Gospel

MT 15:29-37

(click here for todays readings)

At that time:

Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,

went up on the mountain, and sat down there.

Great crowds came to him,

having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,

and many others.

They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.

The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,

the deformed made whole,

the lame walking,

and the blind able to see,

and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus summoned his disciples and said,

"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,

for they have been with me now for three days

and have nothing to eat.

I do not want to send them away hungry,

for fear they may collapse on the way."

The disciples said to him,

"Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place

to satisfy such a crowd?"

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"

"Seven," they replied, "and a few fish."

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.

Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,

gave thanks, broke the loaves,

and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.

They all ate and were satisfied.

They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.

Reflection:

Our family read this Gospel passage and discussed what stood out most. My daughters said this passage was about “Trust and Faith”; and that the disciples trusted Jesus and had faith in what he said so that the people could eat. They drew parallels to Christmas movies that show how faith is important. One such example is the movie ELF, where Santa needs people to have faith and believe in him so his sleigh will fly. Or in Polar Express, where the child that believes, can hear the ringing of the bell from Santa’s sleigh. The disciples and the crowd had faith in Jesus’ words.

My husband and I were touched by what Jesus says, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.” Wow! How he cares so deeply. How beautiful that these people all recognize the power in Jesus’ teachings, that they stay with Him even though they do not have anything to eat.

Could this be like a three day Advent mission? It says, that the people had been with Jesus for three days. Can you imagine? How beautiful that the Lord allows this for us today in our Priests. The missionary Priests are in full swing of giving Parish missions through out the world during this Advent season. Jesus is working through them to heal and feed the hungry, Spiritually.

Jesus is still at work in our lives through the words of the Gospel. We can be a small part of what Jesus is working, through our prayers. Would you like to step up your prayers for our Priests this Advent season, especially our missionary Priests.

This website has a link to a Dekena to the Holy Spirit (click ). There are 10 meditations, hence the term Dekena. I think this would be a beautiful prayer to say during this Advent season to help us reflect, repent and ask Jesus for our personal conversion; at the same time, praying for priests and all those people they are helping.

Thank you Jesus for showing us how much you love and care for us.

God bless us all!