Gospel Reflection Aug 2 – Deacon Paul Zemanek
Sunday, August 2
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 14: 13-21
Gospel:
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.”
Jesus 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.
Gospel Reflection:
Today’s Gospel is about the “Feeding of the Five Thousand.” This is the only miracle that was performed by Jesus that was recorded in all four of the Gospels. And this
story was the prelude to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Christ’s very flesh and His very blood, which He gave “for the life of the world.”
Friends, sometimes we need a good reminder of the immense gifts that God continually presents to us. For at every Mass a true Eucharistic miracle occurs every time when the substance of the bread is transformed into the substance of Jesus’ Body and the substance of the wine is transformed into the substance of His very blood.
When Jesus asks us to hand over our “loaves of bread,” as he asked the Apostles, it’s only because He wants us to “lighten our load” so that we can travel faster towards the fulfillment that He has in store for us. All we have to do is to follow in the Apostles’ footsteps and to hand over our loaves and our fish. For the little that they had became a great source of nourishment and of great joy. Today, Jesus also wants to do the very same thing with us.
Deacon Paul Zemanek