WEDNESDAY, DEC 6
Matthew 15:29-37
At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
Grace: I ask for the grace to know Jesus in a deeper way that I may abundantly love and follow him.
Jesus, the miracle worker daily blesses us with various events: birth of a grandson, a benign tumor, a recovered wallet lost two days ago, the unexpected visit of an old friend,long-soughtght promotion at work, a liberating spiritual transformation. Yet, we are beset with the struggles of daily life such that we neglect to see, hear or, give witness to these grace-filled miracles. We become immune and numb to the ever present experience of God’s love and grace. The things of the world consume and bombard us with overt and subliminal messages telling us that we do not have enough. Or, perhaps the message is that we are not enough. We go about our daily life . . . billboard advertisements, television commercials, radio announcements, and newsfeeds on social media chime in with attempts to convince us that we “need this, do this, try this, you will be better with that!” So like the disciples, doubting the possibility of Jesus being able to provide, we ask, “Where can I get enough to satisfy my needs and the needs of others?”
Jesus’ only request to the disciples was to bring what they had. With the meager loaf of bread and fish, Jesus is able to multiply and feed the crowd so exceedingly well that the disciples had seven baskets full of leftovers. His response to the question is; “give me what you have, as you are; I will satisfy and multiply your needs.”. . . “Our hope and desire is that God will place us with his Son so that in all ways we seek only to respond to that love which first created us and now wraps us round with total care and concern.”[i]
For Reflection and Prayer:
What is one miracle you can name this day?
Where in your day has Christ taken your “loaves and fish” and multiplied them?
How can you be the hand of Christ in the world, multiplying the “loaves and fish” of others?
I invite you to spend some time meditating on this photo, or close your prayer time by praying a familiar prayer such as the Our Father, Glory Be, or Hail Mary.
The Contributor:
Ana Frietze is a wife, mother, and spiritual director with training in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life through the Magis Program of San Antonio. Ana has a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from Oblate School of Theology and is a facilitator at OST’s Instituto de Formación Pastoral and Spanish spiritual director formation program, Espiritualidad y Direccíon Espiritual.
Learn more about Magis Ignatian Spirituality Programs
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
[i] Fleming, David L., Draw Me into Your Friendship: A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Louis, MO: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996.