Scripture:
Isaiah 25:6-10
Matthew 15:29-37
Reflection:
Our Hungers and Hopes This Advent
In today’s Gospel, Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and encounters “great crowds” of needy folks: the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute…and He cures them! And He lovingly feeds them with the seven loaves of bread and the few fish that his disciples had brought along – a feast!! People were fed and healed…with baskets of leftovers!
I can’t help but think of the crowds of these days between Thanksgiving and Christmas…crowds of shoppers, some even pushing and shoving in pursuit of their “treasures.” Some are “needy” people, like those of long ago — dealing with loneliness, frustration, various physical and psychological illnesses, selfishness and greed, etc. Jesus lovingly desires to come and meet their needs, to cure their aches and pains, and feed their spirits…to pour out His loving heart for us all.
Jesus fed the hungry crowd with seven loaves of bread. For people of ancient times, bread was a fundamental source of nourishment and, therefore, a symbol of all the good things needed to sustain life. Even now, we speak of a person who earns a living for their family as a “breadwinner.” Who among us these days can resist the inviting aroma of fresh-baked bread and the warm feelings that fresh bread inspires? And yes, those Holiday breads…
This Advent 2024 we journey as people of hope – needy, hungry people seeking Jesus who is “Bread for the Life of the world” … Life that is wholesome, inviting — and lasts! Advent becomes for us an evolving celebration of the transformation of all creation in Jesus! These special days we look to the great event of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (the name means “The House of Bread”), then to Jesus’ presence in our midst in the Eucharist and the Scriptures and one another. And like the Prophet Isaiah, we look for the great coming of Jesus at the end of all time: to destroy death forever, to wipe away our tears, to save us from our selfishness, to share eternal Life with us.
These Advent days, as members of the Passionist Family, let’s open our hearts to God who comes to save us, to nourish us, and to love us in His life, death, and resurrection. We pray these days: Come, Lord Jesus!
Fr. John Schork, C.P. serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.