Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Continuing the theme of God providing, we have Matthew’s account of the feeding of the large crowd that had been following him. Once again, we hear that “his heart was moved with pity,” and he was clearly motivated by his compassion and desire to provide for their needs. Jesus’s feeding the crowd is striking in that once again Jesus took what was clearly an impossible situation and saved the day. Jesus’ disciples ask where shall we go to find the food. Jesus’s reply seems to indicate that they can do it without looking elsewhere.
Moses experienced the discontent of the Chosen People in the desert, as they grew weary on the desert trek. They seemed to turn on him. Thus, Moses cried to the Lord: “why do you burden me with this people? I cannot carry all this people by myself, they are too heavy for me.” The Lord heard this appeal of Moses and did take care of the people, even though he rebuked them for their unrest.
God intervened to assist Moses as he faced the discon¬tent of the people, and Jesus fed the crowd with very little food.
The Lord intervenes. We too experience that in different ways and at different times. We might hear ourselves crying out to God: “I cannot carry this burden all by myself.” And acknowledging that to be true is both an act of humility and a plea for help. We can always turn to God, and to Jesus, to help us carry our burdens. God will assist us with all our burdens, whatever they may be.
We pray with the familiar psalm, “in you O Lord, I take refuge. Be a rock of refuge for me, a mighty stronghold to save me.”
Reflection by Fr. Peter Ullrich, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections