Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
When Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents, so that the Lord became very angry, he was grieved. «Why do you treat your servant so badly?», Moses asked the Lord. «Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people? Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? Where can I get meat to give to this entire people? For they are crying to me, ‘Give us meat for our food’. I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress».
«If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways, quickly would I humble their enemies; against their foes I would turn my hand».
«Those who hated the Lord would seek to flatter me, but their fate would endure forever, while Israel I would feed with the best of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would fill them».
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over– twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
“Looking up to heaven”
Fr. Xavier ROMERO i Galdeano (Cervera, Lleida, Spain)Today, the Gospel touches our “mental pockets” ... This is why, as in Jesus' time, the voices of the prudent may appear to weigh whether such a matter is worthwhile. The disciples, seeing that it was getting late and that they did not know how to attend to the crowd gathered around Jesus, found a graceful way out: "... they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves" (Mt 14:15). Little did they expect that their Master and Lord would break this prudent reasoning, saying: "give them some food yourselves" (Mt 14:16).
A popular saying goes: "Whoever leaves God out of his calculations does not know how to count.” And it is true, neither the disciples nor us know how to count, because we often forget the most important sum: God himself among us.
The disciples did the math correctly; they accurately counted the number of loaves and fishes, but when they mentally divided them among so many people, they ended up with almost a recurring zero. That's why they opted for prudent realism: "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here" (Mt 14:17). They don't realize that they have Jesus—true God and true man—among them!
Paraphrasing Saint Josemaría, it would do us good to remember: "In your apostolic undertakings you are right — it's your duty — to consider what means the world can offer you (2+2=4), but don't forget — ever! — that, fortunately, your calculations must include another term: God+2+2…" Christian optimism is not based on the absence of difficulties, resistance, and personal errors, but on God who tells us: "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20).
It would be good for you and me, when faced with difficulties, before condemning the boldness and optimism of the Christian spirit, to count on God. May we be able to say with Saint Francis that brilliant prayer: "Where there is hatred, let me sow love"; that is, where the numbers don't add up, let us count on God.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“We may not be able to give much but we can always give the joy that springs from a heart that is in love with God.” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta)
“Those few loaves and fish, shared and blessed by God, were enough for everyone. And pay heed! It isn’t magic, it’s a “sign”: a sign that calls for faith in God, provident Father.” (Francis)
“Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1,416)
