St. John Mary Vianney Sunday
First reading: Is. 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.
Second reading: Rom. 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.
Gospel: Mt. 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.
In other words
Fr. Chito Lorenzo, SVD (Japan)
“Do, or do not. There is no try.” For Star Wars fans, this is a famous saying of Master Yoda to Luke Skywalker during his training to become a Jedi. Sometimes, when you say you will try, the mind might interpret it as just doing something without giving it 100% effort. What is even worse is not trying at all.
This is what the disciples of Jesus did when they asked him to disperse the crowds. They did not want the trouble of providing them with food All they could see were the negative details. It is late. This is a deserted place. There are so many of them. So, they sought to find the easiest way out. Disperse the crowd, and we no longer have to deal with them. When Jesus told them to feed the crowd, all they could see was the negative. Five loaves and two fish. What good would that do considering there are so many mouths to feed?
This Gospel is also a chance for us to learn how we deal with the people in our midst who might need our help. Do we see only the negative? There are so many of them. There is only one me. What good can I do? The task is too big for me. I have minimal resources. What benefit can that give? And so we do the easy way out. We look away. We pretend not to hear the cries for help. And we send them away hoping that others can help them.
But Jesus taught us the way. Five loaves and two fish? OK, we use them.
God will provide what is lacking. The important thing is that we start with what we have. It has been said that when the crowd saw the disciples giving out the loaves and fish, they took out also what they brought with them and shared them with others. All it takes is for one person to act. Others will follow.
The Community Pantry at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example. There was a table with goods, and the sign said: “Give according to your ability, take according to your need.” It started in one street, and soon enough, there were others like it. All it takes is someone willing to share.
God, working through the power of love, takes care of the rest.