Dear Friend,
In the previous Sunday Gospels, Jesus taught the people and His disciples about the kingdom of heaven. In the Gospel of this Sunday, Jesus let His disciples experience the building of the Church as a way of establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Please read Matthew 14:13-21 to your family and reflect on the highlights of the event -- that we may have a better understanding of the kingdom of heaven through our Church.
"His heart was moved with pity" -– The central theme of Jesus is His love for the people. He saw the people who were like sheep without a shepherd.
"Give them some food yourselves." -– This emphasizes the participative role of disciples in establishing of the kingdom. (See how they would later respond.)
"Five loaves and two fish are all we have here." -– This was all the disciples had to feed five thousand men, not counting women and children. But they must have faith in Jesus who asked them to bring the loaves and fish to Him to feed the multitude
"Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds." --
Before the very eyes of the disciples, there was no end to the number of pieces of bread and fish that Jesus was turning to them to give to the crowds.
"They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over ~ twelve wicker baskets full." –- Everybody ate until all were satisfied. With Jesus, there is no compromise, any half-measures, but always life to the fullest as He gave in Cana the best of wine.
However, the disciples were not able to grasp the full meaning of this experience. As Mark wrote (6:51-52), when the disciples later saw Jesus walking on water, they were completely astounded as "they had not understood the incident of the loaves."
It was only when the disciples saw and heard Jesus explained in the Upper Room during the Last Supper and in the home of the two disciples from Emmaus that they began to understand "the loaves." If Jesus can feed five thousand with five loaves and two fish, He can certainly turn bread and wine into His flesh and blood. (John 6:55-56)
Following the instructions of Jesus, "This is my body, which will be given for you, do this in memory of me" (Luke 22:19), the disciples instituted the Eucharistic Mass to continue spreading the reign of the loving Father.
Meditation ~
The disciples saw Jesus breaking the bread and fish until five thousand had their fill. They failed to understand the "loaves" that time. It must have been much later that they recalled what Jesus had told them that "for human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
The impossible event was only a prelude to His saying "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (John 6:51)
The disciples connected all these with the instructions of Jesus in the Upper Room (Luke 22:19).
I receive the Body and Blood of Jesus to have life every time I partake in the Eucharist.
Contemplation ~
Imagine yourself with Jesus saying "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
Family Response ~
Partake in the Eucharist on Sunday and share your experiences of receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus – what the Body and Blood do to you.
Joe & Charito
THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA'S
ONLINE RESOURCE FOR FAMILY MINISTRIES
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