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, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest. St. Francis Xavier is a model for the missionary work of the Church, which aims to continue the mission of Jesus as described in the Gospels. St. Francis Xavier’s life and work, are a personification of the compassion and zeal, shown in today’s Gospel passage, from Matthew (15:29-37), particularly in his dedication to bringing the Gospel message to new lands, believing it was his duty to share God’s love, and the joy of faith with others. Isn’t that, what all who are baptized, called to do?
Well, maybe not exactly as Saint Francis Exavier, or Jesus’ first disciples, traveling to new (foreign) lands, spreading the Good News. But we can go to places, not far from our homes where few people care to go; it could include places like jails, detention centers, soup kitchens that serve the homeless, the addicts, homes of the marginalized, the sick, or those who are not part of a religious community—just to name a few. Another place and one that is close to our hearts, and we love, is relatives. But do we? Too many followers of Christ, avoid speaking about our faith, with relatives and close friends, just like they do politics; afraid to lose that loved one, because of a disagreement in their religious beliefs.
Just this past Thanksgiving at a family gathering, I engaged in a conversation about Catholicism with a close relative of mine, who I care for and love, but is very anti-Catholic. Something I didn’t know about my relative, until our conversation took place. At times, we both were very passionate about each other’s points. But at the end, I am happy to say, we both in good terms with each other, and we didn’t “distant” ourselves in our relationship. What was at least, a 30-min. conversation and dialog, that could have been easier for me to walk away from, or change the subject, I believe that with the help of the Holy Spirit, hopefully I was able to plant seeds in my relative’s heart—or through that “God-incident” moment, I was able to feed my relative’s heart, some new or positive information, about our Catholic faith.
ACTION FOR THE DAY: Read about the life of Saint Francis Exavier, and reflect on it; pray to the Holy Spirit, to lead you on ways, to imitate Saint Francis Exavier’s way, of spreading the Good News, as Jesus first modeled for us in today’s Gospel, when He first fed the multitude’s heart and soul.
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