TEXT: The Gospel According to St. Matthew 14:13-21

There are many times when we feel like we are "on our own," until the Holy Spirit reminds us that "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs."  (Cf. Psalm 145:8-9; 15-16; 17-18).

And, truly, we hear the Holy Spirit’s Voice through Isaiah the prophet -- "All you who are thirsty, come to the water..."  (Cf.  Isaiah 55:1-3)

God is the God who cares for us, tenderly, even when we are not immediately aware of it.  It is important for us to begin to see the need to become aware of and respond back to God in love for the care he provides to his own.

One I know, who lives the hermit’s life in Christ, has said that God has never kept anything from him that he needed, and, all he has received has been to bring him closer to the Heart of Jesus.  So true, when we go with Jesus to the desert place and there come to the place of total reliance upon Christ alone.  St. Louis de Montfort (17th century) spoke often of "God alone," in his spirituality that completely abandoned himself to the perfect will of God small things.  For years, he was rejected my many, yet, today, his life has had a profound effect on Christians everywhere.  The lives of the Saints are characterized by their willingness to follow Jesus into the lonely places, as with this event of the Gospel today.

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

We are drawn to those "lonely places apart," from the lives we often live, the business of living and working in a world that does not want for us to be close to Jesus.

Alice Maynell (19th century) wrote -- "When you go, There’s loneliness in loneliness."  (The Vining Sea)

So, Jesus goes before us to the lonely places, and, there, he waits for those of the world’s towns to come to him.

Jesus is there...he goes before...to the lonely places to prepared a place for us.

He see us there in that place. . .

14 As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

There, Jesus begins to meet our needs.  He heals the sick.  There is compassion.  What is this compassion?  We hear this word, and, we find that it seems to glance off our ears like a deflected bullet.  Yet, it is more than just a word.

Jesus was "feeling" this compassion.

This is something we are called to feel as well, like Jesus.

Yet, here, Jesus feels this word for us and acts in consequence to what he feels for you and me.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century) tells us -- "For just a pure truth is seen only with a pure heart, so a brother’s misery is truly felt with a miserable heart.  But in order to have a miserable heart because of another’s misery, you must first know your own; so that you may find your neighbor’s mind in your own and know from yourself how to help him, by the example of the Savior, Who willed His passion in order to learn compassion; His misery, to learn commiseration."  (St. Bernard, The Steps of Humility, 3)

How wonderful is this truth that Jesus laid all aside, pursuant to the meaning of Philippians 2 to be Immanuel to you and me.

He felt compassion.

Shall we not feel the same compassion in Jesus for others?

So, his disciples began to feel this too in the "lonely place" where they walked with Jesus.

15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

Is this not like our "compassion" so often?   Ok, yes, the people are tired and hungry and thirsty.  So, let us send them away!  Let us send them away to where they can take care of themselves!  Let is avoid discomfort and send them away.

It sounds okay, I guess, if we have the world’s perspective.

But, Jesus always makes us a little uncomfortable, his "ethic of discomfort."  He says,

16 Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."

The disciples must have looked at each other, not a little amused.  Right, Lord, we are poor too and tired.  We have only a little ourselves.  Give them what?

Now, remember, beloved, Jesus is -- Yahweh who is Salvation.  We are not merely talking about a Name here.  This Name IS the Reality.

God acts in our midst and continues to act, therefore, now, disciple of Jesus, let us step forth and act in Jesus as the People of God, the Body of Christ!  Jesus has compassion, now, we must step out in faith compassionately with Jesus, the Head of the Body.

17 They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."

Yes, this is us all the way.  We only seem to see what we see.  We see the five loaves and the two little fishes! :o)

God sees what will become of those loaves and fish.

18 And he said, "Bring them here to me."

This is the answer to everything.

Bring them here to Me.

How these words echo over and again in the heart listening to them.

Bring them here to Me.

How these words answer our question of, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."

God is not the God of the "only," God is the God to takes the loaves and the fish in the lonely place and makes something small into an opportunity for something bigger than what our little minds can comprehend.

I know of one who lost his job, and relied upon the resources from that employment.  Yet, those resources are nothing, when we compare them to God’s tender care, and His Presence in our "lonely place" where we discover that Yahweh is Salvation for us too, and, the little fishes and loaves are no match for the power of God!

Is Israel against the sea?  Well, no problem, the sea divides while the pillar of fire holds up the Egyptians.

Is all seemingly lost in what you and I may see around us?  Well, no problem for God, the tender care of God is such in passionis that God remembers the "passion of Jesus," and cares for us in ways that cannot be expressed for the glory of God that fills us when we see the Salvation of Yahweh.

In Revelation 12, is the story of the vision of the Woman and her seed fleeing into the lonely place (the wilderness)?  Well, Michael the Archangel is not far behind and Satan will not conquer, but, Jesus Christ will reign forever!  Amen!  And, yes, Jesus was also there before us, preparing the place of God for the Woman and you and me.

God cares tenderly for His own.

We may only see the little fish and the few loaves, but, God sees all and loves us in Mercy.  God is rich in Mercy, (Dives in misericordia).

Let us remember what God is telling us here.

The disciples have prayed.

Clement of Alexandria (2 century) said -- "Prayer is conversation with God."  (Stromateis, 7)

We have told God what we have in our hands -- a little.

Now, a little is a lot for the God who created the heavens and the earth ex nihilo.

Just sit down on the grass that Jesus made and watch Jesus.

19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

How wonderful to know that God works through us.

The disciples gave what Jesus broke and gives.  We also give to one another what all came from God.

What was the result for us?

20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

How this speaks of the tender care of Jesus for all of us.

They came from the towns to the lonely place to follow Jesus.  He touches them, touches us, because we are brothers and sisters of those who lived ... we are all the Body of Christ, the People of God, and Jesus has not changed one iota on the matter of compassion.



Deus et Sanctissima.