Prayer of the Day

Eighteenth Sunday of the Year

Jesus needed time to himself to mourn the death of John the Baptist but when he saw the people he had compassion on them and put their needs before his own. Having healed the sick and filled their spiritual hunger Jesus turned to his disciples and asked them to physically feed the people.  For the disciples this seemed impossible because all they had were five loaves and two fish.  Hardly enough to feed themselves.  But Jesus made the impossible possible and everyone was able to eat as much as they wanted.  The words chosen by Matthew to describe the actions of Jesus clearly directs our minds to the words used by Jesus at the Last Supper.  Jesus “took” the five loaves and two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and ” said the blessing,” and “breaking” the loaves he handed them to his disciples who “gave” them to the crowd.    The miracle is a sign that Jesus is the Messiah, the new Moses, feeding his people in the desert.  At every Eucharist Jesus gives his very self to us so that nothing can come between us and the love of God made visible in him.   Two things are required of us, to let ourselves be nourished by God, and in turn to nourish one another.