XVIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

August 2, 2020

Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of the Father, fully reveals his unconditional love for each of us.

Readings
First Reading
Reading the book of Isaiah 55, 1-3

This is what the Lord says:
“Hey, thirsty, everybody, come for water; come, also those who don’t have money:
buy wheat and eat, come and buy, no money and bucket, wine and milk.
Why spend money on what doesn’t feed and pay on what’s not fed up? Listen to me and you will eat well, taste hearty dishes.
Bow your ear, come to me:
listen to me and you’ll live.
I will seal with you a perpetual covenant, the firm mercies made to David.”

Psalm
Come out 144, 8-9. 15-16. 17-18
R/. You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy us.

The Lord is merciful and merciful,
slow to anger and rich in mercy;
the Lord is good to all,
he is affectionate with all his creatures. R/.

Everyone’s eyes are waiting for you,
you give them food in their time;
you open your hand,
and satisfies of favors to every living person. R/.

The Lord is right in all his ways,
He is kind in all his actions;
nearby is the Lord of those who invoke Him,
of those who sincerely invoke it. R/.

Second Reading
Reading the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8, 35. 37-39

Brothers:
Who will separate us from the love of Christ, tribulation, anguish, persecution, hunger, nudity, danger, sword?
But in all this we overcome greatly thanks to the one who has loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present, nor future, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God manifested in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Gospel
Reading the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 14, 13-21

At that time, when Jesus learned of John the Baptist’s death, he left there by boat, alone, to a deserted place.
When people found out, they followed him by land from the villages.
As he disembarked Jesus saw a multitude, took pity on it, and healed the sick. As it was late, the disciples came to tell him:
“We’re in depopulated and it’s too late, fire the crowd to go to the villages and buy food.”
Jesus retorted to them:
“You don’t have to go, feed them.”
They replicated to him:
“If we have only five loaves and two fishes here.”
He said:
“Bring them to me.”
He commanded the people to lie on the grass and take the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up at the sky, uttering the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples; the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied and collected twelve baskets full of leftovers. They ate about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

Comment

Today’s Word of God is spilled water that comes to quench our thirst, it is multiplied bread that wants to satisfy our hunger.

What’s today’s world hungry for? What is the thirst that tortures so many men and women of our time? What are you hungry for or thirsty for, that so often you feel dissatisfied, let down, empty, unhappy? Maybe you haven’t even thought about it, you can’t even express it.

For God Himself, as a compassionate and merciful Father, knows our needs better than ourselves, and he comes forward to offer us sustenment for the way of life, because He loves us dearly and does not want us to perish.

The first reading, taken from the prophet Isaiah, is part of the so-called “Book of Consolation,” a text that invites the people of Israel living in exile to lift their spirits, hoping for the soon return. God appears as a preacher or street vendor who offers free food and drink, who makes his offer before listening to the demand, who in return only asks to be heard and approached. It also promises an eternal covenant, a covenant of love that surpasses time and space.

Actually, in this text, God is showing us who and how He is. And how He wants to treat us, if we approach Him and let Him into our lives. The fragments of Psalm 144 complete it by offering us a perfect description of the living and true God, merciful and merciful, good to all, close, attentive, loving. A God who cares about our problems and wants to meet our needs.

In today’s Gospel we find the narration of one of Jesus’ best-known miracles. multiplication of loaves and fishes.

It is important to realize the context… They followed him en masse, people probably poor and needy, excluded and discarded from society who had seen in him someone who offered them hope in their anxieties, someone who asked them for nothing in return, at least for now. Jesus is attentive to their needs, feels compassion, looks at them with love, listens to them, comforts them, heals them. and that’s why they follow him, look for him and don’t leave his side. But the afternoon is falling and the burden takes hold of the disciples who do not know how to handle the situation: many people, in the wilderness and with nothing to offer them to eat. They’re probably hungry too, they’re tired and they don’t know what to do.

Jesus doesn’t miss a thing. He gives the impression that perhaps He Himself provokes the moment. And it surprises the disciples with a mandate that comes to us today: “Give them food.” Throughout the history of the Church many have based on this phrase all the social and charitable work of the Church, her service to the poor, her attention to those in need. That’s certainly the case.

But Jesus’ command goes beyond merely material or assistive. Jesus will make his disciples partakers of his redemptive work. He wants to do the miracle with them, from what little they have, from which they must detach themselves. the five loaves and two fishes, something insignificant to feed so many people. He wants to teach and teach us that he always counts on us, that his love and mercy are transmitted to others through us, that we cannot lock ourselves in our small possessions and acquired rights. Jesus’ invitation to his disciples is the germ of the missionary sending of the Church, which participates in and embodies the mission of Jesus, the Father’s envoy.

Jesus wants us to learn that when we put in his hands how little we are and have, He does the miracle, multiplies it, expands it, fertilizes it, in an unimaginable way for us. Jesus blesses and multiplies the loaves and fishes given to Him by the disciples and use the same disciples to divide it among the people. And they all ate until they were satisfied. Thus is the image of the feast of the Kingdom of Heaven, where abundance is manifested in leftovers, twelve baskets filled, a sign of God’s great-hearted blessing. Because God never lets himself be won in generosity.

It is the foretaste of the Paschal Supper, of the miracle of the Eucharist, in which Christ himself will be the broken bread, divided and shared, to satisfy the hunger of the world.

In the light of Passover, the disciples will understand that the Jesus who multiplied the loaves and fishes is the Incarnate, close and attentive God, compassionate, loving, provident.

When someone like Paul discovers this free, merciful, abundant, and generous love, he shouts to the four winds: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing or anyone.

If you have already discovered that Christ loves you and has given your life for you, if you live and feel his endearing and personal love, who or what will make you turn away from Him? Nothing and no one will separate you from the love of God manifested in Jesus Christ who is dead and risen.

If you haven’t figured it out… you’re still hungry, you’re thirsty, your footsteps are hesitant… come to Him without fear, present in His Word, in His Church, in his sacraments. And He receives from Him what only He can and wants to give you.

Prayer