TODAY IS THE 18TH SUNDAY OF THE LITURGICAL YEAR

Entrance Antiphon            Ps 70:2.6

O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me!

You are my rescuer, my help; O Lord, do not delay.

Collect

Draw near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING                Exodus 16:2-4.12-15

“I will rain bread from heaven for you.”

At that time: The whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.”

The word of the Lord

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 78:3 and 4bc. 23-24.25 and 54 (R.24b)

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

The things we have heard and understood,

the things our fathers have told us,

we will tell them to the next generation:

the glories of the Lord and his might. R.

Yet he commanded the clouds above,

and opened the gates of heaven.

He rained down manna to eat,

and gave them bread from heaven. R.

Man ate the bread of angels.

He sent them abundance of food.

So he brought them to his holy land,

to the mountain his right hand had won. R.

SECOND READING                    Ephesians 4:17.20-24

“Put on the new man, created after the likeness of God.”

Brethren: This I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds. You did not so learn Christ! - assum­ing that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus.

Put off the old man that belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

The word of the Lord.

ALLELUIA         Matthew   4:4b

V. Alleluia. R. Alleluia.

V. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

R. Alleluia.

GOSPEL             John 6:24-35

“He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

At that time: When the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.”

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Prayer over the Offerings

Graciously sanctify these gifts, O Lord, we pray, and, accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us an eternal offering to you.

Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon       Wis.  16:20

You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.

Prayer after Communion

Accompany with constant protection, O Lord, those you renew with these heavenly gifts and, in your never-failing care for them, make them worthy of eternal redemption.

Through Christ our Lord.