Holy Family of Bordeaux - Province of Ireland and Britain

After sending the crowds away, Jesus went up into the hills by himself to pray. We note how often

Jesus feels the need for “time out” time on his own to be with the Father, especially when he has

had a very busy day of healing /ministering in one way or other. But he rarely gets the time he

would like. He could see the disciples out in the boat, struggling with a heavy sea. The disciples

were frightened, thinking they had seen a ghost. Jesus reassures them with the very comforting

words, “Courage, It is I, be not afraid! Peter tries to walk the waters to meet Jesus, but inevitably he

begins to sink and takes fright. Jesus reaches out to him; chides Peter for his lack of faith: “Why did

you doubt?” The wind dropped and the men in the boat bowed down before him and said: “Truly,

you are the Son of God”. How often does Jesus reach out to each of us, through the gesture of a

friend or neighbor? Do I reach out to somebody when I see him/her in real need? – one of the

many ways I can be a little more Christlike.

Again the people hear Jesus has come back to town, they flock to him bringing to him all that were

sick, begging him to let them touch the fringe of his cloak; those who touched it were completely

cured. Jesus seems to never tire of healing those who ask with faith: this is the one pre-condition he

asks for.

When Jesus received the news of John the Baptist’s death, he withdrew by boat to a lonely place

where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and leaving the towns, went

after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore, he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and

healed their sick.

How familiar are these words: “Jesus took pity on them”. In last Friday’s Gospel we heard the news

of John the Baptist’s cruel death, John the Baptist who prepared the way of the Lord, of whom we

hear so much in our Advent Readings. Jesus must have been very upset on hearing this news of his

friend’s awful beheading; yet he immediately puts aside his own grief to see to the needs of others.

Then his disciples approached him to voice their concerns; the people have been there a long time

with nothing to eat; they recommend that they be sent away to buy some food in the villages. But

Jesus’ response is instantaneous: there is no need for them to go away; give them something to eat

yourselves. And we all know the answer to that: All we have is five barley loaves and two fish.

Then Jesus took the loaves and fish and said the blessing. They all ate, over five thousand men, plus

women and children. And there were even twelve baskets left over. What a miracle! Every time

we hear this Gospel proclaimed, we must be overwhelmed again by Jesus’ ongoing compassion and

thoughtfulness for others at all levels, spiritual and temporal What lesson can I learn for today and

how do I apply it to my way of dealing with others?

While we marvel at this miracle, we are drawn to look a little more deeply at the message here; the

Eucharist which we are privileged to receive so often, indeed every day for some; a marvelous food

and nourishment for our spiritual life. Pause a while.

General theme today: our thoughts must be on heavenly things, rather than on earthly things,, for

without Christ all is vanity. Life is not made secure by what one owns.

Jesus tells the parable of the rich man who, having a good harvest, wanted to build bigger barns and

store up enough to allow him to have a good time, rest, eat and drink. But God warns him that this

very night the demand will be made for his soul, and asks him: Whose will this hoard be then? And

the parable concludes: better to make oneself rich in the sight of God.

It is not the mere possession of riches which is the problem for people, rather, it is the undue concern

about having more materials goods than we need, and getting so caught up in them that we are in

danger of forgetting the things of God, ie eternal life.