THE ENERGIZER - One Bread, One Body, 07/22/2026

Wednesday, July 22, 2026, St. Mary Magdalene

Song of Songs 3:1-4 or
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9
John 20:1-2, 11-18

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THE ENERGIZER
“She ran.” —John 20:2

St. Mary Magdalene had energy to burn. She came to Jesus’ tomb “early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark” (Jn 20:1). When she saw that the stone had been moved away, she ran off to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple (Jn 20:2). Then she ran back to the tomb and stood there weeping (Jn 20:11). Next, she volunteered to single-handedly carry off Jesus’ body, if only she was told where it was (Jn 20:15). After recognizing the risen Jesus, she made another run for it to tell the disciples: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18)

What was the source of Mary Magdalene’s energy? Her love for Jesus impelled her (2 Cor 5:14). Christ’s energy was “so powerful a force within” her (Col 1:29). She was driven to seek Him Whom her heart loved (Sg 3:1-2).

What was the source of Mary Magdalene’s love? She loved because Jesus first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). Mary Magdalene received her love by standing at the foot of the cross, in the shadow of Jesus’ crucified love (Jn 19:25). She saw the blood and water flow from the pierced side of Jesus (Jn 19:34). Mary Magdalene received her love from the Fountain of love, from Jesus’ crucified body and pierced heart. Christ’s love impelled her because at Calvary she had “reached the conviction that since [Jesus] died for all, all died” (2 Cor 5:14). She decided no longer to live for herself, but for Him Who for her sake died and was raised up (2 Cor 5:15). This response to God’s love impelled and energized her.

Go to the crucified Jesus. Run for the risen Jesus.

Prayer: Father, may I always have the same motives St. Mary Magdalene had on Resurrection day.

Promise: “This means that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old order has passed away; now all is new!” —2 Cor 5:17

Praise: St. Mary Magdalene’s love so freed her that she stood at the foot of Christ’s cross and soon gloried in His Resurrection.



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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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ADOPTED BY THE BEST FAMILY EVER - One Bread, One Body, 07/21/2026

Tuesday, July 21, 2026, St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
Psalm 85:2-8
Matthew 12:46-50

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ADOPTED BY THE BEST FAMILY EVER
“Extending His hand toward His disciples, He said: ‘There are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My heavenly Father is brother and sister and mother to Me.’ ” —Matthew 12:49-50

Many people delight at the thought of marrying into a rich family. They might imagine: “Wow! Suddenly I’ll have cars, homes, money, vacations, possessions, status, and prosperity that were never possible before this marriage. I’ll do anything they ask, make any changes necessary, just to get into this family.”

A common theme for movies is to show an orphanage full of children dreaming of being adopted into a loving family. These children profess that they’ll do anything the family wants just to be taken home with the new family.

What Good News Jesus announces to us today! He is God (Jn 1:1). He has the ultimate family: the family of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2233). Moreover, His condition for our adoption is that we do the will of God the Father (Mt 12:50). What an offer! Jesus actually wants us to share in the intimate joy of His family. God’s desire for us is expressed thus: “He calls together all [people], scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of His family, the Church” (Catechism, 1). Jesus cherishes our company so much that He wants to become our Brother (Mk 3:33-35; Lk 8:21). Thank Jesus forever for His gracious love, and joyfully do the will of God the Father (Ps 40:9).

Prayer: Father, thank You for adopting me as Your child through my Baptism (Rm 6:3-4; 8:15) and including me in Your will.

Promise: “Who is there like You, the God Who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of His inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt?” —Mi 7:18-19

Praise: St. Lawrence was so mature in his faith that he was able to decide on a religious vocation by age sixteen.

(This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)

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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

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JESUS ON JUDGMENT - One Bread, One Body, 07/20/2026

Monday, July 20, 2026, St. Apollinaris

Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
Matthew 12:38-42

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JESUS ON JUDGMENT
“The Lord has a plea against His people, and He enters into trial.” —Micah 6:2

Jesus promises that on Judgment Day we will be judged on whether we repented at His preaching (Mt 12:41). In some sense, Jesus is preaching in the circumstances of everyday life, but most literally Jesus Himself is preaching at the Eucharistic liturgy  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1088). This does not mean that every word the priest or deacon says during the homily is straight from the Lord. But it means that, by virtue of the nature of Jesus’ priesthood and the nature of the liturgy, Jesus the High Priest is working through or even despite the person reading the Scriptures or preaching. On Judgment Day, we will be held accountable for repenting as we heard God’s words in the liturgy.

