DAILY- HOMILY

August 3, 2014
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 55: 1-3/ Ps 145: 8-9, 15-16, 17-18 / Rom 8: 35, 37-39 / Mt 14: 13-21

First Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-3
Come here, all you who are thirsty, come to the water! All who have no money, come! Yes, without money and at no cost, buy and drink wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not food and labor for what does not satisfy? Listen to me, and you will eat well; you will enjoy the richest of fare. Incline your ear and come to me; listen, that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, I will fulfill in you my promises to David.

Second Reading: Romans 8: 35, 37-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be trials, or anguish, persecution or hunger, lack of clothing, or dangers or sword?. No, in all of this we are more than conquerors, thanks to him who has loved us. I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever will separate us from the love of God, which we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
On hearing this, Jesus set out secretly by boat for a secluded place. But the people heard of it, and they followed him on foot from their towns. When Jesus went ashore, he saw the crowd gathered there and he had compassion on them. And he healed their sick. Late in the afternoon, his disciples came to him and said, "We are in a lonely place and it is now late. You should send these people away, so they can go to the villages and buy something for themselves to eat." But Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat." They answered, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fishes." Jesus said to them, "Bring them here to me." Then he made everyone sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people. And they all ate, and everyone had enough; then the disciples gathered up the leftovers, filling twelve baskets. About five thousand men had eaten there besides women and children.

Reflection:
     When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity and he healed the sick. The disciples came and told Jesus to send them away to look for their own food, but Jesus told them to give them something to eat themselves.  The disciples went to the crowd and were able to collect five loaves of bread and two fish and gave these to Jesus. Telling the people to sit down, Jesus took the loaves of bread and two fish, looked up to heaven and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves, gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people. After everyone had eaten, the disciples collected twelve basketfuls of what was left over. The number of men who had eaten was about five thousand, not counting the women and the children. How can this be? The power of Jesus is abounding. It came from heaven. A miracle happened and the power of Jesus came from heaven.
     The event that happened is the foreshadowing of the Eucharistic feast to come, the eternal banquet shared in heaven. Jesus shared with the people what he had in order to satisfy their needs. No matter what we think, what is impossible happened all because of Jesus
The popularity of Jesus was becoming more evident because of his healings and other miracles. Even the apostles were at a loss because they did not freely grasp who Jesus Christ really was. They could not understand why Jesus told them "Give them some food yourselves" when he knew they themselves did not have food. In a way Jesus Christ was testing them if they believed in him. Jesus might be telling them that this was how they should take care of the people - to give of themselves. In a way, the apostles of Jesus were called to become food for others - to satisfy their needs.
     That same call is an invitation for us today, to do the same thing to our brothers and sisters. Through baptism, we are called to be light to others, to fill up the temporal and spiritual hunger of those who are in need. We can only do this if we ourselves live according to the call of Jesus. The baskets of leftover food reveal the generosity of God. They are reminders of Jesus' kindness, compassion, care and love.
     During the celebration of the mass, the bread which we are about to receive is truly the Bread of Life, Jesus himself.  It provides nourishment to our soul, making our spirit strong and willing to be bread to others, giving life to those who are hungry for the Word of God.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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