Gospel Reflection 2020/2021

In the Gospel reading of the 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, St John tells of the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Jesus was teaching the crowd in a remote place; and they had no food to eat. Jesus knew their hunger and took pity on the crowd. It was then that a boy voluntarily came forward with his five loaves and two fish. And the story ended with the five thousand men, having eaten their fill and the leftovers filled twelve baskets.

Here are three (3) points for our further reflection:

(1) ‘Deus caritas est’

The very foundation of Christianity is ‘Deus caritas est’, which means ‘God is love’ [cf. 1 Jn 4: 7-21]. God loves us intensely, passionately and unconditionally. Out of His sheer goodness, God gives, and God always gives abundantly. Everything that we have is a gift of God: comes from God and belongs to God; we have nothing to call our own.

St Ignatius of Loyola (whose feast will be celebrated on 31 July), in his First Principle and Foundation, beautifully sums that “All the things in this world are gifts of God, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily”. Everything, including our prized possessions, wealth and health, fame and fortune, power and might, energy, time and resources, hopes and dreams, talents and potentials, our body, our life and even our very breath…, is to help us love God and reciprocate God’s love.

(2) The spirituality of giving

Since we have freely received from God, so we must freely give to others. Out of our love for God, we must be ready to detach ourselves from and depart with our earthly possessions for ‘naked we have come, naked we will go’ [Ec 5: 15].

St Paul [2 Cor 8: 8] urges us to emulate our generous Lord Jesus who ‘though He was rich, yet He became poor for our sakes, so that by His poverty we may become rich…’ Who we are and what we have are not exclusively ours, but they are meant to be shared with others. We are, in a sense, God’s gift to the whole world.

God loves a cheerful giver [2 Co 9: 7]. The more we give, the more we will receive. No matter how small or insignificant our giving is, whether it is the boy’s loaves-and-fish or the widow’s mite [cf. Lk 21: 1-4], God delights in our giving if we give sincerely and selflessly from our heart.

(3) The spirituality of receiving

‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’, so it is said. However, it does not mean ‘cursed are those who receive’. Let us not undermine the spirituality of receiving: there is blessing to be on the receiving end too!

First, we must continuously receive from God. Did Jesus not tell the disciples to “Take and eat this is My Body [Mt 26: 26]” and “Receive the Holy Spirit [Jn 20: 22]”? He even went on telling Peter that, “Unless I wash your feet, you can have no share with me. [Jn 13: 8]” It is important therefore to continuously receive light and life from the Lord especially through the Holy Sacraments. We simply cannot share with others what we do not have.

Second, we must also be humble enough to receive from others. No man is an island because we are in need of each other. In bad times, let us never be ashamed or embarrassed to seek help and support from others. Even in good times, there is always something we can learn from others – even the last, the least, the little or the lost can teach us something about God, faith and life. The Servant Song sings that:

“Will you let me be your servant,

let me be as Christ to you;

Pray that I may have the grace to

let you be my servant, too…”

Even our Lord Jesus asked for a drink of water from a Samaritan woman [Jn 4: 7-31], allowed Mary Magdalene to anoint His feet [Jn 12: 1-8], and let Simon of Cyrene help to carry His cross [Lk 23:26].

There is a time for everything: a time to give, and a time to receive; a time to love, and a time to be loved. In our giving, let us be sincere and selfless; in our receiving, let us be humble and grateful. In all circumstances, let us love one another as Christ has loved us [Jn 13:34].

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Lord Jesus Christ, may we always love one another as You have loved us.”