Saint Matthew 14:13-21.
Book of Isaiah 55:1-3.
All
you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come,
receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine
and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages
for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall
delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may
have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits
assured to David.
Psalms 145(144):8-9.15-16.17-18.
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love.
The LORD is good to all, compassionate to every creature.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you; you give them their food in due season.
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
You, LORD, are just in all your ways, faithful in all your works.
You, LORD, are near to all who call upon you, to all who call upon you in truth.
Letter to the Romans 8:35.37-39.
What
will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 14:13-21.
When
Jesus heard of it, 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.
Commentary of the day
Pope Benedict XVI
Sacramentum caritatis, 88 (©Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
"You yourselves, give them something to eat"
"The bread I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world" (Jn
6,51). In these words the Lord reveals the true meaning of the gift of
his life for all people. These words also reveal his deep compassion for
every man and woman. The Gospels frequently speak of Jesus' feelings
towards others, especially the suffering and sinners. Through a
profoundly human sensibility he expresses God's saving will for all
people – that they may have true life.
Each celebration of the
Eucharist makes sacramentally present the gift that the crucified Lord
made of his life, for us and for the whole world. In the Eucharist Jesus
also makes us witnesses of God's compassion towards all our brothers
and sisters. The eucharistic mystery thus gives rise to a service of
charity towards neighbour, which "consists in the very fact that, in God
and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know.
This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God,
an encounter which has become a communion of will, affecting even my
feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my
eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ." In all
those I meet, I recognize brothers or sisters for whom the Lord gave his
life, loving them "to the end" (Jn 13,1).
Our communities, when
they celebrate the Eucharist, must become ever more conscious that the
sacrifice of Christ is for all, and that the Eucharist thus compels all
who believe in him to become "bread that is broken" for others, and to
work for the building of a more just and fraternal world. Keeping in
mind the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, we need to realize
that Christ continues today to exhort his disciples to become personally
engaged: "You yourselves, give them something to eat". Each of us is
truly called, together with Jesus, to be bread broken for the life of
the world.
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