top of page

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD IN CHRIST--CORPUS CHRISTI JUNE 23, 2019

Vy (Madeline) Nguyen

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 9:11b-17

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

REFLECTION:

“Give them some food yourselves.”

Jesus would have known very well that His Apostles did not have the temporal goods to feed a crowd of five thousand, and yet He instructed them to feed the crowd. They then rationalized with Him of the little which they had - five loaves, two fishes - to “prove” that it isn’t humanly possible.

God transforms the little that we have into greatness if we trust Him for nothing is impossible for God. This Gospel story reminds us to be generous and to trust Him.

As for the Apostles, one could say that Jesus is preparing them for their priesthood here. A foreshadow of the Mass is evident in this Gospel story. They first interceded on behalf of the people by bringing their needs to Jesus, that is to be fed. Then they offer to God the humble food that they had for Him to transform and multiply the blessings upon His people. What a beautiful reminder that our priests are there to be our advocates and intercessor for our needs! Let us pray that on this Holy Solemnity, may every priest become more of who he is to be.


0 comments
PAPA Foundation
bottom of page