One Walk

Dear Lord God, I know two things in today’s readings; one as the Gospel teaches, ‘ Jesus is one in whom God’s power is present and who provides for the needs of God’s people (Luke 9:10-17)’; two as St Teresa proclaims, ‘ it is essential to begin the practice of prayer with a firm resolution of persevering in it.’ So it is that through the Holy Eucharist that I seek to be one with Jesus and through Him find forgiveness and new life, and in this I practice His presence through prayer with a firm resolution of persevering it as part of my now. So I constantly seek His help, guidance and grace, asking in His Holy name that Your will be done in and through me always, Amen.

It is essential to begin the practice of prayer with a firm resolution of persevering in it.

— St. Teresa of Avila

Genesis 14:18-20

18 And Mel-chiz’edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"

Bible Study: [18] Salem: traditionally identified with Jerusalem (Psalm 76:3), but the Hebrew text is not certain; instead of the present melek shalem ("king of Salem"), the original may have been melek shelomo ("a king allied to him"). In Hebrews 7:2 "king of Salem" is interpreted as "king of peace" (shalom). [19] God Most High: in Hebrew, el-elyon. In Canaanite texts, each element may occur separately as the name of a specific deity, or they may be applied together to a single deity, as is done here by the Canaanite priest Melchizedek. For the Israelites, el became a poetic synonym for elohim ("God"); elyon ("Most High") became one of the titles of their God Yahweh. [20] Abram gave him: literally "he gave him"; but Abram is to be understood as the subject of the sentence, for the tithes were the tenth part assigned to priests; cf Hebrews 7:4-10.

Psalm 110:1-4

1 The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool." 2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes! 3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchiz’edek."

Bible Study: [Psalm 110]Of David –  A royal psalm in which a court singer recites three oracles in which God assures the king that his enemies are conquered (Psalm 110:1-2), makes the king "son" in traditional adoption language (Psalm 110:3), gives priestly status to the king and promises to be with him in future military ventures (Psalm 110:4-7). [1] The LORD says to you, my lord: literally, "The LORD says to my lord," a polite form of address of an inferior to a superior. Cf 1 Sam 25:25; 2 Sam 1:10. The court singer refers to the king. Jesus in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 22:41-46 and parallels) takes the psalmist to be David and hence "my lord" refers to the messiah, who must be someone greater than David. Your footstool: in ancient times victorious kings put their feet on the prostrate bodies of their enemies. [3] Like the dew I begot you: an adoption formula as in Psalm 2:7; 89:27-28. Before the daystar: possibly an expression for before the world began (Proverb 8:22). [4] Like Melchizedek: Melchizedek was the ancient king of Salem (Jerusalem) who blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18-20); like other kings of the time he performed priestly functions. Hebrews 7 sees in Melchizedek a type of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Bible Study: [17-34] Paul turns to another abuse connected with the liturgy, and a more serious one, for it involves neglect of basic Christian tradition concerning the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. Paul recalls that tradition for them and reminds them of its implications. [23-25] This is the earliest written account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament. The narrative emphasizes Jesus’ action of self-giving (expressed in the words over the bread and the cup) and his double command to repeat his own action.

Luke 9:11-17

11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. 12 Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place." 13 But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish — unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each." 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Bible Study: [7-56] This section in which Luke gathers together incidents that focus on the identity of Jesus is introduced by a question that Herod is made to ask in this gospel: "Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" (Luke 9:9) In subsequent episodes, Luke reveals to the reader various answers to Herod’s question: Jesus is one in whom God’s power is present and who provides for the needs of God’s people (Luke 9:10-17); Peter declares Jesus to be "the Messiah of God" (Luke 9:18-21); Jesus says he is the suffering Son of Man (Luke 22:43-45); Jesus is the Master to be followed, even to death (Luke 9:23-27); Jesus is God’s son, his Chosen One (Luke 9:28-36). [16] Then taking . . . : the actions of Jesus recall the institution of the Eucharist in Luke 22:19; see also the note on Matthew 14:19.