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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thursday- I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Sunday’s Gospel is Matthew 14:13-21. Go ahead and read it now. I’ll wait.

Yesterday we focused on how nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Today we see what that love offers.

We see the emotional side of Jesus in this passage. When He learns of the death of John the Baptist, he seeks some alone time. He feels sorry for the large crowd that follows Him and heals them. He wants to do the same for you.

The disciples miss the obvious here. They are in a panic that these people are getting hungry and there is not enough food for everyone. They tell Jesus to send the crowd away. Jesus tells them to bring Him what they have. That’s all he requires of you as well.

They bring 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. (The bread is meant to recall the story of Elisha, for you Bible Geeks). We then see Eucharist language here…they sit. He blesses the bread, breaks it and gives it to his disciples (the priests of the New Covenant) to distribute it to the people. Sound familiar? The same exact things happen at every Mass.

The people ate and were satisfied. Oh that we were satisfied! What would that even look like? Our culture tells us that we can never be satisfied. It tells us that we need a better car, a better job, a better spouse etc. But Jesus satisfied these people.

The readings for this week tie together beautifully. Isaiah tells us that anyone can get what they need from God. St Paul’s Letter to the Romans tells us that nothing we do can disqualify us from this love that gives us what we need. The Gospel of Matthew shows us that Jesus can actually satisfy us if we let Him.

Are you struggling with feeling dissatisfied? Have you asked Jesus to give you what you need? Have you let Him in? These readings offer tremendous hope in the midst of a dissatisfied world. Come and rest and be satisfied!

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