The gospel for Monday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time 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, he 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’s already late.
Dismiss the crowd so that 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. Then he said, bring them here to me. And he ordered the crowd 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. Jesus was a miracle worker. They were the signs to so many people that he was not just an ordinary man, but he was the Messiah.
And when you believe in the Messiah, you need to believe in what he represents and what he’s longing to see happen. Because he’s a miracle worker. And that is, he wants us to participate in that same kind of miraculous work. Jesus was empowered by God to do more than a human being could ever think about doing. God enters into us to enable us to do more than we could ever do on our own. So you look at the disciples participating in a beautiful way in this miracle.
What a gift to know that we have been empowered to do the miraculous work of truly healing, caring for our brothers and sisters. Sam Sa Foreign Father, we give you praise for entering into our lives and being a source of wisdom and a source of healing that we could never have without you. Help us to trust in your power in us, flowing through us. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.