Also, Jesus promises that on Judgment Day we will be judged on whether we have gone to extremes to listen to His wisdom (Mt 12:42) and act upon it (Jas 1:22). Jesus’ wisdom is available in many ways but especially in the official teaching of His Body, the Church. If we haven’t tried to read the Bible, the Church’s Catechism, the second Vatican Council’s documents, and the papal encyclicals, can we as Catholics say that we have gone to extremes to listen to Jesus’ wisdom?

Let’s repent of spiritual anorexia. Let us hunger for God’s Word (see Mt 4:4). We need repentance and wisdom. Judgment Day comes.

Prayer: Father, I repent of stuffing myself with the things of the flesh and thereby losing my spiritual appetite (see Prv 13:19).

Promise: “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: only to do right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” —Mi 6:8

Praise: Though tortured and exiled several times by his non-Christian opponents, St. Apollinaris, bishop of Ravenna, Italy, persisted in returning to the city to complete his mission.



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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

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ROOTS AND WEEDS - One Bread, One Body, 07/19/2026

Sunday, July 19, 2026, 16th Sunday Ordinary Time

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Romans 8:26-27
Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
Matthew 13:24-43
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ROOTS AND WEEDS
“Pull up the weeds and you might take the wheat along with them.” —Matthew 13:29

A farmer tells his farmhands not to weed his field because they may take up the wheat with the weeds. This is an unusual command. If farmers applied this in all cases, all weeding would be prohibited. This command indicates that the root-development of the wheat, the citizens of God’s kingdom (Mt 13:38), is dependent on the presence of the weeds, “the followers of the evil one” (Mt 13:38).

To “be rooted in Him (Christ) and built up in Him, growing ever stronger in faith” (Col 2:7), we must be in the presence of those who are not with the Lord but following the evil one. This gives us opportunities to share and defend our faith. We can forgive these people when they hurt us and love them unconditionally. We can take up our daily crosses (see Lk 9:23) and share in the sufferings of Christ (Col 1:24).

The Lord turns all things to the good for those who love Him (Rm 8:28). Your loving, forgiving, suffering outreach to the weeds root you in Christ in wondrous ways. Thank God for how He can deepen your faith through weeds. Love the weeds, even if they hurt you (see Mt 5:44). Remember you were a weed yourself and would revert to being a weed but for the amazing grace of God. Thank God for not weeding the field until the very end (see 2 Pt 3:9).

Prayer: Father, may my faith be deep enough to persevere through the mass apostasy before the end of the world (see 2 Thes 2:3).

Promise: “Though You are Master of might, You judge with clemency.” —Wis 12:18

Praise: Alleluia! Jesus is risen from the dead! We already share in His Resurrection (Col 3:1). Alleluia!



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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

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WORKING AS IF GOD IS WATCHING - One Bread, One Body, 07/18/2026

Saturday, July 18, 2026, St. Camillus de Lellis

Micah 2:1-5
Psalm 10:1-4, 7-8, 14
Matthew 12:14-21

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WORKING AS IF GOD IS WATCHING
“The wicked man boasts, ‘He will not avenge it’; ‘There is no God…’ ” —Psalm 10:4

In today’s readings, the wicked believe that God is passive. They assume God does not see their wicked acts, that “He will not avenge” their wickedness (Ps 10:4). They imagine that God stands aloof and hides from the upright (Ps 10:1). “ ‘There is no God’ sums up [their] thoughts” (Ps 10:4). The wicked believe their triumph is complete, that no one can undermine the evil they have done (Mi 2:4).

Jesus reveals Himself as meek and gentle (Mt 11:29; 12:19-20). He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick (Mt 12:20). He waits and shows patience so that all might come to salvation (2 Pt 3:9). Yet the Lord does see (Ps 10:14). The Master has gone on a long journey and has handed over management of His household, His Kingdom on earth, to us, His stewards (Mt 24:45; 25:14). But He most assuredly is coming back, and when He returns, He will demand an account from us (Mt 25:19).

