody dies, but if possible we do not want to get there via death. We would like to be whisked away there while we are still alive and see our bodies changed, while we are alive, into that spiritual form into which they are to be changed when we rise again. Who wouldn't like that? Isn't it what everybody wants? But while that is what you want, you are told, Quit. Remember what you have sung in the psalm: 'A lodger am I on earth'" If you are a lodger, you are staying in someone else's house; if you are staying in someone else's house, you quit when the landlord bids you. And the landlord is bound to tell you to quit sooner or later, and he has not guaranteed you a long stay. After all, he did not sign a contract with you. Seeing that you are lodging with him for nothing, you quit when he tells you to. And this, too, has to be put up with, and for this, too, patience is very necessary." (excerpt from Sermon 359A,8) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 6:22-29 asks how do we respond to this “work” of God? First and foremost, we turn to the Lord in prayer. All relationships require time, effort, and attention, and if that’s the case for our relationships with other people, it’s even more true with God. Our belief in the Lord grows and deepens as we sit at the feet of Jesus each day and listen for his voice speaking to us. At the same time, our hearts become more and more attentive to him and willing to follow his commands.

Another work God does in us is to open our eyes to the needs of our neighbors. When we are able to see Jesus in the faces of those who are poor or suffering, we want to console and care for them or just be available to listen and encourage them.

God is always working in you! Today in prayer, thank him for the gift of your faith. Ask him to help you believe in him ever more deeply each day. Be sure to ask him for the grace to respond to his work in you with all your heart. Then believe that he will do it!

“Jesus, I believe in you! Thank you for the work you are always doing in me to strengthen my faith.” (Meditation on John 6:22-29, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the reading from Acts we hear about Stephen and  the ministry of charity to the Greek speakers. Ironically the synagogue of Freedmen, from the distant areas of the Empire remote from Temple worship attacked him ironically about the nature of his worship. The Temple and the Law were far away and it may be explained that they may have become super traditional, guardians of Jewish tradition. He is accused of things that they might have said. The crowd realizes there is only one boat and they are concerned how Jesus crossed the sea. Jesus accuses them of not looking for signs that point to a greater reality like the deepest hunger of their heart. They seek food and miracles and He wants to reveal the love of God and how much God wants them to live in that Love.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Black farmer and author Leah Penniman who celebrates the faith of agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864–1943). In conversation with Penniman, Chris Bolden-Newsome, co-founder of Sankofa Community Farm in Pennsylvania, shares:

I am a practitioner of in-cultured African (American) Catholic Christianity…. So much of Catholic Christianity has its origins within an earth-based African context that existed way before its settling and redefinition in central Europe. The Catholic Church as a whole is catching up to its origins. Starting in 1971, with Pope Paul VI, the church has expressed ecological concern, which was amplified to an urgent appeal by 2015, with Pope Francis writing:

If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)

[1] Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Read here for the full text of this encyclical.

We seek the inspiration of the Spirit to literally ground our relationship with people of different aspirations in life in the sanctity and sign of our common home as lately observed by the Artemis II crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/6? 

Graney, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-april-20-2026 

John, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/6?22 

Meditation on John 6:22-29. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/04/20/1547134/ 

Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?23 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). All that Breathes Gives Praise. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/all-that-breathes-gives-praise/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Labor for the Food Which Endures to Eternal Life. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 20, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/