having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way."
The disciples said to him,
"Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?"
Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"
"Seven," they replied, "and a few fish."
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
REFLECTION
"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd..."
Imagine our Creator moved with pity for us. In the beginning we were in communion with God, but through disobedience, illness, evil , pain and death entered our lives. The Father's perfect creation was now doomed to death and corruption. What had we done to our relationship with our Father?
The lame, the blind, the deformed, the mentally ill are consequences of sin. How bad we feel when we are sick. Jesus, because of His mercy for us, took on our sin, to reconcile us to His Father. He loved us with infinite love that He became man in all things except sin. We are given another opportunity to once more participate in His divinity.
He freed us from death and corruption through His Incarnation, Baptism, Passion and Resurrection. For the journey, we have our rebirth in water and Spirit, His Word to guide us and His Bread of Life for nourishment.
We prepare for our guests this Christmas. Advent is our anticipatory preparedness for the coming of Jesus into the world and our lives. The Eucharist is a foretaste of what we hope to have in union with God in the second coming of the Lord.
May we long for the heavenly banquet that awaits us. Prepare for the Birth of our Lord.
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