Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 16, 2019
In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat,
Jesus summoned the disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them
and ordered them distributed also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
Reflection
Only once do I recall almost crumpling from hunger. I was seventeen. In survival school in Montana, “Boe” Ouldhouse taught us that if it’s sweet, it’s good to eat; if it moves, eat it. They dropped me in the Bitterroot Wilderness. I foraged red berries. I ate the inner core of the thistle plant that tasted like celery. I overturned rocks and swallowed little crawly things that moved underneath. But mostly, I just got hungry. A week later, they picked me up and took me back to camp. I felt like falling over. But dinner was done. The dishes were washed. The kitchen was closed. The cook handed me a tuna sandwich to eat. Bread and fish—I did not collapse.
Jesus must have been a powerful preacher, for people never seemed to want to leave him. In this story, the eager crowds of Gentiles remained three days in the desolate eastern side of Lake Galilee. They were captivated. They were also hungry. Jesus saw four thousand people who might collapse on the trip home. But bread and fish—will that satisfy?
Unique to this Marcan account, there is so much food that there are enough fragments left over to fill seven large rope baskets, containers so huge that it took two people to haul them. Jesus didn’t just fill their craving with a morsel. He lavished on them bread and fish in abundance—a feast!
We live as a pilgrim people: some days we may verge on spiritual collapse; some weeks are spent in wondering satisfaction. Moments of abundance give us a foretaste of heaven. The kitchen is never closed with God. Jesus doesn’t just hand us a morsel. He gives us himself. As we prepare for tomorrow’s liturgy, Lord, we need you. Come and feed us!
Prayer
Jesus, Lamb of God, you call us to walk in your footsteps, by taking up our daily crosses, and giving our lives away in love. Help us to accept our daily burdens on behalf of others as expressions of love for you and your people. Help us to see how our acts of selfless love, inspired by you, bring your saving presence into the world. Give us the strength and generosity of spirit to carry our burdens joyfully. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Servant of God Julia Greeley was a woman born into slavery, whose heroic dedication to Christian charity inspired the city of Denver. Julia does not yet have an official feast day, but she is featured today in celebration of Black History Month.
Julia Greeley was born in captivity in Hannibal, Missouri. The dates given for her birth range from 1835 to 1855. She lost eyesight in one of her eyes when a slavedriver's whip cut her face across her eye. She was emancipated at the end of the Civil War in 1865. After being employed in St. Louis as a maid, Julia Greeley arrived in the city of Denver to work for a wealthy widow Mrs. Dickerson. Mrs. Dickerson was a former Washington D.C. socialite who married Colorado's first governor, William Gilpin. Julia began working with Mrs. Dickerson and her family in 1879 and was a kind and caring housekeeper for the family.
In 1880, Julia was received into the Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Church in Denver. Quickly, Julia became a fixture of charity in the community. She worked for many different families in the community with love and maternal care. When not working, Julia begged and obtained mattresses, baby carriages, food, and other items for families who needed them. She delivered them at all hours of the day and night. No one who ever asked Julia Greeley for help was ever turned away. This munificence meant that Julia was swindled several times. But, with the wisdom of the saints, Julia knew it was more blessed to give than to receive, and she kept blessing herself and her community by giving.
Julia fasted frequently and received communion daily at Denver's Sacred Heart church. She loved to visit the many convents of religious sisters around Denver, and they had an open door policy for her. In 1901, Julia became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. Her imitation of Francis was beautifully evident in her love of giving to others.
On June 7, 1918, the feast of the Sacred Heart, Julia died in Denver. She had given away her burial plot to a man who was going to be buried in a pauper's grave. In repayment, Julia was buried in her Franciscan habit and laid in state in Sacred Heart Church. In 2017, Julia's body was exhumed and buried in Denver's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. She is the first person to be interred in the Cathedral.
Servant of God Julia Greeley, who dedicated her life to loving others fully—pray for us!
Image of Servant of God Julia Greeley above (taken 1916) appears via the Julia Greeley Guild. Visit their website for more information on the canonization process.