Therefore, let us be busy serving Him, dispensing the ration of grain in due season (Lk 12:42) like Joseph in the Old Testament (Gn 41:47-57). It may seem at present as though God is passive and aloof, as if He is away on “a journey” (Mt 21:33). We might not sense any urgency to serve Him and His people. However, “the time is short” (1 Cor 7:29). The Lord is coming soon. Therefore, serve Him with diligence (Lk 12:36-37).

Prayer: Father, place an urgency in my heart to work for Your harvest (Mt 9:37-38).

Promise: “In His name, the Gentiles will find hope.” —Mt 12:21

Praise: St. Camillus was addicted to gambling until Jesus set him free of his addiction and led him to conversion and faith at the age of twenty-five.

(This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)

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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

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AN OVER-TIME LOSS - One Bread, One Body, 07/17/2026

Friday, July 17, 2026,

Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
Isaiah 38:10-12, 16
Matthew 12:1-8

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AN OVER-TIME LOSS
“I will add fifteen years to your life.” —Isaiah 38:5

God healed King Hezekiah of a terminal illness and gave him an additional fifteen years of life (Is 38:5). How did Hezekiah use this gift? Three years into his extra fifteen years, Hezekiah, who had been childless, fathered a son, Manasseh, who would succeed him as king of Judah and continue the line which led to Jesus (Mt 1:10, 16). You would think that Hezekiah, who had been one of the few good and godly kings, would spend his remaining twelve years of life (2 Kgs 21:1) training young Manasseh in both the Jewish faith and in how to be a good king. Sadly, it seems that Hezekiah passed little on to his son. Manasseh was possibly the most evil king of Judah, and by the end of his fifty-five year reign, a culture of death had been entrenched in Judah.

What else did Hezekiah do with his final fifteen years of life? “Hezekiah...did not discharge his debt of gratitude, for he had become proud” (2 Chr 32:25). He pridefully aligned himself with Babylon and began the downfall of Israel (2 Kgs 20:12-19). He considered it a good thing that evil would fall on his son Manasseh and his other descendants instead of in his own lifetime (Is 39:8; 2 Kgs 20:17-19). “He built cities for himself” instead of teaching his son the faith (2 Chr 32:29).

Did Hezekiah fall into the trap of thinking that, since God spared him, he was in “good shape” with God and no longer needed to live in fear of the Lord? Did he become complacent and assume that Manasseh would just turn out well despite minimal fathering? Could we be just as complacent? “Do not grow lazy” (Heb 6:12).

Prayer: Jesus, each day may I live as if You were returning tonight.

Promise: “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice.” —Mt 12:7

Praise: Rhonda, a home-schooling mother, brings her three children to Mass every day. She and her husband make the Mass and the Sacraments the foundation of their children’s education.

(This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)

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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

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NOTHING BUT GRACE - One Bread, One Body, 07/16/2026

Thursday, July 16, 2026, Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
Psalm 102:13-21
Matthew 11:28-30

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NOTHING BUT GRACE
“The inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.”—Isaiah 26:18

Isaiah prophesied that God’s people were like a pregnant woman “about to give birth” (Is 26:17). Her water broke, her contractions became more frequent, and her labor pains increased, as she writhed and cried out (Is 26:17-18). Finally, she delivered. But there was no baby. She gave “birth to wind” (Is 26:18).

The point of Isaiah’s prophecy is: “Salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth” (Is 26:18). In other words: “In no way can a man redeem himself, or pay his own ransom to God” (Ps 49:8). Isaiah also prophesied: “All our good deeds are like polluted rags; we have all withered like leaves” (Is 64:5). Jesus bluntly stated: “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).

We are like babies; we are totally dependent on the Lord (see Mt 18:2ff). St. Paul taught: “I repeat, it is owing to His favor that salvation is yours through faith. This is not your own doing, it is God’s gift; neither is it a reward for anything you have accomplished” (Eph 2:8-9). “Everything is grace” (Rm 4:16).

“From His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace” (Jn 1:16, RSV-CE). Grace to you!

Prayer: Father, I rejoice to live in grace.

Promise: “Your souls will find rest, for My yoke is easy and My burden light.” —Mt 11:29-30

Praise: A group of lay Carmelite families spreads the Word of God by composing music, giving concerts at churches, and sharing God’s Word as they travel.



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Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from June 1, 2026, through July 31, 2026. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio November 12, 2025"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

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