Daily Reflection – Dec 2, 2015
Wednesday 2 December 2015
First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10
Psalm Response:
I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Gospel Acclamation:
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 15:29-37
Today’s Note: Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
Gospel Reading:
At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
Reflection:
This is the Lord for whom we have waited
As God fed the waiting Israelites, so Jesus feeds the crowds who have been with him. From early childhood we become aware that ‘Good things come to those who wait’. Yet in a world of high-speed technologies, we find it intolerable and unacceptable to wait for anything—impatience, self-centredness and perpetual busy-ness tells us that we need it ‘ASAP’! Unused to waiting, we exist in a state that can fluctuate from boredom, frustration, fear to hope, anticipation, excitement. But waiting can be an important lesson in slowing down, listening to God and trusting that, while we might feel bored or frustrated, we are not forgotten. In waiting, we might even find in the quiet of our hearts a loving God who has been waiting for us all along.
