DAILY- HOMILY

August 5, 2019 - MONDAY 18th Week in Ordinary Time
Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome
Green.

Nm 11: 4b – 15 / Mt 14: 13 – 21

The divine motherhood of Mary was defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Pope St. Sixtus III (Pope from 432 – 440) dedicated this basilica in Rome in honor of the Mother of God.

FROM THE 1ST READING: Nm 11: 6 – 9
"Now our appetite is done; there's nothing to look at, nothing but manna."

Now the manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bedellium. The people went about gathering it up and then ground it between millstones or pounded it in a mortar. They boiled it in a pot and made cakes with it which tasted like cakes made with oil. As soon as dew fell at night in the camp, the manna came with it.

FROM THE GOSPEL READING: Mt 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
In the first reading, we hear the Israelites complaining about the tasteless manna which God had given them to eat in their long tiresome journey.

In the Gospel reading Jesus feeds a crowd of five thousand men, not counting women and children, with five loaves of bread and two fishes, with twelve baskets-full of left-overs.

God fed his people fleeing from Egypt on their forty-year journey to the promised land. In the Gospel reading, Jesus was concerned that the crowds listening to him had not eaten for days: "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat."

The feeding with manna, and later with quail, and the multiplication of loaves and fishes are seen as pre-figures of the Eucharist. God takes care of his people. We thank him for such care.

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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