LET NO ONE GO HUNGRY

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mt 14:13-21

I smile whenever I read the gospel for today. The disciples recognized a problem: there were so many people and the food was in shortage. Notice that not that there was no food but that the food was not enough for all. It even seemed like the disciples tried to hide from Jesus the fact that they had food with them. Thus, their advice to Jesus was to dismiss the crowd. When shortage is real, the temptation to horde is very real.

However, Jesus, from whom we cannot hide anything, addressed the problem by making the disciples address the problem themselves. “There is no need to send them away. Give them something to eat yourselves,” said Jesus (Jesus must be smiling deep inside when He said this). When the problem is so real, the escaping from it becomes an easy option.

Shame must have covered the hearts, not only the faces, of the disciples as Jesus taught them that the answer to shortage is generosity and that problems are better confronted with childlike trust in Divine Providence rather than brushing them aside with the force of human inadequacies.

We are no better than the disciples, are we?

Jesus looks straight at our eyes today as we reflect on His Living Word. His gaze is steady and His voice plain and clear, even disturbing. Is it true that there is not enough to share or it is more accurate to say that there is too much greed to conquer? Do we met scarcity with generosity or flee from with the wings of indifference and self-preservation?

We cannot hide anything from the Lord. Let us be honest with our answers.

Open your hearts. Jesus may be making another miracle. I believe in miracles and they all begin with an act of love. You are that miracle. Love like Jesus. Be bread broken for others. Let no one go hungry.