18th Sunday of the Ordinary Time- August 6, 2023
Go and Proclaim: “Follow GOD and you will be fed by HIS grace!”
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time- August 6, 2023
First Reading: Isaiah 55:1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:8-9,15-16,18-19,20-21
Second Reading: Romans 9:1-5
Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:13-21
“Listen to the words of Christ so you can receive wisdom.” Fr. Romie-Jun started off his homily with this encouragement. Knowledge, he said, will only tell you what things are. Wisdom, however, will tell you how to apply the knowledge that you learned. With that, he proceeded into sharing with us the three key points for today’s homily.
1. God is compassionate
2. God heals us
3. God feeds us
God is compassionate
“When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.” – Matthew 14:13
Our gospel readings starts with establishing the circumstances in which we found Jesus in. “When Jesus heard it” refers to Jesus learning about the death of John the Baptist. If there was anyone who understood his ministry best, it would have been his cousin John. And so when He learned about his death, He wanted to be alone. However when He saw the crowd coming to see Him, He was moved with compassion. Here we see that God is always mindful of you and me. God is not indifferent to our sufferings. To have compassion with means to also “suffer with.”
This beautiful picture shows us that you will never walk alone, because God will always walk with you. Because He is compassionate, God understands our pain and our sufferings. Jesus Christ’s compassion here is reflective of God’s compassion to us.
God heals us
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. – Matthew 14:14
Pity is simply a feeling, but compassion compels you to act. When Jesus saw their need for healing, He healed them. In Mark’s account, it shows us that Jesus taught them after He was moved with compassion. One way God heals us is to teach us. Healing comes when you listen to the Word of God – God sent His word and healed all diseases. When God heals our sickness, He starts from the inside then the outside. Truly He is our Jehovah Rapha, a God who heals. We need to remember that sickness never comes from God.
God feeds us
Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. – Matthew 14:19
Just like in the mass, the Word comes first, the bread follows. After He taught them and healed the sick, it was time to feed them. From Jesus commanding the multitudes to sit down on the grass, we see here that what is important in eating is fellowship. The grace of God is provided when people come together.
One beautiful message we can also see from this story is that whatever little you have, if you give to Him wholeheartedly, He will multiply it. He will not only multiply it, He can even transform it. But we always have a role to play. Every time God feeds us, He wants us to participate.
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