XVIII Sunday in OT:[A]: Is 55:1-3; Rom 8:35, 37-39; Mat 14: 13-21

XVIII Sunday in OT:[A]: Is 55:1-3; Rom 8:35, 37-39; Mat 14: 13-21

Introduction:  All of today’s Scripture Readings, one way or another, emphasize the provident goodness of God, who feeds all of creation and satisfies the desire of every living creature. From the First Reading we hear the voice of a hospitable God who invites all to a banquet where the hungry, the thirsty and the poor could feast freely and richly. It is an offer of abundant life as well as a call to listen to His word. St. Paul teaches us through his letter to the Romans that nothing in this world will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  In the Gospel Reading from St. Matthew, Jesus miraculously feeds five thousand people in a deserted place with five loaves and two fish. He shows his great concern towards people who had left everything and stayed with him to listen to his word.

Anecdote: A story is told of a farmer whose farms were full of corn. Every morning on waking up, he prayed aloud to God that the needy would also be supplied with corn. But when anyone in need asked for a little of his corn, he would always say that he had none to spare.  One day after hearing his father pray for the poor and the needy, his little son said to him, “Father, I wish I had your corn.”   “What would you do with it?” asked the father.   The child replied, “I would answer your prayer.” The farmer had compassion for the needy. He prayed that their needs be supplied. But his compassion was without corresponding action. It took his son to point out the in-congruence of his situation and thus his prayer.

Exegesis:  Today, we have the account of the event from Ch 14 of St. Matthew, but there is another account of what is essentially the same miracle in Ch 15. In today's version there are five thousand men with five loaves and two fish and in Ch 15 we find four thousand men with seven loaves and a few fish. Considering today's reading in St. Matthew's context we find that Ch 14 begins with his account of the banquet at which John the Baptist was executed. This was an old-style royal banquet of the worst kind. Herod is there with his cronies/buddies enjoying the best food and drink his kingdom has to offer. There is wickedness, arrogance, rivalry and scheming; and the upshot of all this is that the head of John the Baptist is triumphantly brought in on a plate.

St. Matthew sets these two banquets beside each other precisely in order to make this contrast between a banquet offered by a worldly, brutal & selfish king and the banquet of a loving & generous Savior to which the poor are invited. He is deliberately making a direct contrast between the values of this world and the values of the Kingdom of Heaven. Herod's squalid banquet does nothing for anyone, least of all Herod who comes out of it with a guilty conscience. All who participate in that banquet come out the worse for it; except perhaps the one reluctant guest, John the Baptist. For him it meant the crown of martyrdom. It meant the fulfillment of his role. He died knowing that he had completed his task and paved the way for the Savior of the world.

Joke: 1) A nervous young Minister, concluding his first sermon, told the flock,
"For my text next Sunday, I will take the words, “And they fed five
men with five thousand loaves of bread and two thousand fishes." A member of the flock raised his hand and said, "That's not much of a trick. I could do that." The priest didn't respond. However, the next Sunday he decided to repeat the text. This time he did it properly, "And they fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fishes." Smiling, the priest said to the noisy man, "Could you do that, Mr. Perkins?" The member of the flock said, "I sure could." "How would you do it?" asked the minister.  "With all the food I had left over from last Sunday!"

Banquet of Jesus is always attached with prayer. “.. 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.”  Prayer and actions should correspond for better spiritual life. Compassion to the poor expressing in words should reflect in the action out-reaching to the poor.

Practical Applications: 1) We need to be “Eucharistic ministers”: We too, can perform miracles in our own time and place, by imitating the four "Eucharistic actions” of Jesus:  take humbly and generously what God gives us, bless it by offering it to others in God’s love, break away from our own needs and selfish interests for the sake of others, and give with joy-filled gratitude to God who has blessed us with so much and to others.  2) We need to be generous in sharing God’s blessings: We need to share our blessings with others around us generously and sacrificially in order to alleviate their spiritual and physical hunger. God lavishly blesses the large-hearted who generously and sacrificially share their resources with others.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Introduction

Message: Jesus has pity on the crowd and miraculously feeds them.  In his compassion, the Lord answers all our needs, thus renewing his covenant of love with us.  Nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ.

Saints and Events in this Week: 4-Fourth-Monday-Saint John Vianney, priest; 5-Fifth-Tuesday-The Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major; 6-Sixth-Wednesday-The Transfiguration of the Lord; 7-Seventh-Thursday-Saint Sixtus II, Pope, and his Companion, martys; and Saint Cajetan, priest; 8-Eighth-Friday-Saint Dominic, priest; 9-Ninth-Saturday-Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin, martyr