Scripture:
Isaiah 55:1-3
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21
Reflection:
All of the readings today are about God taking care of us or feeding us. In the first reading we hear: "Heed me and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare." The response to the psalm is: "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs." In the second reading we learn that "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" and in the gospel Jesus multiplies five loaves and two fish to feed thousands of people.
We could look at God feeding us in several ways: one way is that He feeds us in the Eucharist, which is free and available to everyone who believes. The second is that He feeds us with His Word "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." Mt 4:4 And the third is to look at this as actual food for our physical bodies as in the feeding of the 5,000.
In the case of the third, what’s going on today that so many people in the world go to bed hungry every night? Online I read that one in eight (870 million people), were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012, and that nearly 1 billion people across the globe went to bed hungry each night in 2013, 200 million of them children.
We know that God doesn’t change – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, knowing how He cares for us and provides for all of our needs, why are so many of His children hungry?
The only conclusion I can come to is that we have dropped the ball. God works through us to help others. Maybe what is different today is that we aren’t listening to the Spirit prompting us to eat a little less and to share a little more. Maybe it’s just easier to go on as we always have, not wanting to feel deeply the pain of the mother who can’t feed her children and has to watch them die.
The numbers on hunger are staggering to me. I have more than enough food to eat every day. And while I donate to ministries that help the poor, maybe there is more that I could be doing. Please join me today in praying that we will all look again to see what each of us can do to alleviate the hunger in the world today. "For I was hungry and you gave me food." Mt 25:35
Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently wrote her first book: God Speaks to Ordinary People – Like You and Me. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].