Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand)
Readings (English
Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Gospel Matthew 14:13-21 (English Standard Version)
At that time: When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
The late Fr John Griffin, a Columban colleague from New Zealand, who after many years in the Philippines went to work in Chile, wrote an article for our Columban magazines about a great saint of our times, San Alberto Hurtado SJ (1901-1952), a native of that country.
One story in the article is a perfect expression of what happened in today's gospel. But first a little background to it:
Overall, Fr Hurtado is best known and remembered
throughout Chile for his Hogar de Cristo (Christ’s Home) Foundation. The seed for
this was sown late one night when he was on his way home to San Ignacio. He met
a man who was in poor health, had eaten nothing all day and had nowhere to go.
This was the priest’s first encounter with such
poverty and it moved him greatly. He did what he could for the man and then
asked: ‘What are our Catholics doing for those who have no roof over their
heads?’ He began asking this question during his retreats and so was born the
idea of ‘Hogar de Cristo’. He formed a board of directors from people eager to
help – six men and 30 women. Land was available alongside the Jesuit parish of
Jesus the Worker and the first night-shelters were built and an appeal for
funds began. By 1945 there were five shelters that had been able to house
12,000 poor men. Now it was time to do something for the numerous ‘street kids’
who spent their nights under the many bridges over the Mapocho River which runs
for miles through Santiago. These youngsters needed educations as well as
shelter and land was donated for this purpose a few miles to the north of the
city near Colina railway station and a children’s home was built.
Today's gospel tells us: But Jesus said, 'They need not go away; you give them something to eat.'
Fr Griffin continues about San Alberto:
The Multiplication of the Loaves
Indecision,
faintheartedness is the great obstacle in the plan of
cooperation. We think: I’m not worth all that much, and
from this comes discouragement: It makes no difference whether I act or
fail to act. Our powers of action are so limited. Is my
unpretentious work worthwhile? Does my abstaining from this have any meaning?
If I fail to sacrifice myself nothing changes. No one needs me . . .
A mediocre vocation? How many vocations are lost. It is the
advice of the devil that is partly true. The difficulty must be
faced.
The solution
5,000 men along with women and children have
been hungry for three days… Food? They would need at least 200 denarii to
feed them and this is the approximate yearly salary of a labourer.
In the desert! Tell them to go! But
Andrew, more observant says: There are 5 loaves and 2 fish, but what are
these among so many! Here we have our same problem: the disproportion.
And the loaves. Made of barley, hard as
rocks (the Jews used wheat). And the fish. They were from
the lake, small, rather mushy in texture, carried by a young boy in a sack that
had lain on the ground for three days in the heat . . . not much of a solution.
Did the Lord despise this offering? No, and with
his blessing he fed all the hungry and had leftovers. Neither did he despise
the leftovers: 12 baskets of the surplus were gathered, fish heads and bones,
but even this he valued.
The young boy consented to give Christ his poor
offering, not realizing that he would feed the multitude. He
believed that he had lost his small possession but he found instead that there
was even a surplus and that he had cooperated for the good of the others.
And me . . . like those fish (less than those
loaves) bruised and perhaps decomposing but in the hands of Christ my action
may have a divine scope a divine reach.
Remember Ignatius, Augustine, Camillus de Lellis,
and Matt Talbot, base sinners whose lives were converted into spiritual
nourishment for millions who will continue to feed on their witness.
My actions and my desires can have a divine scope and can change the face of the earth. I will not know it, the fish did not know it either. I can do a great deal if I remain in Christ; I can accomplish much if I cooperate with Christ . . .
Traditional Latin Mass
Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 08-02-2026 if necessary).
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:2-11. Gospel: Luke 18:9-14.
