Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 2, 2021
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.”
He 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 blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over–
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children.
As the only miracle to appear in all four gospels, the story of the loaves and fishes is one we’ve heard many times. It might be easy to look at today’s reading, skim through it quickly, and move on with our day.
However, a closer look and prayerful meditation prompted me to think about this well-known passage in a different light. Matthew’s version of the miracle begins with an important detail: Jesus has just learned of the cruel and gruesome death of John the Baptist.
The gospel does not tell us how Jesus feels when he hears the terrible news, but I believe he experienced both grief and agony. After all, John was Jesus’ beloved cousin, and Jesus knew that soon he too would suffer a violent death. When I consider the circumstances, I understand why Jesus sought a quiet retreat in his moment of anguish.
It is this context that makes the miracle of the loaves and fishes even more remarkable. Thousands of people pursue Jesus as he flees to a secluded location, yet he does not rebuke them, attempt to escape them, or accept the disciples’ offer to disperse them. Instead, Jesus recognizes his followers’ needs and proceeds to heal and feed the crowd.
After suffering anxiety, grief, and isolation during the many months of the pandemic, how will we re-engage with our communities? Will we follow the example Jesus set for us? As he demonstrated, we all encounter fear and sorrow, but God calls us to respond with compassion and serve others with love. God will multiply our acts of kindness, no matter how small our offering, and we will see the miracle of his grace all around us.
Prayer
Jesus, you open wide your hands and heart and fill us with living food. You give us the bread of the Eucharist, your Word, and the community of the Church. You give us the bread of nature’s beauty, of friendship, of people who care for us when we are in need of help. You give us the food on our table, the roof over our heads, the clothing we wear. All the necessities of life come from you, and the extras as well. Blessed be you, Lord, God of all creation.
Saint of the Day
St. Peter Julian Eymard’s devotion to the Eucharist led him to an active life of love of God and neighbor. He was a contemporary of Blessed Basil Moreau, and both priests sought to revive the Church in the wake of the French Revolution.
Peter Julian was born in 1811 to a poor family just after the Revolution. Peter decided to become a priest and joined the seminary against his family’s wishes. He soon got sick, however, and had to withdraw from his studies—he never fully recovered his health.
A few years later, he tried again, and was successful in his training—he was ordained a priest in 1834 and joined the Marist Fathers. His life and ministry was marked by a strong devotion to Mary and to the Eucharist, and these were the focus of much of his preaching and teaching.
“We believe in the love of God for us,” he wrote. “To believe in love is everything. It is not enough to believe in the truth. We must believe in love and love is our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is the faith that makes our Lord loved. Ask for this pure and simple faith in the Eucharist. Men will teach you, but only Jesus will give you the grace to believe in him. You have the Eucharist. What more do you want?”
With the encouragement of his friend, St. John Vianney, Peter Julian founded two new religious orders dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Though the orders struggled at first, they eventually succeeded in bringing about his vision of a united community of people—priests, deacons, sisters, and laypeople—deeply formed by the Mass and prayer before the Eucharist.
Towards the end of his life, he took a long retreat in Rome and received a mystical experience of communion with Christ, which he described in a series of letters and meditative works. He died on this date in 1868 after suffering a stroke in France. His relics rest in the Basilica.
St. Peter Julian Eymard, who loved Christ in the Eucharist, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Peter Julian Eymard is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed March 28, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
