THIS 18th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME WILL BE REMEMBERED IN CONJUNCTION WITH 18 GOLD OLYMPIC MEDALS............

To paraphrase the words the PBS children's program Sesame Street pioneered more than forty years ago, This Sunday is brought to us by the number, "18".  Eighteen for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, and 18 for the number of Gold Medals, record setting American Olympics Swimmer Michael Phelps, has won as of last night, once the observance of Sunday was underway.  Both the Sunday Scriptures of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time and 18 Gold Medals attained by Olympian Phelps share a common denominator in what they mean for us as believers in a Higher Power.  In a secular world where self determination and individual accomplishments are often the most focused in interests of human beings, this Sunday reminds us individualism is inferior to interdependence.  As finite creatures, citizens of a created universe, and members of the community of believers, we are interdependent on one another and on the Divine Trinity of God, to be fullest and most faithful persons we can be.  For it is God our Heavenly Father who provides us with the Bread of Life, that feeds our spiritual, as well as physical, - selves.  If our primary concern is saturated with filling our stomachs and feeding our bodies, to the exclusion of feeding our souls with the Bread of Life that is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Jesus the Lord - then we fail to grasp the importance of our interaction human to human, and human to divine.  That is the essential, indispensable, nature of the Eucharist and God's Word, being mutually present in our lives on this 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time..  In the same way, the "Baltimore Bullet", Michael Phelps with his 18 Gold out of 22 Olympic Medals won over the past dozen years, did not do it all on his own.  His championship abilities and swimming skills were honed and perfected by his commitment teemed with the encouragement, support, inspiration, and interaction , with his family, coach, trainers, teammates, and fellow competitors, along with God; as Michael Phelps describes himself as a Christian.  Diagnosed with  A.D.H.D., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as a child, which is a developmental condition that exists in three to five percent of children worldwide before the age of 7, working assiduously with his mother Debbie, by age 11, when he was joined with his coach Bob Bowman, he was successfully set on the path that has led to his record setting Olympic achievements.  As we pray, worship, and break open God's Word and the Bread of Life that is Christ's Body and Blood, may the insights and interactions we gain today, feed us body and soul, to live the spirit of this 18th Week of Ordinary Time, striving for the Gold Medal of Eternal Life in God's Kingdom............Fr.  Troy