The daily Gospel last Monday was a story that almost every Catholic learns at a young age. Matthew 14:13-21 tells about the miracle of the loaves and the fishes Jesus performed to feed the crowd of “about 5000 men, not counting women and children.” With women and children included, the crowd must have been over 10,000 people. Matthew tells us that after the people ate and were satisfied, they collected 12 wicker baskets full of food
left over. This story reminds us of the abundance of God’s love and how we can be fulfilled by His love if we are open to it. But a key point that sometimes gets missed is why Jesus poured out His love for these people with this miracle in the first place. The answer is grief - and what it can mean for our own lives.
The first sentence in this Gospel tells us Jesus went there to mourn the death of John the Baptist, his earthly mentor, cousin, and friend. So, it’s understandable for Jesus to need some alone time to process what happened, grieve, and plan the next steps for his ministry. But instead, he chose to open his heart to the needs of others and provide for them.
We are all faced with more grief in our lives than we care to admit, far beyond just death. Broken relationships, abuse, health crises, setbacks, failure, and watching loved ones struggle all tempt us to flounder with our own misfortune. For me, grief is the hardest feeling to overcome. I just want to run away from the world. But the challenge of this gospel is to avoid turning inward as we grieve—where there can be no hope, no love, no God. Instead, Jesus shows us how we can use our grief as a place to start healing by doing something for the people around us. We don’t have to do great things. Anything, even small acts of kindness, help us get past our own hurts, get back on our feet to accept the challenge from God to grow, and His grace to meet that challenge. And if we do that, there are no wicker baskets that can hold all that we are capable of doing.
Deacon John
- Adapted from FaithND.edu August 5, 2024
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