Multiplication of the loaves

Monday,
August 01, 2016
18th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jer 28: 1-17
Gospel:
Matthew 14:13-21
On hearing about the death of John the Baptist, Jesus set out secretly by boat for a secluded place. But the people heard of it, and they followed him on foot from their towns. When Jesus went ashore, he saw the crowd gathered there and he had compassion on them. And he healed their sick.

Late in the afternoon, his disciples came to him and said, “We are in a lonely place and it is now late. You should send these people away, so they can go to the villages and buy something for themselves to eat.”

But Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fishes.” Jesus said to them, “Bring them here to me.”

Then he made everyone sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people. And they all ate, and everyone had enough; then the disciples gathered up the leftovers, filling twelve baskets. About five thousand men had eaten there besides women and children.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Here are thought -provoking tips to lighten your day: “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness; for lovely eyes, seek out the good in people; for slim figure, share your food with the hungry” (Anonymous). The last tip is thought provoking. Aside from the spiritual returns of giving, the sharer also gets slimmer in the process of sharing. But a slimmer body is but a bonus to a Christian who feeds the hungry. He shares because on Judgment Day, what qualifies one to enter heaven is the practice of charity.

But entering heaven should still be considered a bonus whenever given. Taking care of the poor primarily for heaven is really using the poor for one’s personal gain. Christian love is seeing in the poor our God who is up above. Our eyes are fixed on God not on heaven as we practice the commandment of love.

A Christian practices charity not only when he can give the lion’s share. He does so even when there is hardly anything to spare. The miracle of the loaves gives him this inspiration: that five loaves and two fish are more than enough with God’s intervention. Because God’s intervention is always in good measure and flowing over, any little food shared can be a great wonder. One can still feed the hungry even if he himself is needy. No one is too poor to have nothing to give heartily. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email: [email protected].

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