3 August 2014
Isaiah 55:1-3
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21
As much as they wanted
These times I find myself listening to news, reading about it and so often saying to myself: So much of it is bad! bad! Tales of war, destruction, suicide bombings, drought, famine. Last Sunday a Catholic Church in Kano, north of where I minister in Kaduna, was attacked by a suicide bomber and five innocent people were killed.
I picture parents struggling to get money to buy food to feed hungry children. I am sure many is the time there is simply no money, so no food. Until when? Only God knows!
In our Readings today, we hear much about the reverse side of the coin. We meet someone who has the power to give us food, all the food we would want. And no money needed. “Though you have no money, come! Listen to me and you will have good things to eat” – Isaiah 55:
Sounds too good to be true! But it is not just anyone who is calling. It is the Lord himself, opening wide His hand. “You open wide your hand, Grant the desire of all who live” – Psalm 144
The Gospel tells us of the 5,000 plus: “They all ate as much as they wanted”. From the wine at the wedding feast to the crowds that day out in the open country, there would be no rationing with the Lord.
The hunger in our world today is all too real and painful. But there are other hungers too -hunger for peace and security, hunger for help and comfort in difficulties and, perhaps the strangest and deepest of all, the hunger for happiness.
So what remains? To believe, to trust that the Lord is absolutely to be relied on.
“As much as they wanted”… Where does your wanting, your hunger lie? Perhaps it is not all that obvious to you? The offers of today’s Readings do not come any better in this life of ours. Why not reach out for them?
– Fr Mick McGrath SMA, Kaduna, Nigeria