Commentary
August 2, 2020, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
It Does Not Cost a Thing
First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 55:1-3
All of the money in the world is totally worthless in heaven. All of the material possessions in the world are of no use in heaven. Nothing which satisfies us here on earth is of any value in heaven.
When we focus our desires on satisfying ourselves with money, material possessions and physical pleasures, we find that the more we have, the more we want. We find that we can never be completely satisfied by any of those things and so they fail us. What’s worse is that we can easily fall into the deadly sin of greed. Therefore, seeking satisfaction from things of this world is a wasted effort.
If it is total satisfaction that we truly seek, we must look to the one place where total satisfaction exists. That place is heaven where life is eternal and full of everlasting joy and peace. We must look to the only one who can provide us with the things that we truly need to achieve total satisfaction and that satisfaction is: God.
The best part about it is that total satisfaction does not cost us anything. We do not have to make any down-payments or put up any collateral because total satisfaction is not for sale. The only thing that we have to do to achieve total satisfaction is to allow ourselves to be fed by God.
This is the message in today’s prophecy from Isaiah. God not only provides, but throughout this prophecy, God also invites us to receive. God also promises to renew the everlasting covenant and benefits assured to David.
David was the first Messianic king—a forerunner to Christ. Isaiah’s prophecy is about the coming of Christ—the true Messiah. It is through Christ that God keeps His promise of renewing the everlasting covenant.
Christ fulfilled the keeping of the promise in two ways. First, Christ gave us the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12, which proclaim and promise the Kingdom of Heaven. Then Christ offered Himself as the sacrificial lamb for our salvation. With His crucifixion and glorious Resurrection, Christ defeated death and paved the way for our being able to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
Total satisfaction does not cost us a thing but God gave the life of His only Son so that we may have total satisfaction. God does not break promises! Amen.
God Will Bring Us to Him
Second Reading Commentary: Romans 8:35, 37-39
Paul’s message in this part of his letter to the Romans is simple. Nothing can keep us from having the total satisfaction promised in today’s prophecy; from Isaiah and nothing can stop us from being with Christ in heaven except ourselves.
If we depend on things other than God, we will never be able to reach Him. But if we depend on God, He will bring us to Him. Nothing can stop that—absolutely nothing! It is that simple!
God’s Spoiled Children
Gospel Commentary: Matthew 14:13-21
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is one of the few Gospels which, is written in all four books of the Gospels. There are some differences between the Gospels in the way that the story is told but the message is the same. The account is found in Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:11-17, John 6:1-15 and today’s Gospel is Matthew 14:13-21.
Jesus went off to be by Himself after hearing of the death of John the Baptist. But when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him and His heart was moved with pity for them and He cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples asked Jesus to dismiss the crowds so that they could go to the villages and buy food for themselves. Jesus said, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But the disciples told Jesus that there were only five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”
Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to the people together with as much fish as they wanted. When the people had their fill, the fragments were gathered together and there was enough to fill twelve baskets.
This is not the only time that Jesus gave thanks. Stop and think about that. Jesus is God the Son. As God, He did not have to thank anyone. You would make a very valid argument if you said that Jesus was thanking His Father because that is absolutely true. But do not forget that God is a Trinity—Three Persons, One God.
By giving thanks, Jesus is giving us a message and setting and example for us to follow. It is a message and an example in humility and gratitude. To say that we should be humble toward God is a vast understatement. And, we should show our gratitude to God every day, many times a day.
We can compare the events which occurred in this Gospel to the Last Supper. Jesus shared the Passover meal with the disciples and fed them instituting the Eucharist consecrating unleavened bread into His body. The disciples were not only fed by Christ, they were fed with Christ. The people in this Gospel were also fed with Christ. The Last Supper was yet to come so no one understood what Jesus was doing. They only knew that a miracle had just taken place.
Catholics understand that when we receive the Eucharist—Communion at Mass we are being fed by Christ and with Christ. We are being fed with the Word which became flesh. See John 1:14
This is another case where Christ relives an event from the Old Testament. God sent manna from heaven to feed His people, the Israelites in the desert. Jesus used five loaves and two fish to feed His people in this Gospel. There were twelve tribes of the Israelites. There were twelve wicker baskets full of leftovers. You could say that this is symbolic of one basket of over-abundance for each tribe.
But there is a striking difference between the children of Israel in the desert and the five thousand. True, both groups of people were following God but the Israelites were chronic complainers. They complained about everything. The five thousand did not complain. They followed Jesus solely because they wanted to be with Him. Granted, Jesus performed many miracles which made the people want to be with Him, but through Moses, God had performed many miracles for the Israelites and still, they complained. In all four of the Gospels about the feeding of the five thousand, the people were not complaining nor were they even asking to be fed.
We also cannot ignore the fact that the Israelites were following God because through Moses, they were told to. Jesus did not ask the people to follow Him on this occasion. Remember, Jesus was one hundred percent God but He was also one hundred percent man. Jesus experienced everything that we experience including our feelings and emotions and at that moment, Jesus was hurting. He had just heard about the death of John the Baptist and had gone off to be alone in grief. But the people wanted to be with Jesus and they pursued Him. Jesus put His feelings aside and had pity on the people.
I often asked myself why Jesus pitied the people. Was it because He felt bad for those who were sick? Was it because He knew how much they needed Him? Was it because He knew how broken—sinful they were? Was it because He knew how much they needed to learn? Was it because He knew that the people there that day wanted to learn? Was it because Jesus knew that the people wanted to share the grief that He was going through?
Consider this: Jesus did tell us to bring Him our troubles because His yoke is light? When Jesus gave us that invitation, He was saying, “I love you.” To me, that is the reason why Jesus pitied the people because it is the summation of whatever other reasons there may be.
Sometimes we do things for our children and spoil them simply because we love them. Did you ever consider yourself as one of God’s spoiled children? You should because all of us are God’s spoiled children! We may not think about it and some of us do not appreciate it but we are all God’s spoiled children. Over and over again, we see this in the bible in both the Old and New Testaments. God provides in abundance. No matter how bad or how many times we mess up, as long as we believe and repent with sincerity, God provides with more than we need. That’s God’s way and only He can provide us with what we really need. Somebody say, “Thank you.” Amen.
