Gospel Reflection 2019/2020

18^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

2 Aug 2020

[Matthew 14: 13-21]

In the Gospel reading of this Sunday, we hear of the miracle of the loaves. The miracle does not end with “the crowd ate and had their fill,” but rather the miracle has pointed us and led us to the table of the Holy Eucharist. We can find the similar narration in Mark 6: 31-44, Luke 9: 10-17 and John 6: 1-13.

There are three-point spiritual lessons for us to reflect further:

(1) The Eucharist and the Lord’s compassion. Jesus has just lost His cousin brother, John the Baptist. He must have been mourning over the horrible death of His cousin brother that He withdrew to a lonely place to be by Himself. But the crowd would not leave Jesus alone, they have managed to track Him down and have come for Him. When Jesus saw the crowd, despite His grief, He took pity on them because they were like sheep without shepherd, and He sat to teach them at some length [Mk 6: 45] and he healed the sick among them [Mt 14: 14]. We are reminded that no one who comes to the Lord with sincerity of heart will not experience His love and His mercy! And we Christians, to whom God has shown mercy, must be merciful, just as the Father is merciful. [Lk 6: 36]

(2) The Eucharist and our trust in God. Are we not like the disciples, always lacking of faith and trust, saying, “All we have is this… Send them away… There is nothing we can do…” [c.f. Mt 14: 15-17] But the Lord insists that, “Give them something to eat yourselves.” [Mt 14: 16] Despite of our unworthiness, despite our inadequacy, despite our iniquities, we always have something to share, we always have something to give, we always have something to contribute. In the Kingdom of God, no one can be bystander; at the Table of the Lord, we are all ministers and servers of the Bread of Heaven and the Word of Life. God will always bless and multiply our sharing, our giving and our contribution of love.

(3) The Eucharist and the four-fold meal pattern: take, bless, break, give. This four-fold pattern of taking, blessing, breaking and sharing is at the heart of every Eucharistic celebration. There is a vertical relationship of praise and thanksgiving to God; and there is also a horizontal relationship of sharing the Bread. Our Christian faith is not me-and-my-God, but rather our Christian faith is we-and-our-God. “Eating the Bread” and “passing the Bread” are the distinct marks of the genuine People of God. We cannot claim to be Christians by just “eating the Bread” and not “passing the Bread”; and similarly, we cannot claim to be Christians by just “passing the Bread” and not “eating the Bread” ourselves!

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Lord Jesus Christ, may I be Your Bread broken for the New World.”