18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
In today's gospel reading from the gospel of Saint Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus feeds five thousand men, not counting women and children with five loaves and two fish and they all ate and were satisfied. This miracle prefigures the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of our Catholic faith in which Jesus gives us his body and blood for our sanctification then reminds us of the importance of the Eucharist in our lives as Catholic Christians. With this miracle, Jesus shows his Love, Kindness and Care for us. By Loving us, Jesus suffered and gave his life on the cross for us so that we will be saved, be redeemed and have new life in Him. Through his Kindness, we have continually received his blessings, graces and mercies as his children not withstanding our sins and faults. Then, by Caring for us, He has given us his body to eat and his blood to drink in the Eucharist so as to nourish, strengthen us and protect us from the evil one.
So how do we reciprocate this Love, Kindness and Care of God to us through Christ in the Holy Eucharist? We can do so by:
Firstly Loving God more - which means that we need to rekindle our love for God especially through the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.
Secondly, by spiritually preparing ourselves to welcome Christ into our lives. For instance, preparing ourselves before Mass to participate in the greatest sacrifice and sacrament because the Holy Eucharist augments our union with Christ by preserving, increasing, and renewing the life of grace we received at Baptism. Also, if we prepare ourselves for almost everything we do in life, why do we find it hard to prepare ourselves spiritually speaking so as to welcome God into our lives?
Thirdly, by being grateful to God for all He has done and continues to do in our lives, since the Holy Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins and through the grace of God, preserves us from future mortal sins. Gratitude to God is very important and essential in the life of every Christian because our being today and all we have is not out of our own merit or hard work, but a gift given us by God.
My dear brothers and sisters, it is time to go back to God as we are reminded by Prophet Isaiah in our first reading and like Saint Paul emphasized in the second reading, never let anything or anyone separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Hence, let us reciprocate God’s love, kindness and care to us through Christ by loving Him more, by spiritually preparing ourselves daily to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist and by consistently showing Him gratitude in our call to charity. Amen!
