The Gospel for The memorial of St. John Vianney Priest is taken from Matthew 14:21. 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 crowd so they can go to the villages to buy food for themselves. He 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. And 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 12 wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about 5,000 men, not counting women and children. I can’t imagine what it was like for the disciples, getting to know Jesus, seeing him do such mighty works, mighty signs, healing, raising people from the dead. In this passage there’s a miracle.

But it’s so interesting the way it unfolds, because it is about God’s capacity to feed and care for his people. But it’s being given to the disciples. It’s being given to all of us. And when we see this mysterious abundance, we need to understand that you and I carry within us a divinity much like Jesus. And there are ways in which we can feed and care for one another. It may seem that our care and feeding is not enough.

But that’s the mystery. The mystery is when we’ve been blessed by the gift of divinity within us. There’s no limits to what we can do. Please take a few moments to reflect upon these scriptures and then I will close with a prayer. Closing prayer Father, sharing your ministry with us is essential for us to understand our role and keep us free of those things that create doubt or also give us a sense of our own individual power. Bless us with the ability to carry your divinity to the world.

And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.