CCC 1335: Miracle of loaves prefigures the Eucharist
CCC 1391-1401: The fruits of Holy Communion
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| “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” by Tintoretto, 1579-81 |
Readings and Commentary:[4]
Reading 1: Isaiah 55:1-3
Thus says the Lord:
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.
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Commentary on Is 55:1-3
The imagery set forward in this passage recalls the promise of adoption through living water in baptism (“All you who are thirsty, come to the water!”), and continued grace offered through the Eucharist (“Why spend your money for what is not bread”).
CCC: Is 55:1 694, 2121; Is 55:3 762
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18
R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The Lord is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
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Commentary on Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18
CCC: Ps 145:9 295, 342
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Reading II: Romans 8:35, 37-39
Brothers and sisters:
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.
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Commentary on Rom 8:35, 37-39
CCC: Rom 8:31 2852; Rom 8:32 603, 706, 2572; Rom 8:34 1373, 2634
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Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,
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.
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Commentary on Mt 14:13-21
Possibly continuing his formation process with the disciples, Jesus tells them to feed the hungry people rather than dismiss them. The miracle occurs with significant symbolic numbers associated with it. Five loaves and two fish would add up to seven, in Hebrew numerology the perfect or most complete number. The fragments filled twelve baskets, enough for the twelve tribes of Israel. Five thousand men was a representation for a huge number and probably not meant as a census of the participants.
For the early Christian, there would have been even more subtle symbolism, as the loaves would represent the “Bread of Life,” the Eucharist; and the fish, the Christian symbol that identified themselves to each other as a consequence of the Greek letters used. Taken in its larger context the story is preparatory to Jesus' final trip to Jerusalem.
CCC: Mt 14:13-21 1335; Mt 14:19 1329
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Homily:
Heavenly Father, we humbly pray that those suffering from the coronavirus be returned quickly to full health by the power of your Son’s healing presence, and those in fear be calmed through the Holy Spirit.
In Christ’s name we pray. – Amen.
Here at the beginning of August, as we contemplate what we will do with the balance of our short summer months, I would offer you an ancient rhyme:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
You have probably all heard this before. It has been around since at least the 14th century (and no, I was not the original author). I think it should speak to each one of us as we consider what it is that God asks us to do each day.
It is probably not what you were thinking about as we heard about the multitudes following Jesus that day. There are lots of different images in this story of one of the Lord’s great miracles. But today I ask you to think of the crowd who followed the Lord. They all were seeking the same thing: that compelling search established in all of God’s creatures for their creator. Those who followed Jesus as he mourned the loss of his cousin, St. John the Baptist, were filled with hope that this man who cured the sick and healed the lame was the one promised by the prophets, the Messiah.
The Lord did not disappoint. When it came time for the vast crowd to eat, Jesus took the opportunity to provide a spectacular teaching moment to his disciples. Do you recall his first words to them when they urged him to send the crowd away?
He said: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”
Even these men of faith who had been with the Lord for some time did not understand what the Lord was really saying. They did not realize that they too had received from Jesus the faith that could bring salvation to that crowd of thousands. They did not realize that Jesus was offering them the chance to participate in his task of bringing the Kingdom of God to earth.
When they balked and said: “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
The Lord demonstrated miraculously the lesson he wanted them to learn. In his miracle about the multiplication of the loaves he not only showed us his ability to feed us with his body in ways that could not be explained by physical science, he also taught his disciples (and us) that with faith in God, everyone can be fed; everyone can receive God. It is a gift that we, like the disciples, have been given to share with the world.
Now I am not saying that we should immediately go out a march down the street to Zingerman’s and try to see how many can be fed with one of their sandwiches (although that might be an interesting experiment).
I’d like to give you a quote from a recent clip I saw from Bishop Robert Barron about “Forming Intentional Disciples.”
He said:
We all know the bad news that ex-Catholics make up the second largest religious group in America, that only twenty-five percent of baptized Catholics attend Mass on a regular basis, and that the fastest-growing religious group in the United States is the "nones" (those who claim no religious affiliation). There's a huge mission field out there, and it begins as soon as you walk out your front door.”
I would suggest that each of us in the coming week look for people who could be fed with the love of Christ and share that spiritual food with them. It does not matter if they are young or old, rich or poor. Remember, Jesus came so that all peoples of all nations might find God’s love through him. He passed it to us so we might participate in his mission and pass it on. Think of the rhyme at the beginning – for want of your act of kindness, generosity or sacrifice; the kingdom may be lost – for someone.
With that firmly in mind, let us now go forward with our celebration of the Lord’s sacrifice and participate as he feeds the multitudes here with his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.
In this strange year where many of us will not be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament or celebrate as a community in our houses of worship, we must be prepared to receive spiritual communion in prayer:
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
Pax
In other years on this date: optional Memorial for Saint Eusebius Of Vercelli, Bishop
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture today is “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” by Tintoretto, 1579-81.
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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