Daily Readings - Sun Jun 22 2025
Genesis
18Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,19and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.20And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
1 Corinthians
23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Luke
11but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.12Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."13He replied, "You give them something to eat."14They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish--unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." (About five thousand men were there.)15But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." The disciples did so, and everybody sat down.16Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people.17They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter powerful narratives that weave together themes of faith, gratitude, and divine provision. The first reading from Genesis introduces Melchizedek, a priest-king who offers bread and wine, blessing Abram and receiving a tithe. This ancient act of worship prefigures the Eucharistic tradition, highlighting the importance of acknowledging God as the source of all blessings. The second reading from 1 Corinthians details the institution of the Eucharist, where Jesus, on the night before His passion, transforms bread and wine into His body and blood, commanding us to remember Him through this sacred meal. The Gospel from Luke recounts the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, where Jesus takes five loaves and two fish, blesses them, and satisfies the multitude, leaving an abundance of leftovers.
These readings are deeply interconnected, each shedding light on the others. Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine in Genesis foreshadows the Eucharistic sacrifice, while the feeding miracle in Luke mirrors the abundance of God’s grace, much like the overflowing bread in the wilderness. The Eucharist, as described by Paul, is the culmination of these themes, where we participate in Christ’s sacrifice and are nourished for our journey. Together, they remind us that God’s provision is always sufficient, often exceeding our needs.
In our daily lives, these readings invite us to cultivate gratitude and trust. Like Abram, we are called to give back to God from the abundance He has given us, whether through our resources or our time. The Eucharist urges us to remember Christ’s sacrifice, integrating this remembrance into our actions and decisions. The feeding of the five thousand challenges us to approach life with faith, trusting that God can multiply even our meager offerings. May we embrace a spirit of stewardship, recognizing that all we have comes from God, and may we use these gifts wisely and generously, mirroring the divine generosity we encounter in these readings.