Important things are priceless and cannot be bought with money

Listening to the Spirit

Draw near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored.

Amen

Listening to the Word

Mt 14:13-21

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.

When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the bless- ing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. When they picked up the fragments left over, they filled up twelve wicker baskets. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

Reflection

A man after a life of hard work and dedication to his family died. He was poor but the town mourned his loss by going to the cemetery remembering that integrity and uprightness was his way of life; that was his share with his townmates.

Not so with those who have accumulated fortunes trading the clothes of the drowned.
Not so with that landlady who gave away to her tenant her life secret, that with good manners one has to say "no" to everybody who is asking.
Not so with fellows who do charity that a higher advantage may come to their pockets.
Not so with those who set their clock in the past when calculating their worker's wages and yet raising the prices of their store at the first market increase.

The Word of God for this Sunday shows us the gratuity of God's love, "Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk...

But what food are we looking for? What hunger and thirst have we to quench?

Before rushing at a cheap meal that fills our belly, let us not forget that Jesus tells us that “My food is to do the will of him who sent me" (John 4:34) and "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35).
So the deep message is that from the Lord we can ask the gift that the Lord Himself is able and wants to give us, the best of all gifts, the one that only God can offer: his own very life and the possibility for us to make his life our own through discipleship. That's what the Eucharist is all about. When we receive the Life of Christ, the Body of Christ we receive everything and we give everything that no one around us will go hungry.