Daily Reflection – 8/5/2024
Sacred Scripture
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. (Matthew 14:13-21)
Reflection
Today’s scripture is, on its face, all about miracles. It’s a timeless scripture because it reminds us that, regardless of age or status, there is a miracle that awaits us.
Let’s look at that.
Jesus’ innate compassion led him to teach, to heal, to feed, to forgive, and to pray for, call and send out laborers with the same compassion on the crowds.
But here is the miracle that He wants for us, and which leads us home to Him.
He wants to transform us by His mercy to see things with the eyes of his own bursting heart, to notice how many are wandering without direction in life and teach them the truth and instruct them how to live by following Jesus the Way.
He wants us to see how many are suffering physically, psychologically and spiritually and seek to become nurses of the Divine Physician. He wants us to notice the multitudes starving physically or spiritually and to give them the nourishment they need. He wants us to see how many are carrying around the wounds of expiated guilt or severed revelations and to bring them God’s mercy and to God’s mercy. In all of this, he wants us to become hard workers, not just bodies, in his fields and to pray insistently for other diligent laborers to join us.
It’s all about transformation.
he more we act in the way of Jesus Christ, the more we change. In that transformation, there is an even greater miracle. We begin to see the face of Jesus. God gave us His Son so that we could see him. See him in his actions, feel him in his example, know him in our personal life.
We look to God to give us the food we need in each season of our life. We open our hands to receive what he opens his hands to give us, as he seeks to satiate our deepest desires.
Jesus knows that, for each of us, life can become so busy, people can sometimes be coming and going in such great numbers, that we don’t have time for the most important things, not to mention “even to eat.” And so, Jesus calls us apart from everyone else not merely so that we can physically rest and eat, but so that he can give us spiritual rest — through yoking ourselves to him anew — and spiritual food.
In the words of the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus in daily prayer and on retreat tells us, “Come, receive grain and eat.… Come, drink wine and milk!” He beckons us, “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!” He desires to give us this nourishment “without paying and without cost.”
In all of that lies the miracle of Jesus Christ. To come to us, to be there always so we can feel his love for us, to remind us that we are never alone, to ask us to act in his name. The more we do in His name, the more we change. We lead with compassion, not judgement. We give help not for recognition. We follow him and live our lives each day doing our best to model his words.
As we do all of that, we are drawn closer and closer to him. The closer we become to him, the more we experience his presence and see his face.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus Christ, you satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts and you feed us with the finest of wheat (Psalm 81:16). Fill me with gratitude for your blessings and give me a generous heart that I may freely share with others what you have given to me.”
Daily Note
Mother Teresa tried to impress upon her sisters the importance of following Jesus’ lead intending to physical hungers and then the spiritual needs of the poor. She told them, “Charity begins today. Today, somebody is suffering. Today, somebody is in the street. Today, somebody is hungry. Our work is for today. Yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today to make Jesus known, loved, served, fed, clothed, sheltered. Do not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will not have them if we do not feed them today”
