A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (15:29-37)
At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
REFLECTION: Today’s Gospel gives us Jesus’ profound compassion for the suffering, and there was a large crowd there with Him, who are described as the lame, the blind, the mute, and the crippled among them, they all wanted to be healed by Jesus. He sees that there is multitude of people and said to His disciples; “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.” Jesus’ compassion extended to everyone, regardless of their background or condition, reminding us, to show similar care and concern, for those around us, especially those that are different than us.
By opening our mind and heart to today’s Gospel passage, maybe the Lord wants to check, our own heart attitude, toward people who are different from you and me, whether the difference is ethnic, political, religious, economic, or something else. Like these early disciples, we are called by God to look past those differences, and with compassion, feed their souls with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to actively seek out those in need and share the love of Christ with all people.
As Chaplain in the juvenile halls, of the Los Angeles area, and by working Cursillo like retreats, behind the prison walls, I was called to nurture this spirituality of compassion, to the youth and adults in our Detention Ministry. Like Jesus, who invited His disciples to take part in feeding the multitude in today’s Gospel, many times I would find myself, also inviting others to be part of our Detention Ministry mission, sharing God’s love, mercy and compassion, to those in need, and who felt, to be the most undeserving, or least loved by God.
As missionary Disciples of Christ Jesus, Pope Francis said in his Apostolic Exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (120), he said, “Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries”, but rather that we are always “missionary disciples”.”
May the words of Pope Francis, remind us that we need to go out “to the margins of society”, and find the most abandoned by our society, and like Jesus and His disciples, make conscious efforts, to concretely share in His compassion, by our deeds.
ACTION FOR THE DAY: Take time today and reflect on your own heart attitude, toward people who are different from you. Like the early disciples in today’s Gospel, we are called by God, to look past those differences, and with compassion, feed their souls, with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
AUDIO REFLECTION:
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