DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

Wednesday of the First week of Advent (December 4)

"This is the LORD - we have waited for him"

GOSPEL

Matthew 15:29-37

29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain, and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the throng wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." 33 And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?" 34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish." 35 And commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

How many loaves do you have? .They answered, "Seven, and a few small fish."

Today we reflect on the multiplication of the bread and fish in the Gospel. Many people Matthew states came to him (Mt 15:30). Men and women who were in need of Christ: blind people, cripples and sick people of every kind, together with those who accompanied them. We are all in need of Christ. Of his tenderness, his forgiveness, his light, his mercy... In him, the fullness of all that is human can be found.

Today's Gospel makes us aware of the need for men who will lead others to Christ. Those who bring Jesus the sick so that he can cure them are the image of all those who know that the greatest act of charity towards their fellow man is to get them close to Christ, the source of our life. A life of faith demands holiness and apostolate.

Saint Paul urges us (Phil 2:5) to have the same feelings as Christ. This story shows what Jesus' heart is like: I am filled with compassion for these people. He cannot leave them, because they are hungry and tired. Christ searches man out in his necessity and manages to be there for us to find. How good he is to us!; and how important we people are for him! Our hearts swell with gratitude, admiration and a sincere wish for conversion.

This God made man, all-powerful, who loves us passionately, and whom we need in everything and for everything — apart from me you can do nothing (Jn 15:5)— paradoxically requires something from us as well: this is the meaning of the seven loaves of bread and the few fish that he will use to feed a crowd. If we really realized how much Jesus counts on us, and of the value of all we do for him, as small as it is, we would try all the harder to correspond to him with all our being.

-Fr. Joan Costa (Barcelona, Spain)
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FIRST READING

Isaiah 25:6-10

6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." 10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALM 22(23):1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

Response: I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.

R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.

R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.