A Daily Gospel Reflection by Dn. Ray Gallego for August 4th, 2025

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
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.

Reflection:
Today’s Gospel points that Jesus is the source of life and the summit of nourishment. It encourages us to trust that God will provide for our needs, both physical and spiritual. It calls on believers to be compassionate and to care for the needs of others FIRST, putting others in front of us, even when it requires sacrifice. Even when we feel like we don’t have enough, we can still share what we have with others, and God will multiply it.

When we fly and we are given instructions on what to do in the case of an emergency and the oxygen masks deploy. We are told to put the masks on us first before your loved ones. We know that hard to do because our first instinct is to help them before us. Ironically, in other life situations we do the opposite. We mistakenly believe that we can only offer mercy to others after our needs are met. It’s easy to think that we must first take care of ourselves and our own needs. Take today’s Gospel for example, what if the disciples, upon receiving the bread from Jesus, would have decided that they should eat of it first. Then, if there was anything extra, they could give it to others. Had they done this, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves would not have happened.

Spiritually speaking, the same is true with us. When we receive spiritual nourishment from our Lord, our first thought must be to give it away. For example, at the end of mass for the final blessing, the presider will say these words, “The Lord be with you”, “May Almighty God Bless You, the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Then the deacon will say, “Go in Peace, Glorifying the Lord by Your Lives”. We are to Glorify (Satisfy) Our Lord by going out into the streets and sharing that blessing and the Gospel (The Word) with others. This is the nature of grace. Every gift we receive from God must be understood as a gift given to us so that we can immediately share it with others. The good news is that when we seek to give away that which we have received, more is given to us and, in the end, we will be far richer.

Action of the Day:
What have you received that God wants you to distribute to others? Are there graces you have received that you selfishly try to hold onto? The nature of grace is that it is given to give it to others.

Audio Reflection: